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Title: Kick-Ass
Written by: Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
Comic Book Published by: Icon
Screenplay: Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Company: Marv Films and Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by: Universal Pictures and Lionsgate
US Release Date: April 16, 2010
Length: 117 minutes
MPAA: Rated R

Kick-Ass follows the adventures of Dave Lizewski, a teenager aspiring to become a real life superhero.  He turns into a national celebrity when one of his fights is leaked onto YouTube.  Soon Dave, aka Kick-Ass, becomes an influential person inspiring others to become superheroes as well.

The superheroes named Hit-Girl and Big Daddy gain the attention of the mob, leading into confrontation with Kick-Ass in the middle of it.  Will the battle make the superheroes come out victorious, or lead them to an early grave?

Kick-Ass felt like a great adaptation of the comic book! Any changes to characters’ backgrounds didn’t affect the movie.  Some scenes and action sequences were handled differently, but stayed true to the comic book in essence.  There were a vast array of colors added into the wardrobe that gave the movie an exciting appearance, and I found the camera cuts being incorporated into the next scene and the comic book-like captions to be very clever.

Nicholas Cage managed to pull off being both creepy and hilarious as Big Daddy.  His interactions with Hit-Girl created the aura that they were a a loving family, albeit slightly sadistic.  It took me a while to realize that Cage was purposely making his voice sound like Adam West from the Batman television series in his portrayal of Big Daddy.  Somehow I was entertained and humored by Cage’s performance and I kept flashing back to his previous acting roles.

I noticed some references to the comic in the movie, such as character sketches of Big Daddy from the comic book hanging on the gun/workroom’s wall.  I loved that one of Dave’s friends was holding Runaways #28 during a discussion on why there wasn’t any real life superheroes in their world.  Unlike the comic book, Joss Whedon wasn’t mentioned in that scene even though he wrote that issue.

A Kick-Ass video game, developed by WHA Entertainment and Frozen Codebase, will be released on the PlayStation Network on April 29th! The game will have Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, and Big Daddy as playable characters.  Kick-Ass: The Game will have story missions, mini-games,  local co-op multi-player, and an integration with Facbook and Twitter.  An unfinished beta version was released through the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch earlier in April.

Side Notes: Kick-Ass was hinted at having a movie deal before the first issue of the comic book was even released.  Any comic book shops that made a solo effort to promote the series were credited and suggested for readers to support them.

A comic book fan offered a 4-figure sum to the 2006 “Kick-Ass charity auction” for his name, Dave Lizewski, to be used for the lead character in Kick-Ass.  Kick-Ass had a viral campaign before the first issue came out with a Youtube video being posted, showing Kick-Ass “caught on tape”, and his Myspace page appeared online as it was depicted in the comic book.

Kick-Ass, the comic book, will continue its story focusing on Hit-Girl’s life after crime fighting, and the rise of super villains set against super heroes.

Check out these Kick-Ass related links:

Review of the book Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie
Preview of the upcoming Kick-Ass action figure
Reviews of Kick-Ass #7 + #8

Princess Powerful
princesspowerful@comicattack.net