Kick Ass 2

Kick Ass 2 (2013)

Predicted Rating: 4 Stars

Directed by: Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down). Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Illusionist), Chloe Grace Moretz (Hugo), and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad)

4 years after the events of Kick-Ass, Dave Lezewski (Taylor-Johnson) has retired his vigilante superhero, Kick-Ass. Not content with his normal life, Dave enlists the help of Mindy (Moretz), i.e. Hit Girl. After her guardian disapproves of her reprisal of Hit Girl, Mindy is forced back to school. Dave, along with some other vigilantes just like him, form the group Justice Forever. Meanwhile, after the death of his mother, Chris D'Amico (Mintz-Plasse), creates the character "The Motherfucker", a further incarnation of Red Mist. His overall aim is to exact revenge on Kick-Ass for murdering his father.

When will people learn that violence is not the answer. Wow, I sounded like a bit of a hippie then but far too often these days cinema relies heavily on violence to draw in the big crowds. Instead of making clever films, the director takes the easy way out and says, well lets just blow this up. Unfortunately Kick Ass 2 falls under this category. This is unfortunate because it means Kick Ass 2 is exactly the film Kick Ass 1 tried to avoid becoming. Yes, Kick-Ass is a violent film but it does it almost ironically by never taking it self seriously. Kick Ass 2 just tries too hard and fails miserably. In this instance I am pointing the finger squarely at the director. The uber-talented Matthew Vaughn decided to hand the reigns over to the inexperienced Jeff Wadlow and paid the price dearly. This film is just flat out poorly directed, which in turn negates the cinematic experience felt in Kick Ass 1.

Another thing that plagued this sequel is the poor choice of music in sometimes. One of the best scenes from the first instalment was towards then end when Hit Girl breaks into the building and proceeds to take down numerous henchman. What made this scene so great was it's ironic use of a bubbly pop song to accompany a copious amount of violence undertaken by an 11 year old girl. On paper it seemed destined for failure but in practice was a match made in heaven. A similar approach could have been taken in this film when Hit Girl attempts to save Kick-Ass from a speeding van. Instead the music director decided to use a more dramatic score. This theme seems to be constant throughout the film and denies it from some much needed light-hearted atmosphere. Granted, the Joan Jett song "I Hate Myself for Loving You" was included during Hit Girl's homage to Ferris Bueler when she needs to rush home but all that really did for me is make me want to watch some football. I expect no-one else will get this reference so look up NBC's Sunday Night Football Theme.

To go with the direction and music problems, there are also a few issues with the script and casting. Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit Girl was clearly the highlight of the film so I am not criticising the casting choice but I am well aware of the age difference between her and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (15 vs. 23). As a result, please do not end the movie with them kissing. The worst part of it was that I knew it was coming the whole film and it just made me feel super uncomfortable. Then there was the obvious moment when a contract dispute occurred with Lyndsy Fonseca who plays Dave's girlfriend, Katie. She appears for maybe 2 seconds at the start, slaps Dave fairly hard for talking with another girl then storms off. Then, for the rest of the film, she doesn't even crack a mention. There isn't even closure on whether they broke up. If you couldn't afford the actor at least try and write a more witty reason to exclude her from the film.

Overall: An unnecessarily violent film that becomes everything Kick Ass avoided being 2.5 Stars