Kick-Ass 2 Review

Justin & I saw Kick-Ass 2 on August 17, 2013!! This was very well done, and while the subject matter is similar to the first one it still has its own story. I found the structure of this movie to be very well organized, and I liked the darker emotional aspects of the movie. This movie focuses on the idea of revenge, duality, and bonds between family and friends. Both Dave Lizewski & Mindy Macready added new elements to their characters. Aaron Taylor-Johnson experiences so much emotional grief throughout this movie-it was insane how many things go wrong for him. Dave likes inspiring people to be heroes, and wants to maintain his hero lifestyle. He also realizes that his role as a hero harms those around him. Ultimately, a hero must live with sacrifices and Dave learns that the hard way more than once. Johnson did an incredible job as he seemed very comfortable in the role. I find him to be very talented. If you haven't seen his performance as Ben in Savages, it's one of the best male performances I've seen in some time. I personally felt Chloe Grace Moretz gave one of her best performances to date as she blended her fighting spirit from the first movie with the struggles of fitting in as a normal girl in order to regain the childhood that her father took from her. Hit-Girl is one of the best characters I've ever seen. She is dealing with the loss of her father, the real world, high school, and those crazy queen bees that think they know everything. Moretz is only 16 and has turned out incredible performances for somebody her age from Abby in Let Me In to Luli in Hick to what I feel will be a great breakthrough performance for her in Carrie. I feel adding more to the fighting exterior is important to make her a well-rounded character. These two fit naturally into their respective roles. They both come to realize in their own way that it doesn't matter if you're wearing the costume. Being a hero is a part of them. It's what makes both whole. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was absolutely insane. He was extremely animated throughout. I felt he played a great psychotic villain. I mean even his nickname in this movie was nuts. I cannot repeat the name of the super villain here. There was also a decent performance by Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars & Stripes. His back story actually works very well into the central plot in terms of relating to Frank D'Amico from the first movie. I liked that connection. He was great in terms of helping Dave become a better fighter. In many ways, both Mindy & Dave realize how much they need the other. When they are together, they can conquer the world. When they are apart, they are only mildly successful. There were so many larger than life characters on both sides of the battle. In the end, the adage of an eye for an eye will hold true for both Dave & Chris. There is a great screen capture of Kick-Ass & Chris in his villain attire face to face before the first punches of the final battle. It was great to see these two with a stare-down as the hardships they caused each other will spill over into this fight. It seems at certain points that both Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass look like they will meet their end as well, which gave it more of a realistic approach. I was cringing watching Hit-Girl battle Mother Russia (who was by far the most animated villain besides Plasse). There is great camera work during each action sequence, and much like the first movie you definitely can recall what happened in them. My favorite scene involves Mindy rescuing Dave from Chris's goons following a funeral. I think a huge reason why I liked this is that they weren't in their disguises-Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass are part of them and this scene shows that. It's also a scene where we get to watch Hit-Girl do what she does best, and that's win fights. The character development, action sequences, intense plots, great usage of comedy (I was laughing hysterically at so many pieces of dialogue and some physical humor involving Mindy & the popular girls), & emotional realism throughout (especially in Dave's personal life) make this a 5/5. I knew going in I would enjoy this. I don't like one better than the other. I just consider both to be well made movies. They're much different than your usual superhero movies. As I said, even though both movies utilize the same basic premises, they both have great stories to stand on their own. I really liked this!!