This sequel to the acclaimed comedy-tinted superhero flick has traded the ‘smarts’ of the original with a bit more ‘Hollywood’ – to make it more accessible to most cinema-goers.
The violence remains, but isn’t as bad as new co-star Jim Carrey alleged – which reportedly saw him ditch publicity for the film – and is only done (albeit gratuitously at times) at key moments.
After Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) rose to prominence as the first real-life superhero, countless humans have donned outlandish clothing and vowed to keep the streets clean – with one group led by Carrey’s Colonel Stars and Stripes.
And after Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moritz) hangs up her cape after her cop-mentor Marcus (Boyz n’ the Hood’s Morris Chestnut) vows to keep her safe after the death of her father, an itchy-footed Kick-Ass comes out of retirement to join forces with the likes of Battle Guy (Clark Duke), Dr Gravity (Scrubs’ Donald Faison) and Night-B**ch (the super sexy Lindy Booth).
But when Red Mist (Superbad’s Christopher Mintz-Plasse) vows revenge (this time for the death of HIS father), dresses up in his now-dead Mum’s fetish gear, gives himself a new double swear-worded (well one is only a swear word to be fair) villainous name, and hires some of the world’s deadliest assassins – it puts everyone Kick-Ass knows in imminent danger.
And even though this lacks the ingenuity of the (slightly over-rated) first film with a fairly generic plot, its colourful characters, humorously violent set-pieces and several stand-out comedy moments, makes this a more-rounded experience.
For die-hard fans though, Kick-Ass 2 quite obviously forsakes a little of its integrity to provide a thoroughly watchable popcorn-cruncher that has deducted originality from its repertoire.
But in cinematic times where execs try and make films to maximise profit – this sequel still sticks to its roots to provide tastefully humorous violence not often seen in mainstream cinema since the action heyday of the eighties.
And with said violence sandwiched between some thick slices of hilarity – then this still does exactly what the title says.
Gavin Miller
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey, Morris Chestnut, Clark Duke, Lindy Booth, Donald Faison, John Leguizamo, Augustus Prew, Claudia Lee, Benedict Wong, Garrett M Brown, Yancy Butler
Running Time: 1hr 40mins
Directors: Jeff Wadlow [youtube id=”ucGQFYqnEzg” width=”600″ height=”350″]
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