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benj clews 
"...."
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 Posted - 03/24/2010 : 10:50:21
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Just saw this yesterday and had a thoroughly fun night.
For anyone who's read the comic book, it's a pretty faithful adaption (aside from being slightly less bloody-drenched and bone-crunching, and amps up the ending considerably). For anyone else, it's the story of a geeky kid who decides to fight crime despite no training or superpowers and the various escalating scrapes he gets into along the way. Although this is set in the real world there's still proper, trained superheros running around in the background to the main story, including quite possibly the coolest 11 year old girl you will ever see. It's basically like the action of The Matrix crossed with Leon crossed with, er... Jackass (this last one seems appropriate not just because of the bodily harm our hero regularly puts himself through but also the dark, twisted humour throughout).
Special note should go to Nicholas Cage, not just for playing the most bat-shit crazy Dad I've seen in some time, but also for giving a truly whacked Adam-West-as-Batman impression that will confuse everyone not in on the joke and bemuse everyone else.
I have to admit, there were a couple of missteps that held me back from completely revelling in the film. At some points the bad guys come across as cartoon mafia goons (thankfully, justice for crimes against acting is usually found just around the corner in the shape of more well-orchestrated carnage). Worst offence though was the inclusion of a jetpack (decidedly not in the source material)- a plot device that, for my money, is capable of only dragging down a film (see also: Thunderball, The Rocketeer, Robocop 3).
These are minor and easily dismissed quibbles however in an otherwise incredibly fun (sometimes on the brink of barmy) film that had me grinning like the Cheshire cat for pretty much the final hour. Yeah, I'll be seeing this one again. |
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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 07/17/2010 : 23:26:01
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Kick-Ass
I really enjoyed it too. I'm glad that Jonathan Ross's children have got one talented parent. I gave it 4/5 so I suppose it similarly did not perfectly hit the spot for me. Not quite sure why though really: perhaps I'll put it up to 5/5. Johnson, Mintz-Plasse, Moretz and Cage are all great. |
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 11/26/2010 : 07:09:09
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I saw this knowing nothing about it (I generally like seeing films that way). So, I had no idea whether this was gonna be a piss-take on superhero movies (the beginning gave that impression), an affectionate parody, a regular superhero-with-implausible-skills movie (e.g., Batman), or a superhero-with-super-powers movie (e.g., Superman).
In the end I liked everything about it. I loved the way it steadily morphed from dork-wants-to-kick-arse into implausibly-talented-superheroes-mercilessly-exterminating-criminal-scum. I haven't seen that in a superhero movie and it was a most refreshing change.
The star by far was Chloe Moretz's Hit Girl. If she was my daughter I'd be the proudest dad ever.  There's something absolutely charming, very original and impossibly cool about a cherubic 11-year-old in pigtails with a filthy mouth "Okay you cunts let's see what you can do now!" slaughtering the villain's henchmen like they were cockroaches. 
Can't wait for a sequel (and they left plenty of room for one).  |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 11/26/2010 : 11:21:20
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I liked it too, as a goof. Moretz has a fine Abigail Breslin-like career ahead if she wants it, and she's already begun with a wonderful turn in LET ME IN. By the way, a KICK-ASS sequel has indeed been announced. That doesn't mean it will actually get made [and such premature info on pictures that eventually fizzle out wreaks havoc with our database here], but it probably means that somebody's paid for a screenplay at least.
EDIT: Sean, that's my single favorite thing about film festivals: with rare exceptions, you don't know much when the lights go out beyond a sentence or two in the festival catalog, so everything that happens is a surprise. And there's no critic to "tell you" whether it's "good" or not. I try to avoid reading reviews until after I've seen the film, but sometimes spoilers are just inevitable. |
Edited by - randall on 11/26/2010 15:19:42 |
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 01:30:46
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quote:
Originally posted by randa11
By the way, a KICK-ASS sequel has indeed been announced. That doesn't mean it will actually get made [and such premature info on pictures that eventually fizzle out wreaks havoc with our database here], but it probably means that somebody's paid for a screenplay at least.
I'd say it's been more than just paid for- the comic book it's going to be based on (as with the first film) came out about a month ago! |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 02:25:33
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quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
quote:
Originally posted by randa11
By the way, a KICK-ASS sequel has indeed been announced. That doesn't mean it will actually get made [and such premature info on pictures that eventually fizzle out wreaks havoc with our database here], but it probably means that somebody's paid for a screenplay at least.
I'd say it's been more than just paid for- the comic book it's going to be based on (as with the first film) came out about a month ago!
benj, a comic book is not a screenplay. People's Exhibit 1: JONAH HEX. I'm talking about giving some mug like Akiva Goldsman $1MM to noodle around: that's chump change in Hollywood. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 06:52:58
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quote:
Originally posted by randa11
I liked it too, as a goof. Moretz has a fine Abigail Breslin-like career ahead if she wants it, and she's already begun with a wonderful turn in LET ME IN.
I usually avoid remakes, but this is one I've been intending to see, I can see it being pretty decent although I can't imagine it being as brilliant as the original (one of the few I've given 10/10).
BTW she seems already typecast in older-than-she-actually-is roles, I seem to recall her giving relationship advice in 500 Days of Summer.
quote:
EDIT: Sean, that's my single favorite thing about film festivals: with rare exceptions, you don't know much when the lights go out beyond a sentence or two in the festival catalog, so everything that happens is a surprise. And there's no critic to "tell you" whether it's "good" or not. I try to avoid reading reviews until after I've seen the film, but sometimes spoilers are just inevitable.
I tend to see films with something close to that level of ignorance. I don't read movie reviews, and base my watching decision on the IMDb score and genre. Also, there's commonly a long enough delay between netflixing them and them arriving in my mailbox; long enough to have forgotten anything I may have accidentally read somewhere. The thing I obviously will know is whether the masses like it or not. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 10:58:33
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quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I'd say it's been more than just paid for- the comic book it's going to be based on (as with the first film) came out about a month ago!
I agree that this film is extremely likely. It just feels that way from the I.M.D.B. page, with rumoured cast &c. Anyway, such films don't 'wreak havoc' with the database -- only a handful of films have ever been removed because their production has been cancelled, so it hasn't exactly been a big deal. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 11:05:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
quote:
Originally posted by randa11
EDIT: Sean, that's my single favorite thing about film festivals: with rare exceptions, you don't know much when the lights go out beyond a sentence or two in the festival catalog, so everything that happens is a surprise. And there's no critic to "tell you" whether it's "good" or not. I try to avoid reading reviews until after I've seen the film, but sometimes spoilers are just inevitable.
I tend to see films with something close to that level of ignorance. I don't read movie reviews, and base my watching decision on the IMDb score and genre.
When I'm in the U.K., I watch films whenever possible without even knowing the genre: I base the decision purely on the timetabling. It's fun to be sitting there while the nature of the film reveals itself. I certainly never read any review or summary in advance, with the exception of ones that I have had to read here for the F.Y.C.T.H. &c. |
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 11:25:52
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quote:
Originally posted by randa11
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I'd say it's been more than just paid for- the comic book it's going to be based on (as with the first film) came out about a month ago!
benj, a comic book is not a screenplay. People's Exhibit 1: JONAH HEX. I'm talking about giving some mug like Akiva Goldsman $1MM to noodle around: that's chump change in Hollywood.
Yep, I appreciate that, but I don't think the Kick-Ass movies should be thought of in the same way as a conventional studio movie, i.e. cranked through some machine with scripting duties handed over to whoever's available or done a superhero picture before. For example (apologies here if you already know these facts), Matthew Vaughn actually bankrolled the first film himself because no studio would let him make the film true to the original comic- I can't see why this would change on the second film. Also, the screenplay author (Jane Goldman) worked closely with the original comic book author (Mark Millar) when writing the original screenplay- in fact, Millar was still finishing off the comic book series as Goldman was working on the film. Finally, Millar has spoken about what the second film is about and given what I've read in the comic book so far it's following a very similar arc.
I guess every film is different but I get the feeling that Kick-Ass is the creator-friendly kind.
Jonah Hex sounds like a perfect example of where a movie is not the source material or the originator's vision. But then you could go to the other extreme- Sin City springs to mind- a movie where the comic very much IS the screenplay. In fact, more than that- it's also the storyboards, shot for shot. |
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Kick-Ass
