Kick-Ass

Last week I had a birthday and to celebrate, I took a bit of a 'staycation', which is basically a time where you kind of need to spend vacation time and be away from work, but you don't really have the budget to go anywhere or do anything fun.

It was awesome.

With the kids at school, I got to spend a little time with Shana, cook some new food, read a book, play video games until my brain bled, and we even (shocking!) got to go see a rated 'R' movie at the theater for once. With kids around and babysitters fairly far away, this is a pretty rare treat.

Shana and I both love movies. It is really one of the few hobbies/activities that we both truly enjoy doing. Most other activities entail various stages of compromise, but there are no arguments in my house when movie time is suggested. Sure, we have some taste differences, but for the most part both of us have a pretty wide range, and most movies fit into what we both enjoy (or at least will tolerate).

As a result of our love for movies, our kids get to watch a lot of them. Our kids have been watching PG13 movies for quite some time (as long as we watch them first), and I can't even remember a time where we restricted them from watching 'PG' movies. There are even *some* 'R' rated movies that I have allowed (tho they are DEFINITELY few and far between).

Why? I trust my kids to not be violent because they see a violent movie. I trust them not to say bad words that they see in movies. And I trust them to understand that adult romance is for adults.

That said, nudity in a film will definitely exclude it. Excessive profanity will exclude a flick from their viewing. And major adult themes will also exclude a film. We are liberal and open minded with what we let them watch, but even liberal parents that we are, we have our limits.

I say all that to say that before I saw 'Kick-Ass' I thought maybe, just maybe, this might be a film that we'd wind up letting the kids watch, even though it was rated 'R'.

Now that I've seen it....there is no way in hell that will ever happen. When the 10 year old girl in the movie has a line like this:

Kick-Ass: “How do I get a hold of you?”
Hit-Girl: “You just contact the Mayor’s office, he has a special signal he shines in the sky. It’s in the shape of a giant c*ck.”

Yeah...my kids aren't going to watch this movie. Hit Girl is a character that kick's major booty in the movie. A hero that my kids would identify with and cheer for. A character that they might try and emulate. Thus my kids cannot see this until they are much, much, much, much, much, much older.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the flick. We got there late due to somebody not watching a clock (I'm not going to say who it is, but she has bigger boobs than me), so we missed the trailers. Not too big a deal.

The movie was, for the most part, a male, geek, comic-book lover, teen...fantasy. Which I could identify with somewhat (I was a geek before it was cool. Wait, is it cool now?). Who hasn't dreamed of being a normal kid, dressing up as a super hero to go fight crime, only to become an internet phenomenon and unknowingly become the target of a mob boss out for revenge for deeds done to him by other costumed heroes? I know I have.

As a fantasy romp, it was an enjoyable film. I went into the movie expecting more of a comedy (from the trailers), but that wasn't what this was at all. It was a superhero movie...without the 'super' part.

There are a couple criticism's I had of the flick though: The character of Red Mist (played by McLovin' ... or Christopher Mintz-Plasse), is pretty dumb and ridiculously overplayed (the film would have been much better without him to be honest), and the romantic sub-plot with love-interest 'Katie' (played by Lindsy Fonesca) seemed very forced and completely unnecessary.

That said, there is a lot to love with the flick. Chloe Moretz's character 'Hit Girl' steals almost every scene she is in, and the wire work for her martial arts sequences were really well done (though completely implausible...).

And Aaron Johnson's portrayal of a character who has just one superpower: 'Being invisible to women' is very relatable and fresh. The movie explores a fresh take on the superhero genre, and delivers on it's emotional notes. The set pieces are fun, if a little unbelievable, though not unbelievable enough that they took me out of the story.

Overall, I'd give the movie 4/5 swear words spoken by an 11 year old.