Home video review: Kick-Ass

This weekend I finally got a chance to see Kick-Ass on BluRay, as I'd missed it when it was in theaters, and have been catching up on some television shows for the last few weeks on Netflix.  This is easily one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen.*  While I have not read the comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., I can only imagine that Matthew Vaughn was the perfect choice to direct this material.  There was such a strong hint of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch, two films produced by Vaughn, in the hyper-violent yet comic story of Kick-Ass, Hit Girl, and Red Mist.

Surprisingly hot Aaron Johnson (remind me to rent Nowhere Boy when it comes out on DVD) was perfectly charming as Dave, the chronic masturbator with a yen to finally stand up for the downtrodden in the style of his comic book heroes.  Where another actor might have made Dave's relationship with Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca) kinda creepy, pretending to be gay in order to get close, and then breaking the news to her, instead I was always rooting for him.  Clark Duke turned in another funny supporting performance as Dave's friend Marty.

Nic Cage wonderfully channeled all of his rage at having never been cast as Superman into his role as Big Daddy, a sort of bizarro- Cameron Poe from Con Air, seeking vengeance on his former employer while training his preteen daughter to follow in his vigilante footsteps.  A lot was made of Chloë Moretz's performance as Cage's daughter Hit Girl, a foulmouthed killing machine who loves her dad and wants to make him proud.  If you ask me, a strong 11-year-old female character who happens to swear and know how to fight is far less troubling than a hypersexualized female character of the same age (see Blue Lagoon, Return to the Blue Lagoon).  Moretz is an excellent young actress and I am really looking forward to seeing her in her upcoming roles.  Looks like Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin have company in the young-actresses-who-don't-depress-me club.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse played to type as somewhat-accidental villain Red Mist.  I would have liked to see more interaction between him and Kick-Ass.  There's so much great material in the well-meaning loner who might not have turned evil if only he'd had some friends, so maybe we'll get more of that in the sequel.

I personally thought the amount of violence and gore was just perfect in this movie.  Sometimes you just want to see the good guys actually bring the pain, and Kick-Ass delivered.  All too often no one ever gets vengeance in a truly satisfying and silly comic book way, so it was especially worthwhile in this movie about teenagers pretending to be superheroes.

*Those of you who know me have probably already heard my belief that Batman is not a superhero.  He's just a rich dude who wears a costume, knows how to fight, and has a ton of gadgets.  He is a hero, no doubt, but it is my belief that one must be superhuman in order to be a superhero (or -villain).  It's unclear to me if Kal-El has any superpowers that other Kryptonians do not.  If he does, then yes, he is a superhero.  If he doesn't, then he's just an alien.  It was refreshing to hear my opinion validated by the characters in this movie when they differentiated between "guys in suits" and real superheroes.  So no, I don't think this is a movie about superheroes, but it still gets quantified as a "superhero movie," due to the nature of its content.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Girls

So, while I am a newcomer to the world of comic books / graphic novels, it is a medium that I have really enjoyed getting to know a little bit about, and that I am eager to spend more time acquainting myself with. I have never read an issue of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Canadian nerd saga, so I went into the Edgar Wright film adaptation with no expectations. I cannot really review the movie in the context of whether or not it was a good adaptation, but watching the movie definitely raised some questions about the series.

I'd like to first say that I really liked the casting choices - for all of the supporting characters. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was completely believable as the gorgeous and supercool mystery girl Ramona that guys fall in love with after just seeing her across the room. Kieran Culkin, Alsion Pill, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza made a great team as Scott's long-suffering friends, and were entertaining whenever onscreen. Ellen Wong was adorable, annoying, and impossible to hate as Scott's scorned teenage girlfriend Knives Chau. And finally, all of Ramona's seven evil exes (well, the ones who had lines, anyway) fleshed out their caricatures well - Brandon Routh was a particularly nice surprise.

Arturo R. García wrote about the film's portrayal of Asian-descent characters on Racialicious, and I will quote the following as it pertains to Ramona's other evil exes:

"...other characters fare a lot worse ... the first of Ramona’s League of Evil Exes, Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha) gets turned into a Bollywood joke during his fight sequence ... and the Katayanagi Twins (Shora and Keita Saito) go from being tech-savvy villains in the comic (they lure Scott into battle by kidnapping yet another ex of his) to their own QAS Daft Punk pastiche, complete with (ugh) dragons shooting out of their turntables."

Anyway, Jason Schwartzman will always have a place in my heart (did I tell you that I totally shook his hand once? It was awesome), Chris Evans was a well-played parody, and it was awesome to see Mae Whitman battle her former flame from Arrested Development.

Which brings me to Michael Cera. I guess he was well-cast? I don't know, you tell me. My friends who've read the comics did say that so much had to be condensed into the film, but I'd like to know if Scott Pilgrim is as devoid of personality in the source material as he is in the movie. Yes yes, Cera plays the same role in every movie. We loved it about him in AD and Superbad, and then immediately got tired of it. Wasn't he quitting acting or something? Whatever. I miss George Michael (not the singer-songwriter).

I guess if you strip away the flashy and cool fight sequences and just look at the story presented in the movie, it makes more sense. Boring unemployed 22-year-old in a band who lives across the street from his parents is believably edgy enough to impress a 17-year-old overprotected schoolgirl. And rightfully should incur the derision that it does from all of his friends. And while it's difficult to imagine that Ramona would want anything to do with this loser, I guess given the high drama of her past relationships, someone with absolutely nothing going on in their life might appeal. I'm just over the trope of an average-looking dude with very little to offer being the main obsession of multiple women who have a lot of promise.

Anyway, the fight scenes were exciting to watch, even for my parents and I who have extremely limited experience with video games and comics, where most of the stylized inspiration seemed to come from. I felt engaged throughout the movie with its frills that were surely culled from the pages of the comics. That said, Winstead and Wong were on a "Girls Who Kick Ass" panel at Comic Con, and given that they basically learned a limited amount of fight choreography for one movie, I do not think that title should necessarily be applied to those actresses.

So, the movie was just...fun enough. I would like to read the comics to see if there is more material there to be entertained by. Also I want Brandon Routh and Chris Evans to have a douchey buddy comedy, please.

who's watching?

Today, I finished reading the iconic graphic novel Watchmen. I knew it had characters named Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan, so I was expecting a pretty straightforward superhero tale. Having just finished V for Vendetta by the same author, Alan Moore, I don't know how I could have been so naive. The story itself, about hasbeen vigilantes reassessing their self-worth on the eve of possible nuclear holocaust, is one of the most suspenseful and captivating I've ever read.

Dave Gibbons' artwork is spectacular, providing more details and hidden messages than I'm sure I caught this first time around. At times painterly, beautifully artistic, and other times gritty and comic book specific, Gibbons' art perfectly told Moore's story. When the characters are dealing with questions of psychological intricacies or the big pictures issues of the meaning of life and mutually assured destruction, the artwork is a triumph of visual associations and graphic matches. I was thoroughly intrigued by the historical fiction aspects of the story, and the comic-book-within-a-comic-book that wove throughout.

Not only am I excited to reread this excellent novel, but I am curious to see how the movie will turn out. Jackie Earle Haley is cast as Rorschach, which I find incredibly promising, as he was the highlight of 2006's Little Children adaptation.

This is the poster I received by attending a panel with Zack Snyder at Comic Con!

this time, no elrond

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Comic Con. Attending last year's was a totally enlightening experience, and though I can't attend in 2008 due to a friend's wedding, I can't wait until I'm in the San Diego Convention Center once again, with all the other nerds. Considering how much I appreciated the event as a movie and TV fan, I wondered how much I was missing out on by not having any personal experience with comic books. I'd always written them off as the picture books that barely literate boys read, and now I am so ashamed for having made such an unfair generalization.

I recently finished V for Vendetta, which I think was an appropriate introduction to the graphic novel ouvre. It took me awhile to get used to reading the text in all the right order without overlooking the artwork, but once I started thinking of it as movie storyboards, the reading came a lot more smoothly. I think the excellent surprises in Alan Moore's story were ruined for me by having seen the movie a few times already, but the story was still captivating, and masterfully more complicated than the adaptation. David Lloyd's artwork was incredibly impressive throughout, with beautiful watercolor detail.

At Comic Con 2007 I attended a panel where Zack Snyder, director of graphic novel adaptation 300, fielded questions regarding his 2009 adaptation of Watchmen. Considering the outstanding casting choices, the fan enthusiasm surrounding the book, and its place on Time Magazine's list of the 100 Best Novels, I knew I wanted to read it before seeing the film. Review coming up in my next post.

crikey, etc.

So, Australia is fantastic, as always. It's my last full day in Brisbane, so I'm not going to waste a bunch of time blogging right now. Just a note to remind myself what to write about when I do get a chance: Paris Je T'aime, Hairspray, Transformers, Gossip Girl, and Once once again. Currently reading V for Vendetta, and am already finding it harder to read graphic novels than I expected. I have to keep reminding myself to go back and look at the images, instead of just reading the text. I'm getting better though. Hopefully I can get a local SIM card for my phone, and have the chance to catch up sometime when in Sydney. Happy new year!