This had been the first film in a while that for whatever reason I had been able to navigate around all the hype, trailers and marketing that come with a superhero film. Which allowed me to be totally surprised by everything in this film and I was surprised a hell of a lot.
The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn as if his life depended on it. There is such urgency, such risk being taken that at times it is breathtaking especially for two particular sequences that will knock you off your feet and make you keep watching they are just that fucking good. So a little bit about Matthew Vaughn, he is the producer that is responsible for Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrells, Snatch and directed the so-so Layer Cake and the whimsical Stardust but none of these films can prepare you for the delights on offer in Kick-Ass.
This may well be the first independent superhero film, in that Vaughn along with his other producing partners raised the money through private investment and Vaughn even put in a little of his own money to get the film going and only after they had finished it, picture locked did they find a distributor. A ballsy decision but one that allows them to pull no punches. Much will be said about the young girl dropping the C-bomb but really with in the film it's no biggy, it just makes sense.
The film is adapted from a series of comics by Mark Millar by Vaughn and Jane Goldman and you can tell they are having fun with the genre. The film owes a lot to Kill Bill for being willing to throw every punch and it even has its own animated section, comic books never looked so good. Also Hit Girl rocks up in an out fit at one point that reminded me of a character in the Crazy 88's sequence in Kill Bill.
Everyone in the cast seems to be having a ball. The biggest name in the cast is Nic Cage and I haven't found him this engaging since probably Matchstick Men, he is off the hook in his role of Big Daddy channeling every thing from his role as Fu Man Chu in Grindhouse to Adam Wests Batman, I loved it. Aaron Johnson recently seen as John Lennon in Nowhere Boy is a revelation as our lead. He is Kick-Ass. Enough said. Mark Strong seems to be the go to guy for smarmy bad-asses who you can't help but like. Christoper Mintz-Plasse is in a class of his own and the young Chloe Moretz steals everyones thunder as Hit Girl. She is quite simply unbelievable. You should also look out for cameos by Vaughn's Lock Stock peeps Dexter Fletcher and Jason Flemying.
On the production side, everything is top-notch. What more can I say? Well how about this, the music for the film is astounding, most notably John Murphy's contributions and though we have heard a lot of these tunes in his work for other films like Sunshine, 28 Days Later and I think I even heard some of his work from Miami Vice here, why not take the best of this fantastic composer. Murphy's score for Sunshine is still some of the most awe-inspiring music you will hear, I rate him up there with Clint Mansell (especially his work in Moon) as the finest composers out there. And the signature piece from Sunshine is used to such fantastic effect, such emotional impact you just don't care.
I can't wait to watch this film a second and a third time.
Thank you to all of those involved with this supersonic super hero film.
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