Kick-Ass 2

A Kick-Ass Sequel
by Reymundo Salao

The sequel to 2008's KICK-ASS simply titled KICK-ASS 2 is loosely based on the comic book of the same title, and follows the story of superhero wannabes Dave Lizewski who gets on a green costume and calls himself Kick-ass, and Mindy Macready who is known as Hit Girl.

The story picks up some years after the events of the first movie. Mindy is now raised by his father's best friend Marcus, who struggles to push Mindy into a life of a normal young teenager, an attempt to give her the innocence her father deprived her of. Dave, on the other hand, has been trying to continue his secret life of costumed crime-fighting as Kick-ass, and has had the opportunity to team-up with other costumed crime fighters.
Meanwhile, Chris D'Amico, the son of the crime boss that Kick-ass and Hit Girl put away, is having an obsession of vengeance towards Kick-ass. He also puts on a costume, baptizes himself as a supervillain named 'the Mother##cker' and has hired all sorts of dangerous criminal psychos into his gang of supervillains, declaring war against costumed superheroes and Kick-ass.

Just like the first movie, it is not easy to classify KICK-ASS 2; it could perhaps be best described as a comedy with some really dark action elements, and cold-blooded violence. A more simple way to describe it is that it's a violent superhero comedy that will most probably find its market among teens and lovers of the superhero genre. The comedy elements and the colorful costumes may be bothersome for audiences who are not open-minded towards this genre. But it really is a well-made story about characters who are trying to find their true identity and the consequences of whatever reckless lives they live.

The first movie set the bar too high that although KICK-ASS 2 was a spectacularly excellent movie, there are several un-ignorable flaws that make it less perfect. In as much as the film did have some coherence and consistency, I felt that it needed a whole lot of extra minutes. It makes me wish that a longer and a more unfiltered cut is still out there waiting to be unleashed when the DVD comes out. 

One of the new characters introduced was the role played by Jim Carrey, named Col. Stars & Stripes, who did what he does best in his later movies; create a character that does not sound and act like his usual roles. Inasmuch as the character he made had a strong screen presence, I felt that we needed more scenes with him in order to make him more charismatic and for the audience to invest some more sympathetic attachment to him. The same goes out for the subplot in the movie involving Mindy (Chloe Moretz) being tormented by her High School bullies; I felt that it lacked the emotional impact that could have made it way better.

But aside from the flaws, KICK-ASS 2 was still a strong superhero movie. There was still the intensity and suspense of the action; the sense of nervousness not knowing what will happen next. Much of the movie's strength lies on how good the source material is. Mark Millar (the writer of the comicbook/graphic novel) has a material that creates twists, turns, and action suspense that can keep your balls sweating.

Sadly, I think the movie would not be appealing to those who have not watched the first movie, or have no appreciation for superhero movies. But if you have watched part 1, and/or love superhero movies, this movie is a great sequel with enough spectacular action to really give you a deliciously bloody good time.