   Kick-Ass...
  Warning: Spoilers ahead!!!!Ok...I just got back from watching Kick-Ass, and honestly I don't really know what to think. I read one review on the newspaper I bought today, and the critic gave it a 0/10...but I know this critic to always apply politics/sociology onto literally anything, so I thought to myself 'he's just taking way to seriously a movie not supposed to be taken seriously'.So I went to see the movie with a feeling I would have a 'guilty pleasure' fun time...and up to a point I was laughing my ass off and thought it was hilarious. The movie starting with a horrible death of a teenager which was casually referred to as 'some Armenian guy' felt a bit disturbing, but hey, mindless violence can be fun.The thing is though, that the film gradually progressed into more and more serious tones...it came to a point where it didn't reminded a comedy, even a black one, but the story of a bunch of seriously deranged people getting themselves into horrific and tragic situations. I'm sure most of the people that will object to the movie will have a problem with the 11-year old Hit-Girl, with her habits of swearing like a sailor and massacring, well, anything and anyone, even obviously weak and unarmed people that were trying to flee the scene. The thing is, personally I don't have a problem with any of the scenes per se...sure they were extremely brutal and unsettling, but honestly nothing that would need to be taken seriously in a satirical/parody movie...Except the film seemed not to take that path *at all*. I don't know if it's just me, but some key scenes felt *serious*. Like, dead serious, no sign of mocking or satirizing anything. And I'm mainly talking about the scene where the mobs broadcast live torturing and beating into a pulp Big Daddy and Kick-Ass, then proceed to set Big Daddy on fire...before Hit-Girl arrives and we switch to first-person mode and witness a massacre through the eyes of the 11-year old girl, with the screams of her father burning alive in the background. *Nothing* in that scene felt 'fun'. It seemed serious, it seemed dramatic, it seemed terrifying. After that, we had Hit Girl butchering about 30 more bad guys...the remaining ones trying to blow her tiny body with a bazooka, then having a huge menacing guy beating the shit out of the kid and putting a gun barrel to her head as she lays down covered in blood...and then of course Kick-Ass saves the day...and it ends. After that, I didn't know what to think. Had I just watched a cinematic atrocity, or for some reason I took it way to seriously, even though I have never taken movies like that seriously, and entered the cinema with the full intention *not* to take it seriously? All I know is that I was laughing at the first 1/3 of the film, and then gradually that faded to the point that I didn't feel like laughing any more, but just sit and watch to see what else they would throw at us.Anyway, your thoughts?P.S... Oh and something that's been bothering me...when the almost-impossibly-kind love interest of Kick-Ass asks him to take care of some dude that beat her and took her money, and he turns out to be a considerably older gang member, drug dealer and probably murderer...is he supposed to be her *boyfriend*? I left the movie with that impression, kinda thinking 'ok wtf, I know that girls do have a soft spot for bad boys, but this is ridiculous'...but after I rewatched the scenes in youtube, it doesn't say anywhere that they had a relationship...anyone got any definite answer on this? It's just something I'm wondering about.   
  I admit I thoroughly enjoyed it.  By no means did this movie require deep thought, so even the serious scenes I knew pretty much ahead of time.But seriously, how can you portray the death of her father in a light and/or funny manner?Hit Girl did steal the show.  Honestly (and I'm sure I'm one of only a few), I personally thought Nicolas Cage's role was the weakest in the movie.   ;  I think Kick-Ass managed to confuse all critical appraisal of it by being everything to everyone. Is it serious? At times. Is it ridiculous? At times. Does it cross some lines? At times. Does it play it safe? At times.I liked not knowing exactly how I was "supposed to feel" at every scene. Hollywood doesn't typically allow that in films. Makes it unique.   ;Quote:Original post by NytegardHonestly (and I'm sure I'm one of only a few), I personally thought Nicolas Cage's role was the weakest in the movie.Yeah...about that, I think Cage's character(Big Daddy) is hands down the most disturbing character I've seen in 'superhero' movies in a long time, and that includes the supervillains...he's not just 'crazy', he has passed the boundary of insanity so far that most serial killers probably look like college kids compared to him...a father that trains his little 11-yrold daughter to kill alongside him instead of just going solo, with the only apparent reason being that he wants to imitate Batman and so he needs a Robin, cuts her off school, with the only education provided to her being comic books, that he shots her in the chest in order to teach her to withstand being shot, that when targetting to eliminate a gang of criminals, he sends *her* to do the job while he is hiding in a safe place playing sniper? I mean, this is the kind of stuff that,well, can't possibly been viewed as 'funny' or 'absurd'...I don't know, this is definately horrific child abuse, but does the film paints it in a negative manner, or considers it a necessary evil in order to create the most interesting character of the movie? Again, as has been said, you have no idea what to think.;  This movie disturbed me on many levels too.  Seeing this kind of violence in other movies has never really been a problem for me, but something about the tone/setting in Kick-Ass made me quite uncomfortable with it.I thought it was weird how Kick-Ass' girlfriend talked about Razuel and his "hard childhood".  You might think, "oh, they're going to note the fact that even the 'bad guys' are human too".  Nope, they just had him impaled with a sword or whatever by Hit-Girl.   ;Quote:Original post by LockePickI think Kick-Ass managed to confuse all critical appraisal of it by being everything to everyone. Is it serious? At times. Is it ridiculous? At times. Does it cross some lines? At times. Does it play it safe? At times.I liked not knowing exactly how I was "supposed to feel" at every scene. Hollywood doesn't typically allow that in films. Makes it unique.I'd say this. I left the movie and heard a lot of people including the ones I went with saying literally "I don't know what to think about it."@mikeman: you're viewing it only in the socially acceptable norms though. He obviously loved his child. Were his methods extreme, yes, but I wouldn't necessarily call them abuse. Just extremely different.If my child loved playing football (american) and I encouraged them to play, would it be child abuse? They're very likely to injure themselves, and unlike Big Daddy, I'm not standing outside the window with a sniper rifle to make sure that doesn't happen.Different indigenous tribes submit their children to horribly painful experiences as a right of passage to adult hood. Things many many times more painful than shooting someone who's wearing a bullet proof vest. Is that child abuse?Morally right? no. Child abuse? I wouldn't say so. It's not like he kept her shackled in a corner and forced her to kill people.   ;Quote:Original post by way2lazy2care@mikeman: you're viewing it only in the socially acceptable norms though. He obviously loved his child. Were his methods extreme, yes, but I wouldn't necessarily call them abuse. Just extremely different.Well, of course I'm viewing it in the 'socially acceptable norms'...that's all anyone can do, isn't it? I don't think there's anyone that can say he has knowledge of the true nature of human beings and access to the 'absolute truth'...I'm not doubting that he loved his daughter, but unfortunately sometimes that's not enough. If you care for a person but have a completely distorted view of what's best for her, you can end up hurting her horribly. I'm still standing by my opinion that it was child abuse...of course one can say that her upbringing had some similarities to,say, ancient Sparta society, but by today's measures it was nothing sort of destructive to the kid's psyche. Oh, and an interesting note: The story was much,much more disturbing in the comic book: In the film, Big Daddy was indeed an ex-cop who got accused wrongly, went to jail, had his wife commit suicide and vowed to revenge the criminal the caused all this. In the comic book, get this: It is revealed in the end that he made the whole story up! In actuality, he was just an accountant, who invented the whole ex-cop/suicidal wife story in order to have an excuse to delve into crimefighting with his little daughter, because, just like Kick-Ass, he just was obsessed with comic books and wanted to be a superhero. Hit-Girl's mother was actually very much alive!;Quote:Original post by mikemanQuote:Original post by way2lazy2care@mikeman: you're viewing it only in the socially acceptable norms though. He obviously loved his child. Were his methods extreme, yes, but I wouldn't necessarily call them abuse. Just extremely different.Well, of course I'm viewing it in the 'socially acceptable norms'...that's all anyone can do, isn't it? I don't think there's anyone that can say he has knowledge of the true nature of human beings and access to the 'absolute truth'...I'm not doubting that he loved his daughter, but unfortunately sometimes that's not enough. If you care for a person but have a completely distorted view of what's best for her, you can end up hurting her horribly. I'm still standing by my opinion that it was child abuse...of course one can say that her upbringing had some similarities to,say, ancient Sparta society, but by today's measures it was nothing sort of destructive to the kid's psyche. Oh, and an interesting note: The story was much,much more disturbing in the comic book: In the film, Big Daddy was indeed an ex-cop who got accused wrongly, went to jail, had his wife commit suicide and vowed to revenge the criminal the caused all this. In the comic book, get this: It is revealed in the end that he made the whole story up! In actuality, he was just an accountant, who invented the whole ex-cop/suicidal wife story in order to have an excuse to delve into crimefighting with his little daughter, because, just like Kick-Ass, he just was obsessed with comic books and wanted to be a superhero. Hit-Girl's mother was actually very much alive!I know the comic was significantly more messed up in the big daddy hitgirl story. I still wouldn't consider the movie relationship child abuse though.I still think it's a good story. People have too much a idealistic view of heroes. It's interesting to see the more realistic side of the coin with things like watchmen and this.;Quote:Original post by way2lazy2careI still think it's a good story. People have too much a idealistic view of heroes. It's interesting to see the more realistic side of the coin with things like watchmen and this.Well yeah...to each to his own I guess...personally I like superhero stories to remain on the 'naive' and colorful realm...where heroes and villain can be allowed to trend into gray areas, but it never gets TOO serious...and the end the 'good guy' is good and the 'bad guy' is bad...to clarify, I think like that about *superhero comics*...I actually enjoy a lot more stories where there is no clear 'good' and 'evil' side...I just don't think it fits with superhero myths...I mean costumed vigilantes just don't exist in real life, the very concept of them is idealistic, so why force them into a realistic world...it just doesn't fit.In general, I'm not really into putting them in a 'realistic' context...That's why I never really liked Watchmen...I acknowledge its artistic value...but the way I see it, you talk about politics, geopolitical balances, Nixon, Vietnam War, Kennedy assasination, nuclear war and such, and then you see the main characters walking around in silly costumes...I can allow myself to just enjoy the story for some time, but when I take some moments to reflect about what I have read/watched, the whole 'costumed hero in a realistic setting' just seems completely ridiculous, I can't shake that feeling.Same thing with Miller's 'Dark Knight Returns' really...actually much worse, I practically hate this comic(I might be the only one in the planet that hates it, apparently)...okay we get it Bruce Wayne is damaged and troubled and damned and whatever, shut up already with the narration rehashing the same concept 'I am so fucking torn inside, it hurts it hurts it hurts' over and over again. I mean...'I see a reflection Harvey...a reflection'...give me a break, I like Batman being dark, not a self-loathing deranged zombie...if you really think you're an insane murderer, go surrender yourself to Arkham and be over with it...geez.P.S. Oh another fun thing about Kick-Ass comic...the Katie story is very different...in the movie they fall in love, whereas in the comic when she finds out he's been lying about being gay, she gets mad and puts her new boyfriend to beat him up...later she keeps sending him photos of her giving blowjobs to her boyfriend just to humiliate him more :D   ;  I liked it, I agree with all the statements above.  I thought I couldnt be shocked by films anymore, but in places I was.As for the points about Big Daddy being abusive that is the point, he is totally abusive, also I heard that if the writer had his way.  Big Daddy would have been a pedophile, I think Nick Cage objected to that though.It lampoons alot of other superhero movies in a lot of ways, and finally a movie that at least recognises other movies and influences, and plays around with that a bit.  A lot of people have been saying it may redefine super hero films or make them a little harder to do, similar to what the jason bourne films did to bond.I'm glad it was made, hollywood wouldnt make it, they didnt.I liked the fact it wasnt all of only one thing, both a comedy and serious.  Things can be more than one thing, thats what I like about some asian films, but we dont do that in the west. I guess because its easier to market, and must appeal to a specific demographic.   