"Kick-Ass" Movie Review: The Good & The Bad

Critics are debating the genre of "Kick-Ass," some calling it a super-cool comic-book adaptation, that is not meant for serious viewing, some calling the move disturbingly violent and dehumanizing for putting an 11-year-old girl in the middle of violence.

So lets get on with "Kick-Ass" review. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, the movie satirizes and worships superhero conventions. The movie is either extremely cool or extremely disturbing.

Aaron Johnson is in the role of the title hero named Dave Lizewski. He is a nerdy high-school kid who dreams of becoming a superhero someday. Lizewski buys a wet suit with a mask and starts training to become a superhero and fight crime. He starts disastrously by getting stabbed and hitting a car. After coming out of hospital, the hero loses his pain receptors deadened and his broken bones held together with "more metal in me than Wolverine."

But, he continued fighting street criminals and soon becomes a YouTube sensation. His crush, Katie (played by petite Lyndsy Fonseca), thinks he's gay and wises to become Lizewski’s new best friend. Nicolas Cage, who has played the role of a Batman-like vigilante called Big Daddy, becomes interested in Kick-Ass' exploits and sends his young daughter Hit Girl (played by Chloe Grace Moretz), to fight some drug dealers, who are planning to kill Kick-Ass.

A crime boss (Mark Strong) also wants to kill Kick-Ass. Boss's son (Christopher Mintz-Plesse) devises a superhero persona named Red Mist to kill Kick-Ass into an ambush. The crime boss is also seeking vengeance against Big Daddy is seeking vengeance.

The movie has some disturbing scenes between Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Action is good. Moretz has acted well.