Tom Reviews "Kick Ass"

Tom's Corner:

Kick-Ass
(2010 Matthew Vaughn – dir.)

I sometimes ask myself why I continue to see comic book movies, especially those based on characters I particularly take to heart. For every triumph like Christopher Nolan's pair of Batman films, there's an abject failure like Mark Steven Johnson's Daredevil. Y'know why fans didn't like Daredevil (besides the inclusion of useless so-called “actor” Ben Affleck...is Kevin Smith the only one who can get half watchable work out of this dickbag? Comment if you have an answer)? Because, simply put, Daredevil violated the sacred principle of changing too much. In the movie, he kills (yeah I'm aware of recent events but that was then and this is now), and uses his powers to flirt with Jennifer Garner in broad daylight. Also, too much story was crammed in.

What does this happen to have to do with Kick-Ass, which is based on an 8 issue Marvel Comics limited series? Well, much like its douchebag headlined predecessor, this fails to be faithful, and in fact skews a little south of a little place I like to call reality. But, I hear you thinking, or perhaps yelling at your monitor, why should a superhero movie be realistic? Well, look at the special feature interviews with Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., the creators of the characters. Millar and Romita both say that the comic was meant to be what would realistically happen if some crazy fanboy decided to dress up and actually play superhero. In this humble writer's opinion, they wildly succeeded in doing this on the printed page. The movie...well, that's another story.

Here's some of the changes that get me, and one of them is a problem I have had with MANY Hollywood adaptations of comics, books, video games, and board games. Why does EVERY FUCKING STORY HAVE TO HAVE A LOVE INTEREST?!?!?!?!?! In the comic, Dave Lizewski (AKA Kick-Ass, played by Aaron Johnson) finally gets to talk to the girl of his dreams, Katie Deauxma (played by Lyndsy Fonseca) and have her talk back to him: it's because she thinks he's gay. When he finally tells her he's not gay and he's loved her and wanted to get close to her, she screams 'Fuck You!' and a guy friend beats Dave's ass. In the movie, Dave shows up in costume, and she fucks him. Which is more realistic? Support your answer and show your work.

The changes to Big Daddy's back story and motivations left me cold as well. In the comic, he's an accountant and comic fan who hated his life and his wife and only claims he's an ex-cop whose wife was killed by the mob (slightly different in the movie, except he IS an ex-cop who was framed by the mob). In my opinion, the comic version is a better take, more realistic, and since it WORKS, they should have STUCK with it.

Also, Red Mist, secretly Chris Genovese (D'Amico in the movie, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse), son of the mob boss John Genovese (Frank D'Amico, played by Mark Strong) was much more of an asshole and a planner. Having him go from screaming 'Kick-Ass I'm sorry' to wanting to beat the hell out of his “hero” just plain don't work.

In the end, I'd advise that you read the comic for yourself and see which you end up liking better. If it's not the comic, well then, you and I have a difference of opinion, but I'm right.

- Tom