Anticipate Kick Ass (Cage, Mintz-Plasse, some dude and an adorable little girl) with me, and enjoy violence.

I think I started a thred for one, but I guess not so here's the stuff:

http://www.pajiba.com/trailers/kickass-trailer.php

http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/new-kickass-clip.php

http://www.pajiba.com/trailers/kickass-red-band-trailer.php

deeply disturbing, but I'll probably go see it

The last issue still hasn't come out yet, has it? I wonder if they're holding it to build up momentum for the movie.

hey somebody else reads pajiba

some dude is in this movie??

Huh. The lead in this movie is engaged to Sam Taylor-Wood, 23 years his senior.

I don't like to self-promote my own projects on here, but I'm glad to see people are anticipating the movie.

wait, what

This was kinda fun when it was dorky kid trying to be a super hero, kinda creepy and weird when it was 11 year old girl committing mass murder.

I preferred the Hit Girl (and Dad) stuff to the Kick-Ass stuff tbh. I did loool at Nic Cage's poor Adam West impression especially.

Fucking great fun.

i wanna see this.

I'm thoroughly astonished that this thread hasn't gone nuts.

it night, after the U.S release

might

looks promising, I'll watch it

this was fucking immense. hit girl was the best.

"that's a weird sounding buzooka" :DDDDDDDDDD

Awkward interview with a very nervy Aaron Johnson on Jonathan Ross earlier. But with him and Laura Marling, witnessing artistic achievements by people born in the nineteen nineties is bringing me up short a little.

Anyway, a week on I still think this is just okay. One problem is that we never really get to the bottom of just why Johnson's character wants to become Kick-Ass, other than to break away from his teenage listlessness and shyness.
I liked the idea that Kick-Ass was, at some points, playing Hong Kong Phooey to Hit Girl's Spot the cat - he thinks he's the hero, goes charging in, is quickly out of his depth, then has the day saved for him by an unlikely source, but gets all the attention anyway. This aspect wasn't pushed nearly hard enough though.

(Question with SPOILER-ish element): Has any other superhero movie/thing made a gag out of people mistaking the superhero's secret identity for homosexuality?

This was a lot of fun. Today's Guardian thinks a major boundary has been crossed with Hit Girl's C-Bomb (which isn't that great of a gag, but it got a gasp out of the audience I saw it with). Nitpick: Aaron Johnson's occasionally strange American accent was distracting (namely his pronunciation of the word "superhero" as "soopa-hero," which happens every two minutes). Cage actually seems to have some idea of what he's doing there, which is refreshing.

cage always knows what he's doing, it us idiots who can't keep up with him

I'm thoroughly astonished that this thread hasn't gone nuts.

Me too. I liked this a lot...

So did no-one else find the idea of bringing up a child to be a remorseless vigilante killer just a little o_O ?

Well, it's meant to be deliberately shocking - and I think the film plays it well.

It's naturally shocking, certainly, but aside from the old partner going 'hmmm i question your parenting choices', by the end the film pretty much accepts it as superhero business-as-usual. The boss fight is presented as straightforward baddies v goodies, and even though the kid ends up going to school they don't say anything about her hanging up her costume.

Awkward interview with a very nervy Aaron Johnson on Jonathan Ross earlier.

I didn't realise "nervy" was coke's equivalent of "tired and emotional".

I seem to be the only person so far who doesn't like this film very much. C'mon Morbs, help me out.

I am unsurprised Cage is in this film.

Cage is one of the best things about it.

wish there would be a pinter-esque sequel set in hit girl's therapists office.

this was bad

How so?

it lokks like a film i'd enjoy - but will probably forget all about it once i'd leave the theatre.
conclusion - wait for netflix.

Never understood that response. Not sure I want to watch this - I'll watch it on DVD in a few months time. Why not see it on the big screen with an appreciative audience and get the best out of the film. I mean, if you're gonna pay to see it anyway...

this had some majorly dragging sections, boring violence, heavy mugging, lame refs, mclovin

thought the hit girl actress good and the general idea good with plenty potential for unlame refs etc but was bad

(Question with SPOILER-ish element): Has any other superhero movie/thing made a gag out of people mistaking the superhero's secret identity for homosexuality?

― Shannon Whirry and the Bad Brains, Friday, April 2, 2010 8:11 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

last season of Venture Bros. had a whole episode about 'Captain Sunshine' who everyone thought had impure intentions for his boy sidekick

every time i see an ad for this movie i feel confused about there being an 'anticipate' thread for it, doesn't seem like the kind of thing that usually generates excitement on ILE

idk, the comic-book-nerd-o-sphere has kinda blown up over this hasn't it?

got big recommendations from fairly trusted friends. came back from seeing it and found that Kermode loved it and Peter Bradshaw gave it five stars. people that liked it are pointing out the very things I don't like about it.

has it? maybe it has. i haven't heard a single thing about this movie outside of TV commercials and this thread, and i don't follow movies that closely but usually things seem unavoidable even to me if they're a big deal.

example: http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/tag/kick-ass

i dunno - w/in comic bk nerdom - or even on gd ole I Love Comics - Mark Millar is not exactly universally adored, and old fart fans in particular seem to loathe him (and Grant Morrison) for vulgarising/vandalising their beloved superhero 'icons'. i wld say that KICK ASS (the movie) appeals much more to Brit lad mainstream moviegoers who are broadly familiar w/ both graphic novels and things like LOCK STOCK, SNATCH, SEXY BEAST etc etc. It's getting a lot of play here in the UK because it is - financing apart - pretty much made by and starring britishes, so there's this tremendous will for it to be a hit, for us to 'beat their yanks at their own game', that kind of bs.

as for the film itself, i thought the first half hour was ok - just ok - and the rest pretty terrible - predictable and trite, cynical and pandering, really ugly and cheap looking. the tone seemed very uncertain - parody? refurbishing genre exercise? - and all the gangster stuff esp. was incredibly weak.

^^^almost putting me off seeing it there.

Yeah the Mark Millar nastiness (which was actually played down a bit for the movie version of Wanted) makes me not really want to bother with this, as a comic fan. I haven't seen much from the comic, but it seemed like this (and the upcoming Nemesis thing, which isn't even out!) went straight from comic book to movie development before even a single trade's worth of issues is available, which makes me more suspicious.

"appreciative audience" = ppl who laugh at traffic accidents

There were moments in the early part of the movie that were great, but the best bits later on were all about Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, which totally devalued what was good about the early part. In the end, I couldn't be fucked with the character of Kick Ass at all.

^^ this seems pretty true to the book. also the painfully generic "mobsters"

Slant review basically sums up my problems with it.

basically OTM though major spoiler in the first graf is kinda an asshole move

This reminds me tons of The Professional. I really want to see it.

guess i should have wrote 'spoiler', although if what you're talking about is what i think you're talking about, it's not really a spoiler if you've seen the trailer.

i didn't mean asshole move on your part! is that really outed in the trailer? it's not like it's a big reveal in the book either but it's at least ostensibly a "surprise!!11!"

"appreciative audience" = ppl who laugh at traffic accidents
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, April 9, 2010 12:32 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark

People are just okay with this kind of statement? This is okay because it's just "Morbs" or whatever?

what's the problem? this is obv braindead shit.

pretty classic morbs tbh xpost

That comment that has weirdly irked you was in re a specific post about how important it is to see this kinda tripe with a full house of groundlings.

^
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2075/2431613014_9e852a4805.jpg

That comment that has weirdly irked you was in re a specific post about how important it is to see this kinda tripe with a full house of groundlings.

See it with friends.

Went with it. Had fun. The buzz will wear off, I'm sure, but I doubt I'll rate this much below Spiderman 2, et al. Seems to me, tho, this one in particular is not really meant for comic book fans.

I am going to see Fassbinder's World on a Wire with friends.

obv

Saw this on opening night. Loved it. Thoughts (AND SPOILERS BELOW):

*I'm not familiar with the source material, but I'm glad the film turned out different from the trailer. Something endearing about a black comedy about a low rent superhero who sucks at his job and pretends to be gay to get closer to chicks.

*Loved Hit-Girl's performance. In addition to the audience-slaying lines, she had a lot of heart, and her chemistry with Cage was great.

*I generally hate Nicholas Cage, but he was awesome in this. And really fucking funny, especially with the voice/speech-style he adopted for his 'superhero' character.

*Is it me, or were there a ridiculous amount of extremely attractive girls/women in this movie? Whether it was the woman in the red dress who got iced by Hit Girl, Lyndsy Fonseca, Sophie Wu....good lord!

*I enjoyed the dark shift in tone towards the end, as they still managed to pepper it with humor.

*Dr. Morbs can eat a dick

just not yours; suffer.

http://www.wrestlingdeals.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/wwe-ric-flair.jpg

Confused that the Manfred Mann song that bookended the film was credited as "performed by The Prodigy". Sounded like the original to me.

"temixing" = "performing"

welp this got killed at the box office

bad luck nerds

whut

was #1 in the friday estimates on b.o. mojo

Not pulling down 3D dollars, but still

Could've reached #0 if it had been in 3D

made over 7 million on friday and thursday night. for a film that only cost about 30 i think they're sitting pretty.

the sane and rational ms finke disagrees:

http://www.deadline.com/2010/04/first-box-office-disappoints-galore/

this wasn't very good

lol, you guys fall for that "#1" shit for the film that opens in the most theaters, huh

hahah

also memo: Hollywood films cost at least $50 M to market

not really proof that this film wasn't #1 in gross ticket sales for the week, but thanks

glad that fact makes you moist.

hey i just think for a movie to get "killed" in the box office something should be standing above it, gun in hand.

never thought this was going to be a blockbuster personally, the snakes-on-a-plane thing where you excited a web audience that either downloads illegally or isn't old enough to get in.

also there are three movies playing in more theaters this weekend, two in 3D. a funeral party seems a little ott.

Dr. Morbs in blowing our minds with common sense shockah

"an R-rated kids in spandex pic confused the marketplace" sounds right to me; if not for this thread the ads would've totally had me thinking this was some Spy Kids shit

From ILComics:

Not for the first time, I wish I was gay and svelte. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/04/17/the-superhero-gay-set-of-new-york/

― Well, because whatever happened changed him. (Dr. Superman), Saturday, April 17, 2010 5:38 PM (1 minute ago)

glad that superheroes make you moist.

Ebert keeps tweeting about how much he hates it.

well, he sure as heck can't TALK about it....

Ouch.

just saw it, mixed feelings. it's obviously not a great film, but some of it worked, and especially the scenes with hit girl had a lot of zazz. can't help thinking that the outrage is mostly a kneejerk little-girls-shouldn't reaction, no matter how well intended. i was already thinking about the runaways even before "bad reputation" came on during the big shootout.

more fun than any batman or spiderman movie of the last 15 years. (granted, in my estimation, that's not saying a lot.)

(also, when dude was in the kick ass costume, i kept forgetting he wasn't jason schwartzman.)

It's kinda funny, I didn't care for the movie much, but really really enjoyed the last 15 minutes or so. It finally felt like the characters and the story were starting to gel. Also *SPOILER*loved the main baddie's death by bazooka*SPOILER*. Too little, too late though. :-/

the u.s. conference of catholic bishops finds it morally offensive...

ILE likes three movies a year, which are apparently decided at a box luncheon in May....

Not sure whether to post this here or the Ebert thread, but Lane also condemning fans.

The standard defense of such material is that we are watching “cartoon violence,” but, when filmmakers nudge a child into viewing savagery as slapstick, are we not allowing them to do what we condemn in the pornographer—that is, to coarsen and inflame?

is coarsen and inflame new yorkerese for "give us a boner"?

I have no real opinion on this movie one way or the other but ppl realize that the actress playing Hit Girl is a teenager and not an actual 10-year-old, right?

she was 11 when she shot it and is now 13

for all my snickering at ebert et al i'll admit this does qualify as "kinda fucked up"

Ah. Well, still don't really care since she is an actress and presumably aware that what she's doing isn't real.

Also has no one seen those old horror comics from the 40s, which are basically exactly the same as what Millar is doing with Kick-Ass only with more zombies?

did any critics get up in arms about Orphan? That movie made child actors do all kinds of weird shit, which is something I can understand critics and audiences alike not desiring in their night at the movies, even if the "hey wuss, it's not real" argument should def be considered before people start wagging fingers.

hi dere, i'm guessing that you mean the EC comics that were published in the 1950s - in which case, they were actually doing VERY different things from KICK ASS (EC had a much more liberal/socially progressive agenda than Millar, for one thing)

from the lane review:

Many viewers, no question, will be jazzed up by the sensory sugar rush of this, but it’s worth asking, once the movie has calmed down, whether we have witnessed a silly mismatch of innocence and experience, to be relished for its gross-out verve, or a formidable exercise in cynicism.

i'm not sure this is even an either/or question. and in "many viewers" i assume he's including himself, or he wouldn't single out that scene. i don't know, all these liberal dudes getting all freaked out, it's interesting to me. he even mentions home alone, but he doesn't make the logical step that pop culture has been paving the way for hit girl for at least a few decades. she's really just the power puff girls with an R rating.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/kick-ass-sneaks-ahead-of-dragon-in-box-office-race/

kudos to morbs on his "moist" deployment upthread

200k up is kind of a photo finish. the point being, who gives a shit one way or another

hi dere, i'm guessing that you mean the EC comics that were published in the 1950s - in which case, they were actually doing VERY different things from KICK ASS (EC had a much more liberal/socially progressive agenda than Millar, for one thing)

I was more talking about the depiction of gross stuff than actual authorial intent.

this is one of those movies where the people decrying it and the people defending it seem to be in super annoying challops mode

this movie looks shitty and all this makes me want to see it even less

I saw a red band trailer of hit Girl going nuts that basically really REALLY made me want to see it, after reading the book itself made me go "ugh no thanks"

initially I mostly just wanted to see this for McLovin but the "controversy" around this movie has made it sound really stupid - not fond of either the pro or anti arguments presented, I must say

It is kind of hilarious to me that flipping through the book was wholly repellent and off-putting, but flipping through three red-band trailers was "oh wow that looks great" and actually toned down a lot of the violence.

it's not more violent than ... lots of other stuff. nobody would even be talking about the level of violence if it weren't for the little-girl-berserker angle. and that the little-girl-berserker scenes are by far the best things in the movie, which is what i guess people like ebert and the anthonys can't deal with.

it's not a great or deep or empowering movie or any of that, but if you think a purple-haired 11-yr-old girl jumping off of walls and doing crazy ninja shit to creepy thugs might be kinda entertaining, then this is the movie for you. (if you don't think that might be kinda entertaining, i don't know what's wrong with you.)

the moral outrage stuff is interesting, but it didn't have any bearing on what i thought of the film. basically i think the problem is that it isn't very good. the hit-girl/big daddy stuff is the best, but those few action scenes don't make up for the other hour and forty minutes of annoying, unfunny dreck.

i didn't hate the rest of it -- basically an indie-nerd comedy with tarantino flourishes -- but yeah, it was mostly an excuse to get to the nic cage/chloe moretz stuff.

Ebert was also pretty offended by the foul-mouthed, murderous 12 year old in Robocop 2, so at least dude seems consistent with some of this stuff. From his review:

I didn't much like "RoboCop 2" (the use of that killer child is beneath contempt), but I've gotta hand it to them: It's strange how funny it is, for a movie so bad. Or how bad, for a movie so funny.

Didn't find this particularly exhilarating or tiresome, but about a third of the way through I realized how dim Ebert's "satire of WHAT?" complaint is. I don't know if he's a comic geek or not, but he should still be aware there's a little boy in short shorts a father figure taught to tackle with the worst kinds of killers, and that the inherent fucked-upness of that is played up pretty well by making the prepubescent warrior a girl who's just as lethal.

is that satire?

debatable, i dunno if the makers mean it as criticism of child sidekicks in comic books (the unclear motives in the unsatisfying mix of cartoon and realism is part of why it was hard to really feel for or against this movie), but it can easily be read as such and that aspect is definitely a burlesque.

I thought this was disappointing, but that'll teach me to believe the hype. Felt that a lot of characters and details were skipped over, and that the whole "unlikely superhero" thing has been done a lot better. Could've done with being a bit deeper, but then I've been spoilt by Watchmen, Promethea etc and I realise this is supposed to be quite a bit more light-hearted.

One weird thing about this - in the comic it turns out that Cage's character isn't actually a cop, just some crazy comic-book collector who concocted his whole "secret origin". Kind of puts a different spin on things when you realize that Hit-Girl has been made into what she is by a crazed fantasist who is not the hero which the film paints him as. Actually makes it less controversial.

loved the Cage ownage scene with the 28 days later music

Yeh, kind of an empty film, but it distracted me for a couple of hours. Loved the FPS bit with hit girl taking everyone out.

this wasn't very good

not funny enough and too much violence, frankly, and too long. but it had it's moments. most of them in the first half of the film. really lost me once Cage was dead.

One weird thing about this - in the comic it turns out that Cage's character isn't actually a cop, just some crazy comic-book collector who concocted his whole "secret origin". Kind of puts a different spin on things when you realize that Hit-Girl has been made into what she is by a crazed fantasist who is not the hero which the film paints him as. Actually makes it less controversial.

― Number None, Wednesday, May 12, 2010

fwiw i thought cage's (ahem) choices in his role really spelled out nicely that he represented the 1.0 release of the path our hero was starting down.