[8]

A dorky teenager (Aaron Johnson) decides to dress up like a superhero and help people in need. He encounters a few other kids with similar ambitions, and before you know it, you have a hyper-violent, low-rent, joyous abomination of the superhero flick. Director and co-screenwriter Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) takes some unpredictable turns, railing against our expectations to create some terrific edge-of-your-seat moments. Nothing is sacred here. When bad things happen to the movie’s child protagonists, you never know for sure if the kids will live or die. How many movies are able to genuinely keep you guessing like that? It’s no small feat.

Johnson gives a solid performance, but it’s thirteen-year-old Chloe Moretz who steals the show as Hit Girl, a foul-mouthed, ruthless assassin who splatters more blood and guts than any girl (or woman) outside of a Tarantino film. Nicolas Cage is back to his corny best in the role of Hit Girl’s dad. The father/daughter relationship is all at once horrifying and endearing, the dichotomy perfectly captured in their first scene togehter, one where ‘Big Daddy’ shoots ‘Baby Girl’ in the chest so she can learn what it feels like when bullets hit kevlar. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is also put to good use as Red Mist, a kid whose torn allegiance helps bring a little poignancy to the proceedings.

Kick-Ass is a daring, hard-R action flick, but it’s also more sophisticated and emotionally rewarding than you might imagine.