Comic book movies are big business.   Production companies have been looking for the next big movie series since movies like BATMAN, X-MEN, BATMAN BEGINS, and SIN CITY have been generating lots of money for movie studios.   KICK-ASS looks like that next big thing.  It is based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.  

KICK-ASS follows Dave Lizewski (Johnson), a teenage comic-book fan who is nothing special, and he asks why there are no costumed heroes in the real world.  He decides to become one called Kick-Ass only to become an internet sensation and be way over-his-head.   Enter Damon Macready (Cage) who has been training his daughter Mindy to be an unstoppable 13 year old killing machine.  Damon wants to bring down big New York crime boss Frank D’Amico (Strong) who framed Damon for a crime that he didn’t do which resulted in Damon losing his job as a police detective and his wife overdosing on pills.   Damon has become a sociopathic vigilante and he trains his daughter by shooting bullets at her while she is wearing a bulletproof vest and giving her weapons for her birthday.  They are Big Daddy and Hit Girl as they strike at D’Amico’s operation bit by bit. 

Hit Girl piles up the bodies as she is the unstoppable girl.  She is like an anime/ comic book hero by the way of what if Batman had a daughter he trained for years.  Hit Girl might be the result if Batman had a twisted sense of values when it comes to taking out bad guys.  Big Daddy dresses up in a Batman-like costume and is just as deadly as his daughter.  Hit Girl is the embodiment of everyone who loves a film where the female kicks ass with style.   She is the character you expect to see in a Hong Kong/ Chinese action martial arts film.

Dave Lizewski gets himself in the middle of Big Daddy’s and Hit Girl’s war against the D’Amico crime operation.   Dave wants nothing of it- he just wants the girl who mistakes him for being gay (the only part of the story that I hated).   KICK-ASS has humor and tons of carnage.   It is an action movie fan’s wet dream.   It uses colors not usually associated with a comic book movie.  It bucks conventions while also taking cues from comic books and Asian action films.   It does get over-the-top towards the end, but then costumed heroes are over-the-top anyway.   I would love to see another film in the KICK-ASS universe.   Also the music score rocks in addition to the excellent direction by Matthew Vaughn who has outdone himself since his last comic book adaptation (STARDUST).   See KICK-ASS and prepared to be blown away by it’s in your face humor and action.