This movie really kicks ass! No, seriously, I’m not trying to be cute. I don’t see how you could think — oh wait, yeah, I see it now. Funny. No, no, I get it. Because the movie is called Kick-Ass 2. Yeah, I totally get it. But seriously though, Kick-Ass 2 rocks! I had high hopes going into this film because the trailers have been amazing and I loved the first Kick-Ass. But this has been a summer of disappointment (*cough, Man of Steel, cough*) so maybe I was a little worried. But no need to fear. Kick-Ass 2 is just as exciting, badass, raunchy and emotionally fulfilling as the first film. Clearly there’s a lot of swearing, violence and bodily fluids, but Kick-Ass 2 is that kind of movie, and that makes for a very fun film.

Kick-Ass 2 easily lives up to the excitement of the first film, building a bigger world of superheroes and pushing the heroes’ journeys to all the right levels of awesomeness. But you probably shouldn’t try any of this at home.

Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great!

Kick-Ass 2 succeeds in taking the first film and expanding on everything. There world of superheroes gets bigger, with more regular folks putting on masks and costumes. Evil gets bigger, with the first real life super-villains. Even Kick-Ass himself gets bigger when he actually focuses on working out and learning how to fight. And the stakes are bigger than ever. People die. People we care about get hurt. People question why the hell they’re even doing this in the first place. The film does include several huge action scenes, ones that go beyond the simplicity ordinary people dressing up like superheroes, but that can be forgiven. This is still a movie, after all, not a documentary.

If you liked the first Kick-Ass, then I think you’ll love it’s sequel. Original director Matthew Vaughn is gone, replaced by Jeff Wadlow, but you won’t be able to tell the difference. These are the same characters inhabiting the same world. This is the next chapter in the lives of Dave Lizewski, Mindy Macready and the rest of these lovable goofballs. And lovable is indeed correct. Donald Faison from Scrubs plays Dr. Gravity, and he is amazing! As is Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars-and-Stripes. Really, all the new characters are a lot of fun, even the bad guys.

Join me after the jump for the full review. There will be some SPOILERS for the movie. And a tip to those who haven’t seen it: there is a scene after the credits, but it’s not that great.

I have never read the Kick-Ass comics. I flipped through the first volume, but what I saw was inferior to the film, so I didn’t bother finishing. I just like the movie better. I’m a fan of Mark MIllar’s writing, but Vaughn told the story better, and treats the characters better. I like the Kick-Ass films, including this sequel, because they are optimistic at heart. Dave Lizewski is pretty silly for wanting to dress up like a superhero and fight mobsters, but this is not a film series for nihilists. I can picture Mark Millar picking on comic book geeks, but the films don’t. The Kick-Ass movies embrace the idea that real people can dress up in costumes and make something of themselves. And while the idea is still rather insane, I like being able to believe.

It helps that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are easy to believe in.

Plus they just look smashing!

Following the events of the first film, Dave wants to continue being Kick-Ass, so he and Mindy start sneaking away from school to teach Dave how to fight. Their secret training program is interrupted, however, when Mindy’s guardian Marcus finds out and bans her from being Hit-Girl. He wants her to live the normal life of a teenage girl, and Mindy, reluctantly, accepts. So while Mindy lives out the most cliched Mean Girls situation ever, Kick-Ass starts looking into some of the new superheroes and winds up joining Justice Forever, the first real superhero team. He meets guys like Colonel Stars-and-Stripes, the former mob enforcer who found Jesus, Dr. Gravity, The Insect, Night Bitch and a nice couple who dress up to raise awareness for their missing son. They volunteer at soup kitchens, patrol the streets, and fight a little crime here and there. It’s a nice little group, and each of the members is a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching them all in action.

And secretly wish I was one of them…

Meanwhile, Chris D’Amico is still around and still very angry that Kick-Ass killed his mob boss father in the first film. So Chris uses his inheritance to become The Motherf*cker, the world’s first real super-villain. And he hires a bunch of criminal psychopaths to be his super-villain army. He also gives them horribly racist names like Black Death, Genghis Carnage and Mother Russia. It’s a funny bit. They are a very bad crew, who have no problem killing anyone who gets in their way. That’s where most of the film’s violence comes from. Justice Forever is out to have fun, but the Toxic Mega-C*nts murder, maim and really break some hearts. This movie is not for the faint of heart.

Or sissies

This is a movie for fans of superheroes. Everything is taken a face value. There is no campiness and no winks to the camera. Everyone admits that dressing up like superheroes is kind of insane, but it’s still treated with respect and admiration, at least in some circles. The members of Justice Forever are nice people. They aren’t losers and the film doesn’t spend any time mocking them. I like that about the movie. I am a man who loves superheroes, and the movie clearly loves them too. Though knowing the harsh nature of the Kick-Ass universe, there is always a sense of dread that something bad is going to happen to them. That raises the stakes of pretty much every single scene.

The phrase ‘nice guys finish last’ is made for movies like this.

The stars of the film are clearly Kick-Ass, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Hit-Girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz. (What’s with the 3-part names?) Kick-Ass continues to be a fun character, and he has to grow up a lot in this movie. High school may as well be a thing of the past for this young man, who believes he has found his calling in life. This is a deeply human journey for Dave, and you want to see him succeed and do good. At least I do. He’s a very likable character, and that is to the movie’s benefit.

Maybe some people want to watch a movie mocking Kick-Ass, but not me. He’s a hero!

Crazy old Jim Carrey seems to think so

Hit-Girl’s storyline isn’t as much fun as Kick-Ass’. Whereas he gets to join a superhero team, Hit-Girl is forced to live through a cheap, cliched high school story filled with boys, snotty popular girls and cheerleader tryouts. When she gives up her costumed identity, she is immediately plugged into the typical popular girl clique, with all of the traditional characters. There’s a blonde, uppity, rich, cheerleader who is so cliched she might as well be called Heather McMeanGirls. And of course, this character has two snotty best friends/followers, one of whom is appropriately ethnic. The amount of cliche in these scenes is almost painful. But once Hit-Girl ditches that storyline, she returns to brilliance. The fight scene on top of the speeding van from the trailers is as good as it looks.

All of her action scenes are

The villains are pretty good, and they serve their purpose. The Motherf*cker is suitably insane, and you can buy his motivations for doing what he does. He’s a spoiled brat who has been pushed over the edge, and turning into a super-villain is how his insanity chooses to deal with the situation. His team of evil bastards is kind of funny, and they get some good laughs, even though they are mostly vicious monsters.

Kick-Ass 2 embraces its superhero premise, and it’s great. The first film was all about ordinary people becoming superheroes, and this film expands that idea to include classic tropes like super-teams, super-villains, secret lairs and more. And it does so flawlessly. Kick-Ass 2 is entertaining from beginning to end, even the silly scenes of Hit-Girl in high school. They’re still entertaining because Hit-Girl is a fun character, and because it ends in a way you wouldn’t expect, but fits perfectly into the raunchy Kick-Ass universe. And it is a universe in the traditional comic book sense. The Kick-Ass films have created their world with its set rules, and Kick-Ass 2 has a lot of fun in this world or ordinary people playing at being superheroes and villains.

And on a personal note, I found Ass-Kicker – the Bizarro version of Kick-Ass – to be delightful. This is a movie that loves comic books as much as I do.

Oh yes, this happens

———————–