By
Bowie V. Ibarra
I bought a ticket for 'Kick Ass 2' expecting the good-times and action I enjoyed from the first one. What I got was the same in spades! Check it out. In short, Hit Girl gets Kick Ass motivated to fight crime again before she cashes out due to a promise she made to her deceased father. A recharged Kick-Ass ends up joining a stable of superheroes who go out and help the community and fight crime that's lead by an ex-mob heavy named Colonel Stars and Stripes. In doing so, they attract the attention of former ally turned super-villain, Red Mist, who has taken on the new persona, Mother Fucker. Using his family's money and a hilarious origin scene involving his mother, he recruits some of the dirtiest criminals around to get his revenge on Kick-Ass for killing his father.
And the zany hijinx begin.
I thought the movie was enjoyable. We get a little character growth in Hit Girl. She is prompted by her guardian, Det. Marcus Williams, to try and assimilate herself into high school culture and cut the Hit Girl act in spite of being literally haunted by the specter of her father in the form of his suit, which is prominently displayed in her lair throughout the movie. It turns out she shows up the 'high school' popular set and is put in her place by her so-called friends. It's also an interesting statement about the behavior of the so-called 'popular' people in western culture in the new millennium, a variation on a theme of the 'bad girls' from decades before.
Mother Fucker, played by the eternally youthful Chris Mintz-Plasse, is obnoxious, but hilarious. His 'butler', a surprise appearance by John Leguazamo, is a great voice of reason for Mother Fucker. He puts in a solid performance and acts as a good balance to MF. There's a funny scene where he calls MF out on his 'racist stereotypes' when he recruits criminals to his army.
Hit Girl brings some depth in her struggle to honor her father's memory, but deal with those adolescent special feelings when exposed to pop stars and peer pressure from the bad girls. And when she finds that balance of maturity and self-identity, its pretty hilarious how she gets her revenge on the 'bad girls'.
Jim Carrey's 'Colonel Stars and Stripes' is also very good. He's a stern born-again who takes on the masked super hero persona to get a little measure of revenge against the people he used to work for when he was a mob enforcer.
Kick-Ass had inspired many others to become super heroes and help out in the community, and they turn out to be helpful allies in the battle against Mother Fucker. A couple takes on the super hero mantle in their tireless search for their missing son. There's even a gay superhero that is played with respect, which is great to see.
The finish is also pretty hilarious. Stay 'til the very end is all I'm saying.
All in all, it was a really enjoyable movie, with relatable themes like dealing with the challenges of adolescence, redemption, courage, helping out in your community, and the love of a father.
I'm not sure what people were expecting when they went to see this movie and thought it was lame. I had a good time, and highly recommend it to people who enjoy superhero movies, humor, and action/adventure.
Seriously, who doesn't enjoy that?
And if that's the kind of movie you'd like, you should definitely look into 'Tejano Star and the Vengeance of Chaplain Skull'. It's a south Texas-themed Tex-Mexploitation superhero story in the tradition of 'Machete' and 'Black Dynamite'. The hero, Tejano Star, finds himself in dilemma when south Texas is hit by a plague of zombies.
Check it out today in kindle or paperback.
BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster. He earned a BFA in Acting and an MA in Theatre history from Texas State University.
Network with Bowie at his official website, ZombieBloodFights.com..
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