KICK-ASS
4 out of 5 stars

i felt like hit girl was the TRUE ass-kicker in this flick about masked superheroes taking on new york city's drug kingpin... ;)


regular joe/semi-loser high school kid dave lizewski (aaron johnson- whoa...he's british?!) decides the days of getting his ass mugged and kicked on the streets were enough. he buys himself a green wetsuit and a set of batons, and transforms himself into...kick-ass, a crime-fightin' superhero! problem is that he's got no special powers nor is he probably trained to defend himself against tough criminals, but he learns that he's not the only masked vigilante in town. hit girl, a potty-mouthed 11 year old girl and her father, big daddy (nicolas cage doing his best adam west impersonation) reveal themselves and come to kick-ass's aid, when a confrontation with a drug dealer comes terribly wrong... of course, with every superhero is a villain! drug kingpin frank d'amico (the always terrific mark strong) rules the drug trade with his iron fist, and puts a hit out on kick-ass after he finds out he killed one of his dealers. frank's son chris (mclovin'!) convinces his father that if he can transform himself into red mist, kick-ass will friend him and then they can trap him... now, does the plan work? you'll see... ;)

like i said: BEST parts are when hit girl fights all the baddies in this movie. they could have just done a movie with just her, for all i care! her scenes are INCREDIBLE... (filled with loads of action, violence, and cunning maneuvers) i also think they did a great job casting mark strong as the "villain of choice", since he can transform himself into such great character. LOVE him for that... the movie is very violent and is definitely done in the style of a great comic book. actually, one of my favorite scenes is the "flashback" of big daddy's past, which is done in animated form. reminds me of the anime featured in kill bill vol. 1, and this is just as good... i hear that matthew vaughan (the director) will be filming a kick-ass 2 premiering next year. CAN'T WAIT!