Kick-Ass

An ultra-violent action fantasy, adapted from a graphic novel by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., director Matthew Vaughn's comic-book-action film finds Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson)—a geeky Manhattan sad-sack loser teen who yearns to be a superhero—donning a goofy green-and-yellow costume (actually a scuba-diving wetsuit) and heading out onto the mean streets to fight crime. Combating a couple of local thugs, Dave's first outing is not only disastrous but almost fatal, landing him in the hospital. Months later, having undergone extensive reconstructive surgery that renders him immune to feeling pain, Dave heads back into action as Kick-Ass, and winds up getting his ass mostly kicked, but a bystander with a cell phone captures the encounter and puts the clip up on YouTube, where Dave becomes a Web sensation. But now there's competition. Dave is certainly not as adept as the new father-daughter vigilante team of former cop Damon Macready and pint-sized preteen Mindy—aka Big Daddy and Hit-Girl (an over-the-top Nicolas Cage and 11-year-old scene stealer Chloë Grace Moretz), who deliver some of the film's most gruesome bloodletting with carefree abandon. Plus there's another masked crusader: nerdy Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), aka Red Mist, and his father, Frank (Mark Strong), a dastardly mobster/villain. Meanwhile, Dave is hoping to impress comely classmate Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca). A slick, savvy send-up of action movie clichés, this brazen, amped-up, pop-culture blast of a film is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Matthew Vaughn, “It's On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass” featurette (21 min.), an art gallery featuring posters, storyboards, costume designs, photos and production designs, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an interactive “Ass-Kicking” BonusView viewing mode, “A New Kind of Superhero” series of “making-of” featurettes (113 min. total), the BD-Live function, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)