(7) KICKASS

(2010. Yeah – I’m not counting the sequel, even if I don’t think it was as bad as the reviewers did)

“With no power comes no responsibility. Except that’s not true.”

Kick-Ass was a 2010 superhero black comedy, that similarly to Kingsman, was directed by Matthew Vaughn and was based on a comic of the same name by Mark Millar. And just as Kingsman was a playful and subversive parody of spy films (and James Bond in particular), Kickass was a playful and subversive parody of superhero films – “along the way it manages to deconstruct pretty much every superhero trope out there…and then reconstructs (them)”. Also like Kingsman, it had a sequel (in 2013) which didn’t quite live up to the original – but even more so hence I’m not counting it in this entry.

Dave Lizewski is an ordinary high school student, who sets out to become a real-life superhero. His first attempt…doesn’t go well, but the treatment for injury has the fortunate(?) side effect of invulnerability of sorts – slightly that is, with slightly more endurance to pain (due to damaged nerve endings) and his bones reinforced by metal. And having literally embodied Nietzsche’s aphorism that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (although more often than not, it doesn’t) – Dave sets out even more to embody Nietzsche’s superman, amusingly with a wetsuit as his costume and the imaginative pseudonym of Kick-Ass. However, he’s still not much better, but luckily gets a little help from a more experienced pair of vigilantes, Big Daddy and the awesome Hit Girl – but unluckily gets caught up in their bigger fight against a crime boss.

In the words of Empire magazine reviewer Chris Hewitt, Kickass (and to a lesser extent its sequel) was “a ridiculously entertaining, perfectly paced, ultra-violent cinematic rush that kicks the places other movies struggle to reach”.

FANTASY OR SF

Between the two, I’ll go with SF because of the complete absence of any fantasy or fantastic tropes, but this entry is the least fantasy or SF in my top ten as it is closest to our own reality.

COMEDY

Comedy – particularly superhero parody.

RATING: 

B-TIER (HIGH-TIER)