Kick Ass is my kind of mindless fun. Fun’s about the only way to describe this thing. I can’t remember the last time I’ve sat down in a theater and felt I got every last bang for my entertainment buck. This flick’s slick, funny and unapologetically violent.  Directed by Mathew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust), Kick Ass is based on a comic penned by Mark Millar, best known in comic circles for helming much of Marvel’s Ultimate imprint and creating the limited series Wanted (which was butchered on the big screen just two years ago). Kick Ass works on a lot of levels. Its a super hero parody that at once cherishes and lambastes the conventions of the medium. It’s a love letter to John Woo, but it stands quite exceptionally on its own as an ultraviolent action film. It’s got moments of pants-shittingly hilarious comedy, yet filled with some scenes of shocking darkness. Kick Ass wants it every which way, and believe me, it gets what it fucking wants.

The film revolves around an unremarkable teenager, Dave Lizewski, who after elects to become a superhero, despite having no powers and basically being the least well equipped person to do so. After a disastrous first super-heroic outing, Lizewski ends up in the hospital, with his injuries resulting in damaged pain receptors, allowing him to take a beating more severe than your average joe. He decides to give it another go, and is caught on film defending a man from a gang beating, turning his super hero alter ego, Kick Ass, into an internet sensation. As he continues his exploits, he attracts the attention of two other vigilantes, father and daughter team Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, and becomes involved in the war they are raging against local mob boss, Frank D’Amico.
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