Kick-Ass (film)

Kick-Ass
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Matthew Vaughn
Produced by	Matthew Vaughn Brad Pitt Kris Thykier Adam Bohling Tarquin Pack David Reid
Written by	Matthew Vaughn Jane Goldman Mark Millar (Comic book) John Romita, Jr. (Comic book illustrator)
Narrated by	Aaron Johnson
Starring	Aaron Johnson Christopher Mintz-Plasse Chloë Grace Moretz Nicolas Cage Mark Strong
Music by	John Murphy Henry Pryce Jackman Marius de Vries Ilan Eshkeri
Cinematography	Ben Davis
Editing by	Pietro Scalia Jon Harris Eddie Hamilton
Studio	Marv Films Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures Lionsgate
Release date(s)	26 March 2010 (2010-03-26) (United Kingdom) 16 April 2010 (2010-04-16) (United States)
Running time	117 minutes[1]
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$28 million[2][3]
Gross revenue	$96,043,739[4][5]

Kick-Ass is a 2010 superhero film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who co-produced the film with actor Brad Pitt, and co-wrote the screenplay with Jane Goldman. The film's general release was on 26 March 2010 in the United Kingdom and on 16 April 2010 in the United States.

The film tells the story of an ordinary teenager, Dave, who sets out to become a real-life superhero calling himself Kick-Ass. Dave gets caught up in a bigger fight when he meets Big Daddy, a former cop who, in his quest to bring down the evil drug lord Frank D'Amico, has trained his 10-year-old daughter to be the ruthless vigilante Hit-Girl.

Kick-Ass has generated some controversy for its profanity and violence, particularly for the character Hit-Girl. The film received mostly positive reviews.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Development 4 Ratings 5 Filming 6 Music 6.1 Soundtrack 6.2 Score 7 Release 8 Controversy 9 Reception 9.1 Critical response 9.2 Box office 10 Home media 11 Video games 12 Sequels 13 References 14 External links

Plot

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a normal teenager who wonders why nobody has ever decided to become a superhero like the ones in the comic books, so he decides to become a real-life superhero, despite having no superpowers or training. During his first attempt to fight crime, Dave is beaten, stabbed, and hit by a car. Some of Dave's nerve endings are damaged as a result, giving him an enhanced capacity to endure pain, and metal plates are placed in his skeleton to support his bones. After a painful recovery, Dave returns to school only to find out that his longtime crush, Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca), is interested in him, but only because she thinks he is gay. Dave goes along with this in an effort to spend time with her.

Undeterred by his setback, Dave continues to patrol the streets. One night, he comes upon a gang fight and defends the single victim from his attackers. A bystander records the event, as well as Dave calling himself "Kick-Ass". The video becomes a YouTube phenomenon, and Dave sets up a MySpace account so people can contact Kick-Ass.

Katie tells Dave that she is being harassed by a drug dealer, so he convinces her to ask Kick-Ass for help. Kick-Ass tracks down the drug dealer to deliver a warning, but is subdued by the dealer's henchmen, who appear intent on killing him. He is rescued by child costumed vigilante Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who kills his attackers and then leaves with her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage). They later easily track down Kick-Ass, and inform him that they can work together, and they will keep in contact.

Big Daddy is revealed to be Damon Macready, a former cop who was framed by local crime syndicate leader Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) because D'Amico saw him as a threat to his organization. While Damon was in prison, his wife overdosed on sleeping pills and died shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Mindy. After his release, Damon trained Mindy to fight crime as Hit-Girl and he became Big Daddy.

Believing Kick-Ass to be responsible for damage done to his organization, D'Amico orders his men to find and eliminate him. After D'Amico kills an imposter dressed as Kick-Ass, his nerdy son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), suggests a different approach. Chris will pose as a superhero named Red Mist to trick Kick-Ass into trusting him, and lead him into a trap. Red Mist meets Kick-Ass, bringing him to D'Amico's warehouse to "ambush" his men. Instead, they find the building on fire with everyone inside dead. Red Mist retrieves surveillance footage which shows that Big Daddy is responsible.

Realizing the seriousness of his situation, Dave wants to quit being Kick-Ass. He tells Katie the truth, and she understands and eventually becomes his girlfriend. Some time later, Dave finds urgent messages from Red Mist, requesting they meet, and to find Hit-Girl and Big Daddy. Kick-Ass leads Red Mist to one of the Macready's safe houses, with D'Amico's men following. Red Mist shoots Hit-Girl, knocking her out of a window. Big Daddy and Kick-Ass are captured and taken to a warehouse to be tortured in a live Internet broadcast. Kick-Ass and Big Daddy are severely beaten, and Big Daddy is set on fire, when Hit-Girl, who survived by wearing a bulletproof vest, arrives and kills the gangsters. Big Daddy is badly burned and dies from his injuries. Kick-Ass tries to convince Hit-Girl to quit, but she plans to finish what her father had started, and Kick-Ass reluctantly agrees to help.

Posing as a schoolgirl, Mindy enters D'Amico's headquarters and kills most of the henchmen in the penthouse, but runs out of ammunition. Just as one of D'Amico's thugs is about to shoot her with a SMAW rocket launcher stolen from Macready's safe house, Kick-Ass, armed with a jet pack fitted with gatling guns that Big Daddy had purchased prior to his death, kills the remaining men. He then takes on Red Mist and they knock each other out. Hit-Girl fights D'Amico, but she is eventually overwhelmed. As D'Amico is about to shoot Hit-Girl, a revived Kick-Ass fires the bazooka, blasting D'Amico out of the window where he explodes in mid-air. Red Mist comes around to find Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl leaving on the jet pack.

Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass retire from crime fighting to live a more normal life. Mindy, now in the custody of Damon's ex-partner Sergeant Marcus Williams, enrolls at Dave's school. Dave explains a new wave of superheroes have been inspired by his endeavor. In the final shot, Red Mist, having taken over his father's business, dons a new mask and declares war on the new hero population quoting the Joker, "as a great man once said, 'Wait'll they get a load of me'".

Cast

• Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass.
• Nicolas Cage as Damon Macready/Big Daddy. Brad Pitt, the film's producer, was considered for the role. Vaughn described Cage's performance as a little bit Elvis and a little bit Adam West. A character in the film even says his costume looks like that of Batman.^[2]
• Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl. Vaughn commented on the maturity of Moretz, who said that because she has four older brothers, she was no stranger to much of the language in the script.^[2][6]
• Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico/Red Mist, Frank D'Amico's son.
• Mark Strong as Frank D'Amico, head of a criminal organization.
• Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie Deauxma
• Michael Rispoli as Big Joe
• Yancy Butler as Angie D'Amico
• Jason Flemyng as Lobby Goon, the building doorman
• Elizabeth McGovern as Mrs. Lizewski
• Garrett M. Brown as Mr. Lizewski
• Sophie Wu as Erica Cho
• Dexter Fletcher as Cody
• Clark Duke as Marty
• Evan Peters as Todd
• Xander Berkeley as Detective Gigante, police officer working for D'Amico
• Omari Hardwick as Sergeant Marcus Williams, former partner of Damon Macready
• Stu 'Large' Riley as Huge Goon, a bodyguard to the D'Amico family.
• Craig Ferguson as himself

Series-creator Millar, a native of Scotland, asked Scottish television children's-show host Glen Michael to make a cameo appearance^[7] although his role was cut from some versions of the film.^[8] WCBS-TV news reporters Maurice DuBois, Dana Tyler, and Lou Young make cameo appearances. Kick-Ass marks the second time Clark Duke appears in a film with Lyndsy Fonseca and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the previous films being Hot Tub Time Machine and Superbad, respectively.

Development

The rights to a film version of the comic book were sold before the first issue was published.^[9]

Vaughn notes that, "We wrote the script and the comic at the same time so it was a very sort of collaborative, organic process. I met [Millar] at the premiere of Stardust. We got on really well. I knew who he was and what he had done but I didn't know him. He pitched me the idea. I said, 'That’s great!' He then wrote a synopsis. I went, 'That’s great, let’s go do it now! You write the comic, I’ll write the script.'"^[10]

“	With Kick-Ass, the book's just out and now the movie's out six weeks later. And I think that's the way things are going to go now, because to go to Marvel's B and C-list characters and try to get movies out them – what's the point of that?	”
—Mark Millar[11]

The comic was written at the same time as the script. Millar commented that screenwriters Jane Goldman and Vaughn had made a "chick flick", having placed more emphasis on the character emotions, and particularly in having softened the character of Katie Deauxma.^[2]

In the original comic-book, Big Daddy was revealed to be not an ex-cop, but a former accountant who had been motivated to fight crime by a desire to escape from his life and by his love of comic books. In the film, his purported origin and motivations are genuine: writer Mark Millar considers that the revelation about Big Daddy's background would not have worked in the film adaptation, and would have "messed up the structure of the movie"^[12] The comic's artist John Romita, Jr stated that Big Daddy's story in the film "works better stopping short (...) You love him better in the film".^[13]

Both the comic and the film reference popular contemporary web sites. Kick-Ass buys his costume on auction site eBay; the video of his fight is posted on YouTube; and he keeps in contact with his fans through social networking website MySpace. D'Amico even threatens to expose Detective Gigante by posting incriminating photos of him on Facebook.

The film was independently financed. Vaughn initially went to Sony, which distributed Layer Cake, but he rejected calls to tone down the violence. Other studios expressed interest but wanted to make the characters older. Vaughn believed enough in the project to raise the money himself.^[3]

Ratings

In an interview with Total Film, Aaron Johnson confirmed that the film stays true to the adult nature of the comic series by featuring a large amount of profanity and graphic violence. The film received an R rating by the MPAA for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use - some involving children, and it received a 15 rating from the BBFC.^[1][14] Director Matthew Vaughn felt the 15 certificate was about right and expressed some surprise at the film having received a PG-13 rating in France.^[2]

Filming

Filming locations include Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School,^[15] Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and various locations in the UK, including Elstree Studios.^[16]

Music

Soundtrack

Kick-Ass (Music from the Motion Picture)
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	29 March 2010 (UK)
Genre	Pop Dance-pop Pop rock Hard Rock Alternative Rock
Length	51:19
Label	Polydor Ltd. (UK)
Singles from Kick-Ass (Music from the Motion Picture)
"Kick Ass" Released: 2 May 2010 (UK)

The film's soundtrack album was released in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2010,^[17] and in the United States on iTunes on 30 March 2010.^[18] The title song is by pop singer-songwriter Mika, co-written by Jodi Marr and produced by RedOne. The song "Kick Ass" was confirmed as Mika's 10th official single in the United Kingdom and was officially released on 2 May 2010.^[19]

The video for the single shows Mika as a helpless individual left in an alleyway after being mugged.^[20] He begins to sing and as he does, the words of empowerment in the lyrics and his finding of an issue of the Kick-Ass comic inspire him to run for the rooftops and wail the chorus to the sky. As is the norm with most soundtrack singles, the video features intercut scenes from the film.^[21]

The soundtrack song "Kick Ass" has received positive views by many websites such as Popjustice.com^[22] and Digitalspy.co.uk ^[23]

The song "Stand Up" by The Prodigy features in both the Teaser Trailer^[24] and Red Band Trailer.^[25]

A song featured in the film, but not on the soundtrack is "Crazy", by Gnarls Barkley. This song is played in the Mistmobile while Kick-Ass and Red Mist cruise around town together.^[26] Also, the version of "Bad Reputation" used in the film was by Joan Jett but the version on the soundtrack was by a band called "The Hit Girls".

The song "Hey Little World" by The Hives, which played in the theatrical trailers was also not included.^[27]

Track listing

Score

Kick-Ass: The Score
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	17 May 2010 (UK)
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	1:06:33
Label	Polydor Ltd. (UK)

The film's score was released on 17 May 2010 in the UK,^[28] Two of the instrumentals in the film are altered versions of songs from other John Murphy composed soundtracks. These are "In The House - In A Heartbeat" from 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album and "Adagio in D-minor" track from the Sunshine soundtrack. The former was used in the scene where Big Daddy guns down D'Amico's men in the warehouse and the latter was used when Hit-Girl is trying to rescue Kick-Ass and Big Daddy. They are called "Big Daddy Kills" and "Strobe (Adagio in D Minor)" respectively on the Kick-Ass score. One track, "Walk To Rasul's" was composed by Danny Elfman, who was referenced in the original comic.

Track listing

Release

Kick-Ass was released in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2010.^[29] The film opened in Australia on 8 April.^[30] The North American release was on 16 April by Lionsgate.^[31][32] France's opening was scheduled for 21 April.^[33]

A screening of the unfinished film was shown at the 11th Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival on 13 December 2009, where it was received with wild enthusiasm by the event's attendees.^[34][35]

Controversy

In January 2010, an uncensored preview clip of the film was attacked by family advocacy groups for its display of violence and use of the line "Okay you cunts, let's see what you can do now," delivered by Chloë Moretz, who was 11 at the time of filming. Australian Family Association spokesman John Morrissey claimed that "the language [was] offensive and the values inappropriate – without the saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes".^[36] In response to the controversy, Moretz stated in an interview, "If I ever uttered one word that I said in Kick-Ass, I would be grounded for years! I'd be stuck in my room until I was 20! I would never in a million years say that. I'm an average, everyday girl."^[6] Moretz has said that while filming, she could not bring herself to say the film's title out loud in interviews, instead calling it "the film" in public and "Kick-Butt" at home.^[37] Christopher Mintz-Plasse expressed surprise that people were angry about the language, but did not seem to be offended that Hit-Girl kills many people.^[38]

Reception

Critical response

The film has been met with generally positive reviews. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 75% "Certified Fresh" based on 224 reviews, with an average score of 7.0/10.^[39] Rotten Tomatoes' selected top critics gave the film a rating of 69% based on 36 reviews.^[40] Metacritic assigned the film a score of 66%, based on a weighted average of 38 reviews from mainstream critics.^[41]

In the United Kingdom The Guardian gave the film extensive coverage by several of its critics and journalists.^[42] Peter Bradshaw called the film an "explosion in a bad taste factory" and a "thoroughly outrageous, jaw-droppingly violent and very funny riff on the quasi-porn world of comic books – except that there is absolutely no 'quasi-' about it."^[43] Philip French, writing for The Guardian's Sunday associate paper The Observer, called the film "relentlessly violent" with "the foulest mouthed child ever to appear on screen, [who makes] Louis Malle's Zazie sound like Colette" and one "extremely knowing in its appeal to connoisseurs of comic strips and video games."^[44] David Cox noted that the film "kicks the c-word into the mainstream...inadvertently dispatch[ing] our last big expletive."^[45] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph did not like the film and stated, "Matthew Vaughn’s Kick Ass is hollow, glazed, and not quite there".^[46] Christopher Tookey of The Daily Mail warned, "Don't be fooled by the hype: This crime against cinema is twisted, cynical, and revels in the abuse of childhood".^[47] Chris Hewitt of Empire magazine declared it, "A ridiculously entertaining, perfectly paced, ultra-violent cinematic rush that kicks the places other movies struggle to reach. ... [T]he film’s violence is clearly fantastical and cartoonish and not to be taken seriously."^[48]

Critics who enjoyed the film generally singled out its audacity, humor, and performance from Chloë Moretz. Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave Kick-Ass a top rating, noting that the production "succeeds as a violent fantasy about our perilous and fretful times, where regular citizens feel compelled to take action against a social order rotting from within."^[49] USA Today critic Claudia Puig praised Moretz as “terrific…Even as she wields outlandish weaponry, she comes off as adorable.”^[50] Manohla Dargis from The New York Times wrote, “Fast, periodically spit-funny and often grotesquely violent, the film at once embraces and satirizes contemporary action-film clichés with Tarantino-esque self-regard.”^[51] Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+, but noted that “personally, I just wish that the film had ended up a bit less of an over-the-top action ride.” ^[52] In Film Journal International, former Marvel Comics writer Frank Lovece said the "delightfully dynamic" movie "actually improves on the comic by not metaphorically kicking in our hero's teeth ... and making him a sad-sack schmuck who was wrong about nearly everything." He found that, "Comedy-of-manners dry humor ... plays seamlessly amid scenes of stylized, off-camera mayhem."^[53]

Some critics, were repulsed by its shocking violence, inconsistent tone, and the unoriginality of its observations. Roger Ebert was especially disdainful of the film, awarding it only one star. He began his review with a question, "Shall I have feelings, or should I pretend to be cool? Will I seem hopelessly square if I find Kick-Ass morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point?" ^[54] He went on to disparage fans of the source material; "Let's say you're a big fan of the original comic book, and you think the movie does it justice. You know what? You inhabit a world I am so very not interested in."

Both A.O. Scott and Michael Philips gave the film their signature “Skip It” rating in their review on At the Movies.^[55] CinemaBlend accused the film of simply rehashing ideas from older superhero films; "It's a subject which has already been covered endlessly by other movies, but Matthew Vaughn’s film seems completely unaware of this fact, and bulls its way onward as if it’s discovered something new."^[56] Karina Longworth was also not impressed with the film’s intended satire and themes; "Never as shocking as it thinks it is, as funny as it should be, or as engaged in cultural critique as it could be, Kick-Ass is half-assed."^[57]

Box office

The film earned over $12 million internationally in advance of opening in the United States.^[4][5] On its debut weekend in the United States, it took in $19.8 million in 3,065 theaters, averaging $6,469 per theater.^[4] Kick-Ass was reported #1, ahead of How to Train Your Dragon by a mere $200,000, which was in its third week of release. These numbers for Kick-Ass's debut weekend gross included non-weekend earnings, as the film was previewed during the Thursday night prior to its release. This has led to the speculation that How to Train Your Dragon would have been #1 for the weekend of April 16 had these earnings not been counted.^[58] The opening week numbers were considered by some analysts and the media to be a disappointment,^[59][60] though by others to be "fairly solid."^[61]

The film's final gross in the U.S. was $48,071,303 and $47,960,570 outside of the U.S.^[4]

Home media

In an interview Matthew Vaughn said, "There is about 18 minutes of [deleted] footage, which is really good stuff. If the film is a hit, I'll do an extended cut."^[62] The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 3 August 2010 in North America.^[63] However, this version does not contain the aforementioned deleted content. Selling 1.4 million units within its first week, one-third of these in Blu-Ray format, Kick-Ass debuted at number one on the DVD sales chart.^[64][65] The discs were released in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2010.^[66]

Video games

The video game based on the movie was produced by WHA Entertainment and Frozen Codebase. It was released through the App Store on 15 April 2010 for iPhone and iPod Touch.^[67] The initial Apple platform releases were reportedly unfinished beta versions and were withdrawn from circulation pending a relaunch of a finished version.^[68] The game was released on PlayStation Network on 29 April 2010.^[67] Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy are playable characters. The game features Facebook missions and integration.^[69] Both versions of the game received poor reviews.^[70]

Sequels

Director Matthew Vaughn has expressed interest in a sequel.^[2] Vaughn also said, "No, we're not [planning a sequel]. If it continues doing well, then we might but I just don't like counting my chickens before the eggs hatched."^[71] Moretz is enthusiastic about the idea of a sequel and said she would love to reprise the role of Hit-Girl.^[6] On 16 March 2010, Mark Millar said he would begin writing a sequel comic book in April.^[72]

On 9 April 2010, Millar revealed details for the second book, which he said would involve criminals taking on supervillain personae to counter the superheroes, and Hit-Girl trying to lead a normal life.^[73]

On 31 August, Millar stated that due to the home video success of the film, that a sequel has been green-lit and that Vaughn will begin pre-production on the film when he finishes X-Men: First Class.^[74]

References

External links

• Official website
• Kick-Ass at the Internet Movie Database
• Kick-Ass at Allmovie
• Kick-Ass at Box Office Mojo
• Kick-Ass at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kick-Ass at Metacritic
• Kick-Ass at Top250.info

Matthew Vaughn Films Layer Cake (2004) · Stardust (2007) · Kick-Ass (2010) · X-Men: First Class (2011) Producer The Innocent Sleep (1996) · Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) · Snatch (2000) · Mean Machine (2001) · Swept Away (2002) · Harry Brown (2009) · The Debt (2010) Collaborators Guy Ritchie · Jane Goldman · Kris Thykier · Jason Statham · Vinnie Jones · Jason Flemyng · Adam Fogerty · Sienna Miller · Mark Strong · Brad Pitt · Robbie Gee · Alan Ford · Tamer Hassan · Dexter Fletcher Production Company Marv Films

Mark Millar 2000 AD Big Dave • Canon Fodder • Red Razors • Robo-Hunter DC Comics Aztek  • The Flash • JLA • JLA: Paradise Lost • Swamp Thing • Superman Adventures • Superman: Red Son Marvel Comics Civil War • Marvel Knights Spider-Man • Marvel 1985 • Skrull Kill Krew • Trouble • Ultimate Fantastic Four • Ultimate X-Men • Ultimates (The Ultimates • The Ultimates 2) • Wolverine ("Enemy of the State" • "Old Man Logan") • Ultimate Comics: Avengers Other works The Authority • Jenny Sparks • Saviour • The Unfunnies • Wanted • Wanted (film) • War Heroes • Kick-Ass • Kick-Ass (film) • Kick Ass 2 • Nemesis • Miracle Park • Superior

Marvel Comics films Live-action Serials Captain America (1944) Single films The Amazing Spider-Man (1977) • Red Sonja (1985) • Howard the Duck (1986) • The Punisher (1989) • Captain America (1990) • The Fantastic Four (1994) • Hulk (2003) • The Punisher (2004) • Man-Thing (2005) • The Incredible Hulk (2008) • Punisher: War Zone (2008) • Kick-Ass (2010) • Thor (2011) • Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) • Untitled Spider-Man Reboot (2012) Series Blade Blade (1998) • Blade II (2002) • Blade: Trinity (2004) Daredevil Daredevil (2003) • Elektra (2005) Fantastic Four Fantastic Four (2005) • Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) Ghost Rider Ghost Rider (2007) • Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012) Iron Man Iron Man (2008) • Iron Man 2 (2010) Spider-Man Spider-Man (2002) • Spider-Man 2 (2004) • Spider-Man 3 (2007) X-Men X-Men (2000) • X2 (2003) • X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) • X-Men: First Class (2011) Animated Single films The Invincible Iron Man (2007) • Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme (2007) • Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008) • Hulk Vs (2009) • Planet Hulk (2010) • Thor: Tales of Asgard (2011) Series Ultimate Avengers Ultimate Avengers (2006) • Ultimate Avengers 2 (2006) See also Marvel Cinematic Universe • The Avengers film project • The Punisher films