Kick-Ass

Cast
Aaron Johnson
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Chloe Moretz
Nicolas Cage
Mark Strong
Screenwriters
Jane Goldman
Matthew Vaughn
Director
Matthew Vaughn
Running Time
117 minutes

“How come nobody’s ever tried to be a superhero?” When Dave Lizewski – ordinary New York teenager and rabid comic-book geek dons a green-and-yellow internet-bought wetsuit to become the no-nonsense vigilante, Kick-Ass, he soon finds an answer to his own question: because it hurts. But, overcoming all the odds, the eager yet inexperienced Dave quickly becomes a phenomenon, capturing the imagination of the public. However, he’s not the only superhero out there – the fearless and highly-trained father-daughter crime-fighting duo, Big Daddy and Hit Girl have been slowly but surely taking down the criminal empire of local Mafioso, Frank D’Amico. And, as Kick-Ass gets drawn into their no-holds-barred world of bullets and bloodletting with Frank’s son, Chris, now reborn as Kick-Ass’s arch-nemesis, Red Mist - the stage is set for a final showdown between the forces of good and evil - in which the DIY hero will have to live up to his name. Or die trying…(Lionsgate)

First if you've read the comic like me you may think the last part of the description taken from Metacritic above is a spoiler, it's not. It was good but I didn't enjoy it as much as the comic which I would give four stars. In the comic a series of mad seemingly unrelated scenarios occur which Kick-Ass gets caught up in but in the movie they spell things out and tie everything together more which seemed unnecessary generally and redacted the Red Mist reveal in particular. The violence and injury is toned down and I do think some decapitations would have helped the fights seem more outrageous and absurd like the comic. Also Hit Girl's mask just seemed badly made, the eye holes stretched out too much, plus the end of her story wasn't as poignant as the comic. Of course had you not read the comic or when I see this again on DVD knowing the changes it may be more enjoyable.