History Film / Kickass

* CrusadingWidower: [[spoiler:Big Daddy]]. Not a big secret to those who read the comics, but the reasons are different.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Hit Girl is a 12-year-old girl who has a fondness for {{kni|feNut}}ves, {{Cluster F Bomb}}s, and can brutally and efficiently murder gangsters and mooks. But of course, she was [[{{Tykebomb}} raised to be a brutal vigilante]] by her father Big Daddy. Even funnier when he himself considers Hit-Girl ''acting like a normal girl'' troubling.[[note]]"I'm just fucking with you, daddy."[[/note]]

* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:D'Amico's thugs pour petrol over Big Daddy with the intention of torching him live on the internet. Hit Girl interrupts with a BoomHeadshot, but one of the other mooks lights the petrol so they can see Hit-Girl, who's shooting at them with NightVisionGoggles after knocking out the lights. Big Daddy is still able to scream tactical instructions to his daughter while burning to death]].

* KnifeNut: Hit-Girl adores butterfly knives and swords, although she is a pretty good shot as well.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Mindy [=McCready=] wears a noxiously patterned purple wig as a part of her Hit-Girl costume.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: An in-universe, literal example, as Dave’s mother dies of an aneurysm.

* SkirtOverSlacks: Hit-Girl's hero costume.

:: A little while later...

A little while later:

* {{Disability|Superpower}}[=/=]CoconutSuperpowers: Kick-Ass' high pain threshold because of nerve damage. Apart from being a nice HandWave explanation for the amount of beating he can take, it's highly budget-saving.

* TooDumbToLive: Becoming Kick-Ass certainly seems like this to begin with. Getting stabbed and hit by a car? Pretty much [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the most realistic outcome]] of becoming a vigilante with no training, experience, or proper equipment.

''Kick-Ass'' is a 2010 action-comedy co-distributed by Creator/{{Lionsgate}} (in North America) and [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Pictures]] (internationally), based on [[ComicBook/KickAss the comics]] by Creator/MarkMillar and John Romita Jr.

Dave Lizewski is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent and [[JustForFun/OneOfUs a big fan]] of ComicBooks, with one burning question: How come nobody's ever tried to be a superhero in RealLife before? After he gets mugged, the question drives him to obsession, and he decides to answer it by becoming one himself. He orders a [[CivvieSpandex wetsuit]] and a diving mask and tries to fight crime. It doesn't go all that well. He gradually learns and gets better, with a little help from a more experienced pair of vigilantes, a father-daughter team bent on hunting down the BigBad.

Along the way, it manages to {{deconstruct|ion}} pretty much every superhero trope out there in an attempt to answer the question, "What would happen if someone with no special powers tried to be a superhero?" [[DeconReconSwitch And then reconstructs it with a vengeance halfway through.]]

* TooDumbToLive: Becoming Kick-Ass certainly seems like this to begin with. Getting stabbed and hit by a car? Pretty much [[RealityEnsues the most realistic outcome]] of becoming a vigilante with no training, experience, or proper equipment.

* DeconReconSwitch: The first half of the movie is a deconstruction (superheroes don't exist in RealLife because if anyone tried it, they'd be killed on day one) and the second half is a reconstruction (...but if they somehow survived long enough to learn the ropes, [[MagikarpPower they would indeed be completely awesome!]]) of the superhero genre.

* RealityEnsues / RuleOfCool:
** The first act of the movie shows what's it like to be a vigilante in the real world, especially if you are a teenage nerd with no fighting skills wearing a silly costume. In short: [[CurbStompBattle beatingsville]]. However, the second act introduces incredibly powerful, highly badass superheroes who can do crazy shit by virtue of CharlesAtlasSuperpower, and the third act is an unashamed love letter to awesome, reality-defying superheroics.
** [[spoiler:Hit-Girl's final confrontation with mob boss Frank is definitely the former trope, as the older, stronger, and more experienced mob-boss wipes the floor with her in 10 seconds flat, and she would've gotten a bullet through her head if not for Kick-Ass gunning him down.]]

** After he gets numerous metal implants to reinforce his broken bones, Dave compares himself to Franchise/{{Wolverine}}.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Dave's favorite pastime before he becomes a vigilante [[spoiler:and gets laid]]. He didn't even have any taste, whacking off to the {{National Geographic|Nudity}}. Even though he [[TheInternetIsForPorn has Internet access]].

* BigApplesauce: The film's set in New York, a city that really lends itself well to superheroism. However, the skyscrapers and the skyline we get to see are [[CaliforniaDoubling really in Toronto]]. Yet despite the skyline being Toronto's, much of the movie is really filmed in Hamilton.

** The first time Kick-Ass tries it, he's nearly killed. The second time, he barely manages to hold off the thugs. The final BDH moment is played perfectly straight ''and'' is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.

* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Katie's hands cover ''most'' of her breasts. In the DVDCommentary, the director says that he shot "about sixty takes" of this scene.

* JailBaitWait: One of the few [[SarcasmMode wholesome]] versions of this trope, as Todd, Dave's lanky friend, watches Hit-Girl single-handedly thwart Big Daddy and Kick-Ass's online execution, much to Marty's [[{{Squick}} disgust]].

* LyricalDissonance: Brought [[UpToEleven to epic levels]] when Hit-Girl is introduced.

* RRatedOpening: Starts with a crazy man jumping off a building wearing a bird-themed superhero costume and going splat. Next, Dave narrates his life of chronic masturbation. Both scenes utterly ''fail'' to convey just how much [[UpToEleven over-the-top]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice squick and violence]] the viewer is getting into. Followed by a training scene of Damon[=/=]Big Daddy [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood shooting Mindy in her bulletproof vest]] to [[TrainingFromHell toughen her up]]. Which scratches the surface but '''fails''' again.

** Red Mist is portrayed with a lot more sympathy, simply wanting to help his father and maybe hang out with Kick-Ass. He actually regrets what happens to Kick-Ass instead of getting totally excited about it like his comic counterpart. At the end, he takes over his father's business and becomes the first costumed supervillain. In the comics, he becomes an InternetToughGuy. Both ''do'' share the same obscene name after this happens, however.

-->'''Kick-Ass:''' Even with my metal plates, and my fucked up nerved endings, I gotta tell you: that hurt. But not half as much as the idea of leaving everything behind. Katie, my dad, Todd and Marty, and all the things I'd never do, like learn to drive, or see what me and Katie's kids would look like, or find out what happened on ''Series/{{Lost}}''…

-->'''Katie:''' "Mm... I dunno, I think Kick-ass is cute."

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: The kitchen counter in d'Amico's place. It's nearly six feet deep and takes a ''lot'' of fire, but it's mostly empty, as shown when Hit-Girl climbs inside it and ''peeps out the bulletholes.''

* CreateYourOwnHero: [[BigBad Frank D'Amigo]] ruining Damon [=McCready=]'s life was what caused the former cop to become the superhero Big Daddy and train his daughter to become Hit-Girl.

** While Big Daddy questioning Hit-Girl on Creator/JohnWoo was in the comics, it helps that Nicolas Cage starred in two John Woo directed films, ''Film/FaceOff'' and ''[[Film/Windtalkers Windtalkers]]''.

** While Big Daddy questioning Hit-Girl on Creator/JohnWoo was in the comics, it helps that Nicolas Cage starred in two John Woo directed films, ''Film/FaceOff'' and ''Film/Windtalkers''.

** While Big Daddy questioning Hit-Girl on Creator/JohnWoo was in the comics, it helps that Nicolas Cage starred in one John Woo directed film, ''Film/FaceOff''.

* LadySwearsALot: Hit-Girl had a dirty mouth when she was ''twelve years old'', and [[CountryMatters it isn't casual swearing either]]. Creator/ChloeMoretz herself commented on how nasty it was.
* LargeHam: Creator/NicolasCage is channeling [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot some unholy trinity]] of Creator/AdamWest, Creator/WilliamShatner, and Creator/ChristopherWalken. Creator/MarkStrong also gobbles some scenery as [[EvilIsHammy the villain]]. Hell, even ''Creator/ChloeMoretz'' delivers a pound or two of delicious pork in several scenes. Let's say it's just a WorldOfHam.

* LittleMissSnarker: Much like in the comic, Hit-Girl is incredibly sarcastic and [[ClusterFBomb foul-mouthed]]. Which doubles in hilarity when you see the interview saying that Creator/ChloeMoretz (Hit-Girl's actress) initially went for the part because her parents loved the script and showed it to her. Creator/ChloeMoretz insisted that on the set, she could only call it "the film" and at home, "Kick Butt". She herself was shocked at her role.

* TenMinuteRetirement: [[spoiler:Dave briefly retires from being Kick-Ass after he realizes he's in over his head. He's convinced to pick up the mask again to help Red Mist and later Hit-Girl. It seems like he and Hit-Girl are going to retire from superheroism for good in the ending, if not for the blatant SequelHook.]]

* AdaptedOut: [[spoiler:Big Daddy's [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie backstory being complete lies]] and the truth that he actually kidnapped his own daughter and raised her as a killer in order to play vigilante because he was bored with his life.]]

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: [[spoiler:Averted with Big Daddy, unlike the comic.]]

* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler: Red Mist.]]

* {{Bookends}}: The beginning and end of the film is narrated by Dave while showing his school, and both are set to the tune of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yvkoGZVajg The Prodigy]].

* CassandraTruth: Frank's guys saying they got robbed a man in a costume isn't believed early on, resulting in him punishing them horribly.

* CowboyCop: [[spoiler:Big Daddy is a maverick ex-cop who doesn't play by the rules. When he ''was'' a cop, however, he was apparently by-the-books.]]

* CreateYourOwnVillain: [[spoiler:Kick-Ass [[YouKilledMyFather kills Chris D'Amico's father]], turning a revenge-bent teenager into the world's first costumed supervillain.]]

* DavidVersusGoliath: [[spoiler:The final duel between Hit-Girl and Frank D'Amico.]]

* DestinationDefenestration: [[spoiler:In the end, Frank D'Amico is blown through a penthouse window by a bazooka-toting Kick-Ass.]]

* EvilCostumeSwitch: [[spoiler:After Chris D'Amico decides to become a supervillain, he changes the color scheme of his costume to eerily-patterned orange and dons a scary mask.]]

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Big Daddy. So what if he's rather crispy, his daughter's safe and has made him proud!]]

* LenoDevice: Craig Ferguson of ''Series/TheLateLateShow'' appears as himself talking about Kick-Ass's antics in his monologue.

* ManBitesMan: [[spoiler:Hit-Girl bites Frank during their fight.]]
* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:D'Amico's thugs pour petrol over Big Daddy with the intention of torching him live on the internet. Hit Girl interrupts with a BoomHeadshot, but one of the other mooks lights the petrol so they can see Hit-Girl, who's shooting at them with NightVisionGoggles after knocking out the lights. Big Daddy is still able to scream tactical instructions to his daughter while burning to death.]]

** The nanny-cam video of Big Daddy's ImplacableMan routine as he coolly chews through a roomful of D'Amico's mooks with guns and grenades. D'Amico compared him to the wrong: he may look like Batman but he ''fights'' like ComicBook/ThePunisher.

* MuggingTheMonster: [[spoiler:At the end of the film Hit-Girl is attending regular school for the first time as a civilian. Dave remarks that she doesn't need him looking out for her as we see (well, [[DiscretionShot hear]]) Hit-Girl beating up bullies attempting to rob her lunch money.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Kick-Ass ends up leading the bad guys right to Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, causing the former's death. Had he not gotten involved the pair would've likely taken D'Amico down without breaking a sweat.]]

* OverlordJr: [[spoiler:Chris D'Amico/Red Mist at the end.]]

* PassingTheTorch: [[spoiler:Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl retire from superheroism after the final battle, citing that the number of new masked superheroes can continue the crusade.]]

* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: [[spoiler:In Big Daddy's autobiographical comic book, he is shown working out like crazy when doing his time in jail.]]

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Big Daddy.]]

** After he gets numerous metal implants to reinforce his broken bones, Dave compares himself to Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}.

* StringTheory: Big Daddy has one of these, with the strings converging on Frank d'Amico, which Hit-Girl turns into an impromptu [[DartboardOfHate Shuriken-Board of Hate.]]

* TelevisedTorture: [[spoiler:Of Kick-Ass and Big Daddy by the bad guys.]]

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: "Fuck this. I'm getting the bazooka." And shortly after that, [[spoiler:Dave uses miniguns mounted on a jetpack. And then blows up Frank D'amico with the aforementioned bazooka]].

* TragicHero: [[spoiler:Big Daddy. First, as a cop, his reputation is destroyed by Frank D'Amico, then his wife commits suicide. All this turns him into a violent VigilanteMan, although he is still a good man inside. At the end, he tragically dies, leaving Hit-Girl the goal of finishing his personal vendetta.]]

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior:
** Hit Girl is a 12-year-old girl who has a fondness for {{kni|feNut}}ves, {{Cluster F Bomb}}s, and can brutally and efficiently murder gangsters and mooks. But of course, she was [[{{Tykebomb}} raised to be a brutal vigilante]] by her father Big Daddy.
** Even funnier when Big Daddy himself considers Hit-Girl ''acting like a normal girl'' troubling.[[note]]"I'm just fucking with you, daddy."[[/note]]

** Kick-Ass' second fight, the one that makes him [[MemeticMutation an internet sensation in-universe]], goes like this at first.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Big Daddy, a rare heroic version.]]

--> '''Kick Ass:''' Three assholes laying into one guy while everyone else watches AND YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! Yeah, I'd rather die; NOW [[BringIt BRING IT ON!!!!]]
* WouldHitAGirl: Well, the bad guys ''try'', but only one actually lays a glove on Hit-Girl, who,true to her name, ''hits back'', '''hard.'''

* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler:Frank D'Amico drove Hit-Girl's mother to suicide and later orchestrated her father's murder. Hit-Girl attempts to kill Frank in retribution, but it is Kick-Ass who deals the final blow... turning Frank's son Chris "Red Mist" D'Amico into [[CreateYourOwnVillain a vengeful costumed supervillain]].]]