Film Disappointing on multiple levels
First off, the costumes don't work. Admittedly, they might have been intended to look stupid, but that doesn't make it any less moronic when Dave is standing in front of a mirror and practicing his posing as if he thinks it actually looks cool. To quote a line from the comic: "What works on paper doesn't always work on screen." Should've taken that advice. Second, the brightly-colored, perky cinematography of the film strikes a sharp contrast to its dark theme; they don't go together. Third, the violence's been toned down a LOT. Which doesn't even make sense, 'cause they were going for an R rating anyway; so why the hell hold back? There's even Bloodless Carnage at one point where HG is chopping a guy's leg off. And then there's the cheerful music; which makes the limping, inconsistent Direction stand out even more.
Onto story issues: the reason the original kick-Ass was such a great read is because it straight-up deconstructed the "Hero Seeking Revenge" stuff: BD's one single line "Because we needed a villain," practically defined the entire plot retroactively; in the film BD is an Anti Hero on a Roaring Rampage Of Revenge; which throws the entire story out of whack; basically turning it into Kill Bill - with costumes! And Nick Cage didn't do a very good job, either. Katie Duxma definitely suffers from Adaptation Decay; although it's at least made bearable 'cause she's hot.
Plot Holes aplenty in the whole thing: Not the least of which is Red Mist Wangsting and arguing to let KA and BD go, right after he shot a little girl in the chest without blinking an eyelid. And him and his father looking at each other relieved after hearing the gatling guns go off; "That's one weird-sounding bazooka." Full-automatic-fire sounds like Bazookas, now? Also, jetpacks? Seriously?
Gotta hand it to Chloe Mortez, though. (At the age of 11, no less!!) She makes HG believable, something I didn't think possible. Although the screenplay does force her to do scenes she's not ready for yet; like getting emotional at BD's death (In the comic, she shakes it off without expression). Good as she is, Chloe isn't a mature enough actress to pull off something like that. They should've stuck with the comic version.
Loved the lobby scene with the Dollars music, however. Overall 4.2/10.
Film Adaptation Enhancement.
I never much cared for the comic. I understood the **idea** of it, deconstructing the superheroes-in-the-real-world tropes and placing the ultraviolence front and center (and Mark Millar is usually at his finest when he's at his **meanest**), but it had major issues in execution. The "Real World Physics/Rules" (an almost-necessary ingredient in this switched on and off like a light switch whenever it produced the most Diabolus Ex Machina result possible, and while I'm as big a fan of the You Bastard trope as anyone, several times I found myself thinking, "Okay, okay, I'm a horrible person for liking this stuff, I get it already."
The movie takes a more optimistic tone, which I'm sure the fans will say "waters it down" or "Hollywood-izes" it. Maybe these things are true, I don't know (although Millar himself didn't think so), but the end result is something that holds together better, and in some ways is almost EDGIER. For instance: the comic sidesteps all the troubling questions raised by Hit-Girl with "See, Big Daddy is a monster, this is a horrible, awful thing and you're perfectly right for not liking it!" (I almost felt like it was chickening out) while the movie plays her comparatively "straight," thus allowing the creepiness to become more permeable.
The rest of the movie works better. Katie's acceptance of Dave is a bit too sappy, but it works loads better than how it plays out in the comics (one of the many hey-Mark-you-missed-the-point-of-Deconstruction moments that the movie wisely ditches). In fact, the whole thing is a lot less misogynistic (what with Hit-Girl's more positive portrayal and Katie's lack of bitchiness).
But anyway, let's take the movie on its own terms. Hitchcock's definition of a Great Movie was: "Three great scenes, no bad scenes." Well, three great scenes: The opening montage of Dave's life (relatable much?), the webcast scene (one of the best pieces of cinema in recent memory... a great setup for an awesome action sequence, I was really immersed), and the final assault (the sheer "Fuck yeah" of it all).
Film (film review) Essentially two very different stories in one
Kick Ass starts out with a fun attempt to deconstruct the superhero genre, by showing what might happen if a real person, Don Quixote style tried to mimic their favorite fictional heroes and fight crime in the real world. The results are mixed. Dave Lizewski gets his ass kicked, but does get popularity for what he's doing when a video of him taking on a group of thugs goes viral. Sort of like the real-life Phoenix Jones, except in a harsher setting.
It's fun seeing Dave try to live his double life as an unpopular teen, and a masked vigilante trying his best to answer his fans and fight crime. His endless enthusiasm and unwillingness to give up is great to watch. I would have loved for the story to continue along these lines.
Then, when one of Kick-Ass's attempts to teach a gang a lesson goes horribly wrong, Big Daddy and Hit Girl come in and save him. They promptly steal the show and make it about them, as they are competent while Kick-Ass is not, and they also are interesting characters in their own right. The story soon shifts gears and not only follows them, but essentially changes its genre and mood.
From this point on, the story is no longer a Deconstruction, nor is it a Reconstruction, as Reconstruction, by definition, involves recognizing the criticisms of a Deconstruction and responding to them with a more convincing version. But that's not what we get here; we instead get superheroes played mostly straight. They might not have powers along the lines of Superman, but they are still superhuman when it comes to fighting abilities, athleticism and reflexes.
And the story itself changes focus: although there are a few twists, it soon becomes mostly "kill the bad guys and win". While fun to watch as well, it's a very different story than the one we started with, and I just don't find it as much fun.
Sadly, this is the fate of something that tries to be two very different things. One story will inevitably be considered better than the other. My brother, for example, didn't care for the movie until Big Daddy and Hit Girl came in, saying that Kick-Ass himself was too much of a "scrub". And there are also those who loved the movie the whole way through. For what it's worth, though, it's essentially two different experiences.