Kick-Ass Movie, Well....

..kicks ass!!!!

I am less than thirty minutes removed from seeing the last credit roll, and I am pretty impressed. There are many critics out there calling this movie a satire of the super-hero genre. The joke's on them, and on anyone who buys into their misunderstandings. The awesome thing about Kick-Ass the movie is that it might appear to be satirical because it overtly tropes so many conventions of the capes and cowl films, but the references are so clear -- heroes are mentioned by name and their mythoi explained or critiqued in script -- that it really is more of an homage to the genre than a satire.

Anyone who looks at teen super-heroes, cracked-out villains, predictable origin stories that set up a sequel, and bloody violence in this film and suggests it all pokes fun of the genre is missing the point that the movie is still a stellar exemplar of the genre.

Sure, the film takes on the question of "what if people tried to be super-heroes in real life?" but don't be fooled: you're still entering a fantasy world. That's the big trick of Kick-Ass: it tricks the tricksters, pulls the wool over the eyes of the folks who want to make us all feel they're the smart ones keeping our eyes sheep-hair free. It's a straight up bad-ass super-hero movie, make no broken bones about, and it lives up to its name.


** This commentary relates to the film only, as I've still not read the GN. :(

**** I still think the guy who plays Kick-Ass looks like senior-year-of-high-school-Bucky-Carter. ;)

Kick-Ass Reaches 100K Mark, EP Bookstores Still Suck

The Beat has this article on how the Kick-Ass graphic novel has sold over 100,000 copies. The argument: those that say comics aren't anything but story boards for films might be right. That's a little silly and over-stating things, of course.

Me? I've been scouring my local Barnes and Noble for the last few months waiting for this title to be available. Either they're selling out faster than I can get to them, or this is another piece of evidence that my local chain ain't all that great. Of course, with no Borders or Books-A-Million around for competition, why strive for excellence? Sigh......