Simply put this film is really really good. As an additional bonus The Daily Mail and its self-righteous readership will fucking hate it.

The plot is pretty simple. Teenager wonders what it would be like to be a superhero and why nobody has done it before. He decides to give it a go and finds out that it is a quick way to get killed. His first outing as a superhero leaves him with a skeleton reinforced with lots of titanium and duff nervous system. Thus giving his only true superhero ability. Kick-Ass can take a licking and keep on ticking. Which is lucky as he can’t fight worth a damn. As he progresses with his career he meets up with the real deal in the form of Big Daddy and Hit Girl and decides to quit. Treachery rears its ugly head and he and his allies face off against the villain. Naturally he learns what it really means to be a superhero. Most everyone who deserves it gets a happy(ish) ending and the good guys still win even if they have to earn it. It is after all a Superhero film.

Kick-Ass is ably portrayed by Aaron Johnson but it is Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl that steals the show. She is just fantastic and like the comic the story is as much about her as it is Kick-Ass. Though even Hit Girl is almost outdone by Nicholas Cage’s Adam West inspired Big Daddy. Say what you want about Cage’s acting but I defy you to watch this film and not think of him as an acting god afterwards.  The film diverges from the comic quite a bit but to be honest mostly because the changes play better on the screen. The film is sadly toned down a lot so don’t expect car batteries attached to testicles in this film. If you are not familiar with the comic and have just seen the film you are wondering how fucked up the comic is. The answer is very. The only changes that bothered me is the lack of twist in Big Daddy’s origin story and the teen friendly hero gets the girl subplot. The comic did these things better. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is the big let down of the film and I am beginning to suspect McLovin was a fluke. He feels like a 20 odd year old who looks like a 30 year old playing a teenager, which he is. Red Mist’s car is awesome though.

A couple of the special effects shots betray the low-budget origins of the film but the almost complete lack of CGI and wire-work in the action sequences leaves the film feeling very ‘real’. I’m not sure real is the right word. Perhaps ‘not super’ is better. You will spend a lot of time playing spot the superhero film scene as Kick-Ass riffs on such films as X-Men and Spider-man. Sometimes it plays the Superhero tropes straight and sometimes it subverts them. The 3D comic book version of Big Daddy and Hit Girl’s origin story is frankly awesome as is the night vision FPS scene.

On a side note the films soundtrack, with a couple of notable exceptions is very good. There seems to be a general trend in better music in films these days. Though I suspect this is simply because my generation are the ones making films now so they tend to consider the same things as me as being good.

The film does what it sets out to do. Which is playfully deconstruct the superhero comic and give you a fun but violent journey along the way. It manages to be do this without the cynicism of a film like Watchmen and without the depth too. It also manages to be genuinely funny without being an out and out comedy. It honours the medium it is paying tribute but at the same time making playful fun of it. Its mad, bad and completely over the top. Not quite as insane as the comic it is based on but still there hasn’t been anything like it before in the cinema. If there has I haven’t seen it. As much as they have pushed the censors by having a 12 year old actress say ‘cunt’ and ‘fuck’ a lot they have toned down the violence and blood considerably. Though I am inclined to put this down to being partially about not destroying the illusion of reality to early in the film.  Lets just say I’m feeling generous because I loved the film.

I give it 4 out 5 and hope for an unrated director’s cut on DVD.