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. Read the rest of this entry »
I thought seeing as their is a pause in comic book films till this summer I’d do a pointless internet top (n) list about them. I chose the number 5 because that is about as high as my attention span will let me get. Plus I’ve also recently re-watched ‘High Fidelity’ so I have Top 5 lists on the brain.
5. X-Men 2
This is the franchise that really kicked off the modern Superhero film, building on the good will created by Blade. X-Men was a good film in its own right but it was a bit self-conscious at times and oddly goofy at others. It was also saddled with introducing many characters and explaining powers and origins. X-Men 2 was where the franchise found its feet and unfortunately thanks to the almost dire X-Men 3 and mediocre Wolverine films it was also where it peaked. It is a nicely balanced film. Superheroics, drama, new characters, better wigs and focusing on the existing characters better all rise it above X-Men. And thanks to not being saddled with so many introductions there is more plot available for the film. More importantly this is the film we really got to see the Wolverine in action. Read the rest of this entry »
Gives away quite a bit I think this trailer but damn it all looks good.
Nice too see Stark building up his collection of suits. I especially love the suitcase armour and how it doesn’t suddenly become his normal armour but actually looks like it folds out.
There is no dialogue or indeed that much happening but the final page of Marvel’s Siege #2 made me squeal like a geeky little girl. Just to sum up for those who are no comic fans the situation is as follows:
Norman Osborn (formerly the Green Goblin) has managed to wangle himself the top job at S.H.I.E.L.D (which he renamed H.A.M.M.E.R), drove all the best Superheroes underground (Some literally, others figuratively) and replaced all the major Marvel Superhero teams with his own twisted versions (made up of Marvel’s shadier heroes and villians). Oh and used scavenged Ironman armour to make himself into the ‘Superhero’ Iron Patriot (complete with Gaudy Stars and Stripes paint job). He has decided that Thor and his fellow Asgardians are terrorists and has attempted to invade Asgard which currently floats above US soil (Loki kind of helped along with that line of thinking). Ares, the greek god of war, has just been torn in half (that makes him dead) by the mad, super-junkie the Sentry (he makes Superman look like a pansy) and Osborn has just ordered the Sentry to kill the wounded Thor (who just made Wolverine’s son a chared mess with Lightening). Still with me? Yes? Good! Right Osborn thinks he is still winning (despite already having his ass handed to him by a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent armed with a shoulder mounted missile launcher) and has to be warned by an underling to turn around.
Unfortunately (for him anyway) while Osborn has been happily involved in taking over everything the real Captain America (Who was kind of assassinated after opening a can of Whoop-ass on Iron-man during the Superhero Civil War) has recently returned from the dead and he is not a happy, star-spangled bunny. It looks like next issue the Iron Patriot isn’t going to be either.
I thought I would let the dust settle and allow myself time to gain a sense of perspective before I blogged on this. Anyone who has seen my twitter feed has seen my initial reaction. I’d like to say it my opinion has changed but it hasn’t. It may have mellowed and I have however become slightly more rational about it but it hasn’t changed. I should now be able to put my thoughts into readable sentences. In the long run I still think this is a bad thing. In all possibility it might well turn out to be the worst thing that could have happen to Marvel other than bankruptcy. I’ll break it down into the three main areas this will cover and address them in turn.