Kick-Ass 2

Properly underwhelming. 'Kick-Ass 2' isn't a bad film in and of itself, it just feels like a serious miscue on all counts - or perhaps I was just expecting something different. In my eyes, I feel like this plot is the type you do for the original movie in a series - not the sequel. It's a character-building story, whereas I think with a follow-up it needs to be a greater continuation. It's also nowhere near as entertaining. 'Kick-Ass' has a lot of fun and knows it, this just disappoints as it aims for something more sincere - which didn't quite work, for me. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloë Grace Moretz felt off it too, at least in comparison to last time out. Jim Carrey feels wasted, this is probably his most forgettable performance that I've seen - and I've seen alot of Carrey's work. It is at least a showing of slightly different ilk compared to his usual schtick, I guess. Olga Kurkulina plays a good character though, while Iain Glen makes himself known in a tiny role. Elsewhere, there are annoying (albeit minor) recasts, always a pet hate of mine. In conclusion, I wanted to enjoy this but I honestly didn't. Feels like a missed opportunity.

I was actually quite surprised to see three of the leads who made the first film (2010) return for this far inferior sequel. Following on from the denouement of that enterprise, "Red Mist" (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is using his father's ill-gotten gains to assemble a force that can combat the growing number of lycra-clad have-a-go heroes that are attempting to cut crime in their community. Without dad this time, it falls to "Mindy" (Chloë Grace Moretz) to train up our still pretty hapless hero (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) so they can be ready for the formidable foes that are now facing them. ATJ still looks great with his shirt off, thereafter this is really nothing at all to write home about. It's all just by-the-numbers film making with perfectly choreographed, and extended, combat scenes with violence that has become more graphically brutal leading to a conclusion that you don't need any kind of map to find. What made the first film a bit quirkier is not in evidence here; the language and humour is largely plain crass and Jim Carrey adds really very little as this rumbles along. Hopefully we will never see any more of "Kick-Ass"; this mini-franchise has definitely run it's course and belongs in glass case.

The first Kick Ass movie was a fresh idea and I quite liked that movie. Unfortunately this one seems to have be the creation of someone that believes that a good movie can be made by stacking extreme silliness and vulgarities on top of each other until you reach about a 100 minutes or so. Most of the movie is unbelievably silly. The original movie also had plenty of silly moments but they were more there to support the plot and not to build the movie as in this one. The main villain is so contrived and stupid that he is just not funny. The so called “superheroes” are equally ridiculous. The costumes are just awful. Sure, they are supposed to be amateurs but still… The entire movie is pretty much shouldered by Hit-Girl who is the only one who is not absolutely ridiculous. Without her this movie would have been a total turkey. Unfortunately the vulgarity seeking script writer managed to put her up in a overdone and very disgusting puking scene that really dragged down the movie. The scenes with Hit-Girl in them, except the above mentioned one, and the action scenes are where almost all the enjoyment of the movie lies. The rest is either so silly or so disgusting that it is barely watchable.