Kick-Ass 2

[Twoducks]

Except the comic was made in the 2008 way after the industry rebounded

Yeah, I know, I read Kickass when it came out back when Millar was still hot from his work on The Ultimates. I meant to say that it is "like" the comics of the 90's. Shock value and blood over substance. It was initially marketed as a realistic take on what being a superhero would be like but instead was just absurd levels of bloody violence fanservice attached to a standard plot. In the end it just dropped the realistic angle and just tried to go for shock value. Reminds me a bit of Preacher but Kick-ass sure as hell did not have the fantastic dialog and characters Preacher had; Kick-Ass really just had Hit-Girl.

The first movie actually toned down the impossible gallons of blood the art had and the unnecessary weird random crap like Big Daddy just being a nut who kidnapped his own daughter to tell her a lie about her mother being dead and fulfilling his crazy dream of being a crime fighter.

The sequel comic was just more violence for the sake of it. Millar even went and pulled the tired “Women in Refrigerators” bit with the heroes girlfriend getting raped to show how gritty evil the bad guys were… (the movie will not have this I hear).

[ErikElvis]

Yeah, that makes perfect sense!

Wait. No it doesn't.

Yeah it does. Maybe hypocrite isnt the best way to describe him but he's annoyed me once or twice and I dont feel like watching his movies. Dont need several paragraphs to convey that.

[mechaninac]

There's nothing hypocritical with people voting with their money; if an entertainer decides to make his/her moronic views an issue, thereby antagonizing a sizable percentage of his/her potential audience, it is entirely reasonable for said audience to decide not to support the entertainer in question and/or any work with which he/she is associated. It's called freedom of choice: they choose to step in "it" and the consumer is free choose to boycott the product.

Edited August 11, 2013 by mechaninac

[505thAirborne]

Everything else aside, did anyone actually go see this yet?

[Hikuro]

Everything else aside, did anyone actually go see this yet?

Comes out friday.

[505thAirborne]

Comes out friday.

My Bad, I thought it was already out... whoops.

[technoblue]

There's nothing hypocritical with people voting with their money; if an entertainer decides to make his/her moronic views an issue, thereby antagonizing a sizable percentage of his/her potential audience, it is entirely reasonable for said audience to decide not to support the entertainer in question and/or any work with which he/she is associated. It's called freedom of choice: they choose to step in "it" and the consumer is free choose to boycott the product.

I agree there is nothing wrong with freedom of choice and freedom of speech, but anyone emboldened by these freedoms should know that there are consequences to them. The street runs both ways, if you will. Or the more cliche, two wrongs don't make a right. Personally, I wouldn't keep myself from enjoying a comic book or a movie because of one random thing one person repeated in public. To me, that is false virtue.

Now, if Jim Carrey randomly came up to me one day and punched me in the gut or stole my niece's dog, or something worse that affected me, my workplace, or my day-to-day ability to feel at ease then I would have a reason to protest his work. Nowadays, I guess I'm not one for that passive agressive stuff.

Anyway, I apologize for going way off course with this...

[azrael]

Enough of the freedom of whatever-talk. I get enough of that from Alan Moore. Who cares if Jim Carrey doesn't want to support this movie. That doesn't decide whether or not this will be a good movie.

I'm gonna have to side with Twoducks about this comic and movie. Seems more for shock value and blood over actual substance. Never saw the 1st movie. The clips floating around didn't impress me. The clips for the 2nd movie also don't impress me either. I see this as one of those extreme-end genre movies that takes it too far to the point where it's more comedic than actual story.

[mechaninac]

...Never saw the 1st movie. The clips floating around didn't impress me. The clips for the 2nd movie also don't impress me either. I see this as one of those extreme-end genre movies that takes it too far to the point where it's more comedic than actual story.

The first one blew chunks; saw it when it hit broadcast just out of sheer morbid curiosity, FX I think. Believe me, you're not missing anything. This sequel looks just as bad.

[technoblue]

The first movie is not a typical superhero movie. I didn't read the comic, so I do not have that as a reference. The characters are taken to an extreme and the violence is over the top. I thought it was a good foil to the usual fantasy-style superhero fiction, but I'm not sure if the director was making a commentary or trying to be funny by it. Personally, some moments shocked me and other moments made me feel squeamish. I thought it was worth seeing once. I'm not sure if it is worth seeing twice.

I didn't see it in the theater, though. I saw it on Blu-ray some time afterward.

The second movie interests me only because I want to see if the writers do anything different with the characters. If not, I'll be disappointed. Personally, I don't want more of the same nonsense violence.

[azrael]

... I'm not sure if the director was making a commentary or trying to be funny by it. Personally, some moments shocked me and other moments made me feel squeamish.

I don't see it as if they are trying to be funny, but it's so outlandish with the violence and blood that it's comedic. It's like a gory teen horror flick where after the 2rd character dies, how the others die starts losing the appeal. The deaths becomes is almost cliche. That's kinda what I see in this franchise.

[technoblue]

Okay, I think we are on the same page now. Thanks for that.

Certain characters are worthless in the first film. The characters I was drawn to were not necessarily worth the investment. It can be a taxing film, unless you enjoy revenge fantasy. I'm not into that, but the movie was recommended to me. The plot of Kick Ass 2 being what it is, I'm worried that it will be more of the same. Again, not knowing the comic, I hope that Hollywood finds a clever idea in there, but that might be asking a lot out of Hollywood. Also, there are other movies to see...

[electric indigo]

I did not read the comics, but I really enjoyed the first movie. Like Tarantino, Matthew Vaughn plays with superhero & gangster clichés with a distinct visual style and humor, including the over the top violence. It helps if you like other Vaughn/Guy Ritchie movies, like Layer Cake, Snatch, or RocknRolla.

BTW Vaughn is listed as a producer on the Fantastic Four reboot, along with Josh Trank (Chronicle) as director.

[Duke Togo]

Except the comic was made in the 2008 way after the industry rebounded

The industry never rebounded.

[Keith]

100% agree

It doesn't even sound like he trashed the movie either....just won't support it. So what.

Chris

The "so what" is that he seems to be badmouthing it without any concrete action on his part. Like I said, if he donated his check to some gun violence charity, that'd be one thing. But as it stands now, his actions aren't backing his words.

[Knight26]

The first movie started out as an interesting deconstruction of the superhero/comic book movie genre. It devolved however into just another superhero origin story with over the top violence and some humorous moments. I will give it props for, unlike most other superhero movies, showing that most those these "Real world" superheroes are people with severe mental and emotional issues. Even the title character is a kid with issues who is having problems with the real world due to the loss of his mother never being addressed. Of course that is true of most superhero characters, mommy issues.

As for the Jim Carrey issue. He is an @$$ hat, get over it. Were he the star of the movie I wouldn't even consider seeing it. There are certain actors/actresses whose movies I refuse to see if they star in them, unless there is a very compelling reason. Overall I think Carrey's role will be much like Cage's in the first movie, a secondary one that viewers will not have to focus on. I also agree with Keith that if Carrey has such issues with the role he should donate his paycheck to a charity, that will never happen though because Jim Carrey, like many of his ilk, is a hypocrit. That being said, if he had such issues with the role he never should have taken it.

Also if it follows the comic the Carrey should meet a pretty gruesome end quickly enough.

Will I see it in the theaters, no. Will I see it when it hits netflix, maybe.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Knight26

[Gubaba]

I saw the first movie. Wasn't impressed. Kinda grossed-out, honestly.

Won't be seeing the second, even if Jim Carrey came to me, on hands and knees, saying, "Mechaniac was RIGHT! My views are MORONIC!! I've since adopted all of Mechaniac's opinions, since I'm so concerned that he thinks me culturally literate!"

[Frogze]

I loved the first movie, maybe I should have wrote this in the guilty pleasure thread though. That scene with Hitgirl coming to rescue Big Daddy was really epic

But the trailers for this second opus fall totally flat for me, no go for this obviously dumb sequel.

I still like Carey though, after reading the hate posts here I thought he said something really bad, glad he just told his mind and backed off this junk

[Gubaba]

I loved the first movie, maybe I should have wrote this in the guilty pleasure thread though.

I blame the advertising. Even with Duke Togo coming in and saying "This movie is NOTHING like the trailers, except for the red-band Hit-Girl one," I think I was unprepared for (for example) the man-sized microwave scene. The whole thing left me feeling like I needed a shower.

[electric indigo]

Like I said before, it helps if you know some of Ritchie's/Vaughn's previous work.

[areaseven]

[electric indigo]

RAH Hit Girl

[Hikuro]

all I can say is it LOOKS good, but I'm hearing not so good things from some people about it. Guess I really just gotta see for myself. I enjoyed the first film. But after reading the comics I kind of fell out of love and sort of wondering how the 2nd film will play out.

[electric indigo]

At the moment, part 2 looks just like more of the same. And I learned to avoid the comics.

[taksraven]

I loved the first movie, maybe I should have wrote this in the guilty pleasure thread though. That scene with Hitgirl coming to rescue Big Daddy was really epic

But the trailers for this second opus fall totally flat for me, no go for this obviously dumb sequel.

I still like Carey though, after reading the hate posts here I thought he said something really bad, glad he just told his mind and backed off this junk

Don't worry, I will stand beside you. I loved the first movie as well. I think with all things like this that it is merely art reflecting a violent society. NOT art creating a violent society.

We had a little bit of a moral panic here in Australia when the first one came out, with the media banging on about this being such a terrible and violent film that was not accurately represented by the trailers. There were even calls for the film to be banned over the Hit-Girl character. BUT, the film did get a MA15+ rating in this country which should have informed everybody about the extreme content.

Personally, I think this is a classic case of a film that did not need a sequel. I will check this new one out, but I will be wary.

[areaseven]

It may be called Kick-Ass 2, but the critics are considering it as Suck-Ass. I'll just go YIFY this when the Blu-Ray comes out.

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 27%

Metacritic Score: 44 out of 100

"Violent and crass, Kick Ass 2 features a strong performance from Chloe Grace Moretz but mostly fails to live up to the humor and captivating irony of its predecessor."

** 1/2 (out of 4). "One of the key aspects of Kick-Ass was the lampooning of superhero tropes; Kick-Ass 2 has largely abandoned this segment of its DNA and instead bought into them. Kick-Ass 2's desire to abandon the "parody" label and move in the direction of becoming an actual card-carrying superhero adventure edges the saga closer to Watchmen territory. By abandoning so much of what made Kick-Ass memorable, Kick-Ass 2 has devalued the nascent franchise and left vaguely unpleasant aftertaste." - James Berardinelli, Reelviews

* 1/2 (out of 4). "Honestly, this movie is rank." - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

[Hikuro]

yeah, not the least bit surprised.

[realdeal]

I'm going to assume they brought in a different fight choreographer because the fight scenes were not really that good. Hit Girl also lost her edge and one liners

[Hikuro]

I watched it today with the GF. Wasn't a bad movie at all, it was VERY similar to the comic but made a lot of changes from that to seem less violent and dark.

[vlenhoff]

Not even close to the original, i say see it for yourself, but, oh man

[wolfx]

I don't know. I kinda liked it.

[505thAirborne]

Just finished watching Kick-Ass 2, this one goes on my Guilty pleasures list, The first movie is ok, I actually liked this one a bit more.

The ending reminded me of Priss from BGC.

[skullmilitia]

I never read the comic, and I'm glad, the first movie was pretty snoozy, agreed Hit Girl was the only good part.

I was annoyed by the Sunshine OST music being used.

I doubt I need to even watch this one on redbox eventually.

Speaking about Jim Carrey, his relevance ended after Cable Guy.

He deserves the unilateral disregard as much as his old squeeze McCarthy

Who's a wack job.

[PetarB]

My wife went to her 'Hollywood' Christmas Party as Hit-Girl - wig, pants, cape, purple tartan skirt, boots, the whole deal. She's just petite enough to pull it off.

I contributed by making her belt.

No pics sorry, but she looked great. Grown up Hit-Girl? I felt confused!

[electric indigo]

Did you also shoot her in the chest (with a vest on, of course) to let her know how it feels?