Kick-Ass 2

Well, I’m surprised. I was sceptical of the sequel to the sharp Kick-Ass, but Jeff Wadlow, or that “boring routine artists” and “video-clip maker devoid of fantasy”, as they “mandatorily” call him here, has nothing to be ashamed of. I would’ve easily believed that Matthew Vaughn remained in the director’s chair. It’s got drive, great action sequences, a fantastic soundtrack and good comedic timing. The only issues come from the script (and maybe also from the comic book), which balances worse between seriousness and detachment than in the previous movie. Otherwise, it’s more of the same, which in the case of Kick-Ass I don’t mind. (08/26/2013)

The first Kick-Ass was crap, but at least there were a couple of characters about whom I thought they had a nice job in the movie. Of course, I am talking mainly about Nicolas Cage. But then the sequel arrived and I thought that I should watch it. I mean Jim Carrey shouldn’t be a disappointment regardless of whom he portrays. But in the end I have to admit that I barely noticed him. It’s not that he was forgettable, but he was simply very unlike himself. Well and the rest of the cast can’t make up for that. So, the way the sequel starts as a fan movie, it ends up a tragic movie. The whole thing is sort of wannabe action-loaded and what’s worse it’s wannabe emotional. And the worst part is that I really miss any semblance of emotion in the movie. (12/28/2013)

Maybe it’s because meanwhile I’ve read the comic book original, but the sequel is much weaker than part one. For one thing, Jeff Wadlow comes nowhere near Vaughn. His directing is erratic and lacks invention. The story diverges from the comic book in the most interesting passages, while it sticks quite faithfully to the less interesting parts. Chloë Moretz is fine, unfortunately she’s grown a little too old and I simply can’t see the well-behaved, sweet little girl in her anymore. Most of the time the poor girl is hanging around in High School Musical mode and not only is it boring, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is annoying, completely inappropriate as a bad guy and even Iain Glen who appeared on screen only for about a minute easily outplayed him. And the best characters - Carrey and Leguizamo are given too little space. The action is decent, but in places more distasteful than plain bloody entertainment. The cuts between dramatic and entertaining scenes are about as smooth as a slap in the face. Why am I even giving it 3 stars? (11/29/2013)

This is neither a superfluous sequel nor is it a failure of a sequel; this is just a sad example of what part one would have looked like if it had been filmed by a routine filmmaker with no style who saw the main assets of the material primarily (and exclusively) in all its perversity, controversy, rude words and violence for violence’s sake. Where part one was about children, but not for children, part two is about teenagers, and only for teenagers. (08/23/2013)

This is just my cup of tea! Kick-Ass is becoming one of my absolute favorites after the second installment. Everything I ever missed in Batman, Superman, and other such macho movies is now replaced by Kick-Ass and my beloved Hit Girl. As soon as their awesome soundtrack starts playing, I stop perceiving reality and I'm in over my head. The second one was even more cruel and ruthless than the first one... and I like that! 4.5 stars. (01/27/2014)