Kick-Ass is an action-comedy superhero movie based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Miller. The film was released on April 15, 2010 in Hong Kong, and it was directed by Matthew Vaughn (also the director of Layer Cake and Stardust). Although the film is said to be a superhero movie, it isn’t really like any other conventional superhero movies existed on the market, such as Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, etc. The major difference is that the superheroes is the movie do not possess any kind of superpowers, which means they are only ordinary people just like you and me.
Dave Lizewski is an average teenager who lives in New York City. He, unlike Peter Parker in Spider-Man, has no superpowers, except he claims that the only superpower he has is invisible to girls. His life does not go easy, which getting robbed and being bullied are not rare in his daily life. However, every time when he or somebody is in trouble, no one would dare to help. So he wonders why nobody ever tries to be a superhero in real life like the ones in the comic books. As a result, he decided to don a costume and become a real-life superhero himself. He called himself Kick-Ass and his heroic action of helping a perfect stranger one night has been captured on cell phone by a bystander and was uploaded to YouTube, which ultimately turned Kick-Ass into an internet phenomenon and inspired others to also become superhero and join the vigilante.
Superhero film can be considered as a subgenre of action/science fiction film, which these films are usually action-oriented. Meanwhile, these films are usually tended to be in a more serious tone without much comedic elements in them. However, for the film Kick-Ass, even it is marketed as a superhero movie, and it is also a comedy at the same time, which this unusual combination could make the audience feel peculiar. In addition, the protagonist(s) in superhero film will usually possess some kind of superpowers somehow. Contrary, all four of the superheroes in Kick-Ass have no superpowers which also makes it a standout from the crowd of the genre of superhero film.
The film Kick-Ass has addressed the social issue of people being unwilling to care and help each other in an obvious way. Just like the wonders of the main character, Dave, that nobody ever tries, or even thinks, to become a superhero, but a lot of people are trying to become a superstar like Paris Hilton, or a super-rich person like Warren Buffett. This phenomenon has shown us that the majority of the people only concern about fame and money, but not caring of each other and our moral values for being a human. Moreover, in a line from the film, “With no power, comes no responsibility… except… that wasn’t true”, expresses that everyone from the society should get up and help whoever in need.
Kick-Ass generally received a very positive reception in Hong Kong, while around 90% of the locally written reviews (including mainly the audience and film critics) that I have read has rated the film 4-5 out of 5. The film is highly praised by being a standout from the crowd of superhero movies and the uniqueness of its theme. Moreover, I found something quite interesting amongst those positive reviews which many of them thought that Kick-Ass is a crappy movie by judging only on its locally translated title “勁揪俠”. This style of title has reminded them of the previously released Hollywood comedy which also make fun of superheroes and other Hollywood films, such as Superhero Movie and Meet the Spartans, which have both received very negative responses both locally and abroad. In contrast, the responses out of the few negative reviews from the locals mainly thought that the movie should be more hilarious or it should even use an approach similar to some movies like Meet the Spartans which is to fill the film with gags and jokes in the making of Kick-Ass. It indicates that what they just need is the comedy that does not require the audience to think at all.
I personally loved this film and it has become one of my favorite movies of all time. One of the reasons I loved it is because I can easily relate to the main character, Dave, who is a person that more ordinary than ordinary. The distance between me and the character was being shortened for such character settings, and I could immerse myself into the movie more easily, which makes the film more enjoyable to me. In addition, the combination of unconventional superhero elements, comedy, violence and gore, and the soundtrack of the film have created a refreshing look and feel if the film that keep me to ask for more. All in all, Kick-Ass is a “one-of-a-kind” movie which deserve viewing.
By Wong Ka Luen Allan (10299063)
Know what? Many of my friends talked about this film recently and urged me to go watching it. I didn’t go at last due to its title, Kick-Ass (“勁揪俠”), as both the Chinese and English sound odd to me. Just as you have analyzed the style of film titles, I believe that it is very important to have an outstanding or eye-catching title, but it also need to correctly tell the style of the film. It helps organizing audience expectation, and a large discrepancy between the title and content may cause disappointment.
ReplyDeleteYou have done a good job in discussing the hybridized genre of the film, as well as describing its popularity in Hong Kong. You may try to relate its central theme to the situation in Hong Kong, and explains its popularity among general audience too.