Here’s something I never thought I’d say after 1998: “Huh, I don’t want to get up and leave the theater when Jim Carrey is on the screen.”Other than the few and far between reminders that Carrey might not be completely content phoning it in all the way to the bank (2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and 2008’s I Love You Phillip Morris), the ’00s were rough for those who excitedly watched Carrey evolve from Fire Marshall Bill to Lloyd Christmas in their younger years.
And Carrey, while not the lead in Kick-Ass 2 is inevitably the focal point of discussion around this film for so many. The uninitiated will probably only know Kick-Ass 2 as the film Carrey made news for not wanting to do publicity for — saying he couldn’t in good conscience promote following the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Fair enough. There is violence here — we’re not talking a Django-level body count, but it’s enough to make the faint at heart turn away. Bodies are crushed like half-full soda cans under cars and cops are cut down by a yard tool. But, if you’re the type who can find humor in over-the-top comic book violence, there are definitely a few scenes in Kick-Ass 2 that will leave your mouth open — either in laughter or shock. A great deal of these scenes revolve around a jacked ex-KGB agent who takes the villainess name of Mother Russia. (Think: Zangief with boobs and an eye patch.)
Part 2 takes up shortly after the first. High schooler-turned-vigilante Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) work has inspired others to take up costumed justice calling — like The Dark Knight but with the good guys being totally cool with maiming and murdering the bad guys. (Batman am disappoint.)
Carrey, with a Mickey Rourke impression and some sort of facial prosthetic, plays Colonel Stars and Stripes, a square-jawed lovable sociopath hell bent on vigilante justice with a penis-eating German Shepherd. The Colonel leads a ragtag team of would-be superheroes, a poor man’s Justice League, that takes in Kick-Ass after Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), his partner in anti-crime, takes an oath to hang her costume up for good. This leads to a Mean Girls side story for Hit-Girl that wraps up not so unlike (speaking of Carrey) Dumb and Dumber's infamous bathroom scene.
This paternal “superhero” role gives Carrey even less screentime than Nic Cage got in the original Kick-Ass, which is too bad, because if anyone could ever attempt to halfway fill those weird-ass shoes, it’s Carrey, who steals the scenes he’s in. Among the other pleasant surprises is John Leguizamo, who delivers some solid laughs as the Alfred to Red Mist’s — now the “Mother Fucker” (Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin) — Batman.
Original Kick-Ass co-writer/director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, X-men: First Class) passes the directorial torch to Jeff Wadlow, who — as you may have ascertained from reading this sentence — is not Matthew Vaughn. Perhaps Vaughn passed because he knew that like the heroes that Kick-Ass inspires, it’s difficult for what comes after to ever match the original object.
Kick-Ass 2 is juvenile, which isn’t necessarily bad, but fails to live up to the first, which balanced shock, intense action and superhero fantasy into a frenetic entertaining mix in a vibrant, over-saturated romp. Still, there are some laugh-out-loud moments and few scenes of eyebrow-raising gratuitous violence that warrant giving Kick-Ass 2 a chance if you go in with realistic expectations.
--Eric Pulsifer
And Carrey, while not the lead in Kick-Ass 2 is inevitably the focal point of discussion around this film for so many. The uninitiated will probably only know Kick-Ass 2 as the film Carrey made news for not wanting to do publicity for — saying he couldn’t in good conscience promote following the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Fair enough. There is violence here — we’re not talking a Django-level body count, but it’s enough to make the faint at heart turn away. Bodies are crushed like half-full soda cans under cars and cops are cut down by a yard tool. But, if you’re the type who can find humor in over-the-top comic book violence, there are definitely a few scenes in Kick-Ass 2 that will leave your mouth open — either in laughter or shock. A great deal of these scenes revolve around a jacked ex-KGB agent who takes the villainess name of Mother Russia. (Think: Zangief with boobs and an eye patch.)
Part 2 takes up shortly after the first. High schooler-turned-vigilante Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) work has inspired others to take up costumed justice calling — like The Dark Knight but with the good guys being totally cool with maiming and murdering the bad guys. (Batman am disappoint.)
Carrey, with a Mickey Rourke impression and some sort of facial prosthetic, plays Colonel Stars and Stripes, a square-jawed lovable sociopath hell bent on vigilante justice with a penis-eating German Shepherd. The Colonel leads a ragtag team of would-be superheroes, a poor man’s Justice League, that takes in Kick-Ass after Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), his partner in anti-crime, takes an oath to hang her costume up for good. This leads to a Mean Girls side story for Hit-Girl that wraps up not so unlike (speaking of Carrey) Dumb and Dumber's infamous bathroom scene.
This paternal “superhero” role gives Carrey even less screentime than Nic Cage got in the original Kick-Ass, which is too bad, because if anyone could ever attempt to halfway fill those weird-ass shoes, it’s Carrey, who steals the scenes he’s in. Among the other pleasant surprises is John Leguizamo, who delivers some solid laughs as the Alfred to Red Mist’s — now the “Mother Fucker” (Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin) — Batman.
Original Kick-Ass co-writer/director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, X-men: First Class) passes the directorial torch to Jeff Wadlow, who — as you may have ascertained from reading this sentence — is not Matthew Vaughn. Perhaps Vaughn passed because he knew that like the heroes that Kick-Ass inspires, it’s difficult for what comes after to ever match the original object.
Kick-Ass 2 is juvenile, which isn’t necessarily bad, but fails to live up to the first, which balanced shock, intense action and superhero fantasy into a frenetic entertaining mix in a vibrant, over-saturated romp. Still, there are some laugh-out-loud moments and few scenes of eyebrow-raising gratuitous violence that warrant giving Kick-Ass 2 a chance if you go in with realistic expectations.
--Eric Pulsifer
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