MORETZ AND CARREY. Portray Hit-Girl and Colonel Stars and Stripes, respectively.
These days, Jim Carrey is making more noise off-screen than on. Last seen in 2011’s “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” the 51-year-old comic failed to ignite the box office when he made his comeback bid last March by way of his less-than-incredible costarrer with Steve Carell, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.”
Thereafter, Carrey ruffled some feathers when he withdrew support for ‘Kick-Ass 2,’ in which he plays aging superhero, Colonel Stars and Stripes, allegedly because of its high level of violence.
John Leguizamo, who plays Red Mist’s trusted confidant, is puzzled by the comedian’s decision: “I love Jim—but, when did he realize that the movie was violent? Didn’t he see the first film? Didn’t he read the script?”
Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays Hit-Girl aka Mindy Macready, is just as perplexed: “If you’re easily swayed as a moviegoer, you might see ‘The Silence of the Lambs” and think you’re a serial killer—or watch ‘Pocahontas’ and leave the theater believing you’re a Disney princess.”
The film may have drawn Carrey’s ire because, as it turns out, his participation in the action franchise isn’t just short, it’s also inconsequential: The comedian is cast as the leader of Justice Forever, a Justice League knockoff that teams up with Kick-Ass aka David Lezewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to fight the criminal quintet put together by Chris D’Amico (the appropriately goofy Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to avenge the death of his crime-boss father (Mark Strong).
The movie isn’t something you haven’t seen before, but director Jeff Wadlow—who’s developing a screen version of “X-Force” (Marvel’s other group of mutant superheroes)—inventively stages the interweaving lives of Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Red Mist.
The director explains, “‘Kick-Ass’ is to superhero movies what the first ‘Scream’ was to horror—it enjoys breaking the rules. The three characters ask the same question (about the plausibility and relevance of superheroes in the real world), but come up with different answers.”
Ample gifts
Carrey wasn’t wrong when he said that the film was violent, but it judiciously sidesteps the thematic excesses of the comic book on which it’s based. It’s clever, irreverent, skillfully choreographed and quick on its feet—and showcases the ample gifts of Moretz as Tinseltown’s Next Big Thing!
Even with its winking references, Wadlow’s entertaining actioner works hard to show how high the stakes are for its protagonists—he doesn’t sugar-coat their life-and-death situations with toothless intimations of violence.
The sequences involving its superhero wannabes occasionally feel unfocused and meandering. But, the film hits its stride when it zeroes in on the well-limned—and superbly acted—story of Mindy, who’s forced to lead a ‘normal’ life and give up her tights, to honor the dying wishes of her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage).
As a high school freshman, Hit-Girl’s alter ego must endure bullying, peer pressure, self-esteem issues—and boys! —Whoever said teenage life was a walk in the park?