Kick-Ass is a fun, hard-knuckled comic book movie that came many years before Deadpool became a hit it did. The highlights, beyond the R-rating language and violence, are the performances from a very young Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicolas Cage and Aaron Johnson.
Kick-Ass
(2010)
Genre(s): Action, Crime, Drama, Comedy
Lionsgate | R – 117 min. – $22.99 | October 3, 2017
Date Published: 10/04/2017 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
THE MOVIE — 4.0/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: Using his love for comics as inspiration, teenager Dave Lizewski (AARON JOHNSON) decides to reinvent himself as a superhero – despite a complete lack of special powers. Dave dons a costume, dubs himself “Kick-Ass,” and gets to work fighting crime. He joins forces with the father/daughter vigilante team of Big Daddy (NICOLAS CAGE) and Hit Girl (CHLOE GRACE MORETZ), and then befriends another fledgling crime-fighter called Red Mist (CHRISTOPHER MINTZ-PLASSE), who is in fact the son of a dangerous mobster intent on ridding Kiss-Ass and other vigilantes.
Quick Hit Review: Before there was Deadpool, there was Kick-Ass, a hard-R rating comic book comedy with plenty of blood, a high body count and vigilantes unafraid to kill, including an 11-year-old girl who has her fair share of kills, including a debut with a sword through the chest, from behind. For whatever reason I never got around to seeing Kick-Ass but I really loved the hell out of the film for both honoring superhero movies before they really became big, not to mention the old classics such as Superman and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, but for being ahead of its time. What was not, however, ahead of its time were references to MySpace and the usage of the song “Crazy” by Cee-lo Green. The performances are mostly good headlined probably by Chloe Grace Moretz in her breakout role and Nic Cage, including one where he takes down a warehouse full of goons… with guns… before burning it down. And Aaron Johnson, known as Aaron Taylor-Johnson today, makes for an actually believable, and awkward, teenage lead.
In the end, Kick-Ass does live up to its name with all sorts of kick assery throughout. It did have modest success at the box office ($96M worldwide) and spawned a sequel, which have not seen yet and I seem to recall some controversy for having a young girl committing so many vicious violent attacks, I have to wonder if that kind of attention in today’s social networking would’ve resulted with more attention and a higher box office… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.5/5 |
|
This release, like other Lionsgate 4Ks, comes with a glossy rounded-corner slip cover. Inside is a Digital HD redemption code. The 4K disc comes with all the features from the Blu-ray sans the “Ass-Kicking Bonus View Mode”. Audio Commentary – Producer/Co-Writer/Director Matthew Vaughn is a charismatic and honest guy and gives some tid-bits on the production. A New Kind of Superhero: The Making of Kick-Ass (1:53:04; HD) – This extensive making-of featurette is split into four parts chronicling the origins of the story and provides some behind-the-scenes footage and on-set interviews with the cast and crew. It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of ‘Kick-Ass’ (20:36; HD) examines the source material and how it became a hit. The Art of Kick-Ass:
Marketing Archive:
|
4K VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Kick-Ass debuts on 4K through Lionsgate and is presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and a 2160p ultra high-definition transfer (HEVC/H.265 codec). This was actually an impressive looking transfer with a wide array to judge from pitch black scenes, like the hostage sequence, to some rather bright colors in both Kick-Ass and Hit Girl’s costumes (and particularly her purple hair), all courtesy of the HDR (this also comes with Dolby Vision). Detail appears sharp and well defined throughout and I didn’t notice any obvious instances of artifacts or other flaws. |
4K AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| The original Blu-ray came with a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track while this 4K disc gets an upgrade to Dolby Atmos. The audio here does sound excellent providing both crisp and clear dialogue levels mainly from the center speaker with great depth for the numerous action scenes containing gunfire, chases and hard, brutal punches. |
OVERALL – 4.5/5 |
|
Overall, Kick-Ass is a fun, hard-knuckled comic book movie that came many years before Deadpool became a hit it did. The highlights, beyond the R-rating language and violence, are the performances from a very young Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicolas Cage and Aaron Johnson. As far as this 4K release is concerned, while I don’t think it’s exactly reference material, it still looks and sounds fantastic and the features, albeit nothing new, are impressive. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.