Pun Salad

As I type, Kick-Ass is #176 on IMDB's top 250 movies of all time. I don't know about that, but I enjoyed it.

Kick-Ass is the alter ego of nerdy high-schooler Dave Lizewski. He wonders why, given all the onscreen glorification of superheros, nobody ever decides to become one. Why not me? He soon enough finds out: you can get yourself seriously killed real easily. Especially if you possess no unusual skills, powers, or high-tech weaponry whatsoever. By sheerest luck, however, Dave's first forays into comic-bookland only almost get him killed. But it also brings the attention of both the local mob boss and a couple of extremely competent dress-up vigilantes: "Big Daddy" and his young daughter "Hit Girl". The plot develops in unexpected and violent directions, but it's all very tongue-in-cheek. (At one point, it's gun-in-cheek, but…)

As the MPAA puts it, the movie garners an R rating "for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use - some involving children." The preteen "Hit Girl" is also very potty-mouthed and violent, albeit in the context of comic-book fantasy. You'll have to think about whether that might bother you; you might also think about whether you even want to think about whether that might bother you.

Weigh that against this: there's a bazooka. In this blog's opinion, there aren't nearly enough movies with bazookas in them. I think Julie & Julia could have been improved with at least one bazooka scene.

Elizabeth McGovern, a one-time Oscar nominee, has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role. Perusing her IMDB filmography, I'm pretty sure this is the first thing I've seen her in since 1988.