Cinema Review - Kick Ass 2 (15, 103 Mins)

Synopsis: The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.

Verdict: with the first film becoming an instant cult classic (and one of my favourite films) my expectations were probably unreasonably high which resulted in me being slightly disappointed by this run of the mill sequel. 

Chloe Grace Moretz, the breakout star of the first film, is probably the best thing about this film. She gets some of the best lines (look out for a fresh twist on her use of the C-word!) and a lot of the action, even without her guise for the majority of the film, so much so that Kick-Ass feels almost sidelined for half of the film. That is until things turn particularly bleak.

Whilst I acknowledge that the conclusion of the first film meant the sequel would be darker, I didn't think it would go as far as it did. The demise of a couple of central characters (I won't go any further than that, normally I avoid potential spoilers but in this case I felt I had to make the point) upset one woman sitting behind me so much that she was crying. For this reason it didn't necessarily feel like a Kick-Ass movie at a couple of points, the deaths didn't feel as darkly comic as in the first one. However this was only the case at a few points throughout. On the whole there were plenty of laughs, particularly thanks to Hit Girl's "adventures" in high school.

My only other main qualm with this film was the violence. I don't want to sound like some sadistic animal by saying this but in my opinion it wasn't extreme enough. When you look back at the first film there were so many extremely bloodthirsty scenes (the first encounter with Hit girl and Big Daddy, the human microwave - the list goes on). Here however there was a lot more hand-to-hand combat, that whilst was technically brilliant lacked the edginess of the violence in the first film. It made me feel like it was much more committee led and wanted to make a quick buck with something less edgy and much more toned down than the comic book.

While it would be ear impossible to match the sheer originality and out-thereness of the first, I couldn't help but feel this was a moderately wasted opportunity creatively in an attempt to grab a bit of cash. Saying that though there was still fun to be had here for a couple of hours and with an ending as wide open as it was I'd welcome a Hit Girl spin-off with open arms!

3/5

Cinema Review - The World's End (15, 109 Mins)

Synopsis: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

Verdict: it doesn't necessarily cover any new ground there is plenty of humour here along with some great action to make it one of the better films of this summer.

Starting off as a slow burner there wasn't really a lot going on for the first 30 minutes or so other than introducing characters. Whilst this means that it takes time before The World's End gets going, an excellent screenplay results in much greater character development than many other recent comedies (although I liked I Give It A Year, just showing that a character doesn't like compacting rubbish in the bin does not make her evolved or relatable). Therefore whilst many jokes are made at the mental fragility of Simon Pegg's central character you feel almost heartbroken for him at points when you see how hard life has been for him. Plot threads like this helped to make for a very well-rounded film, more so than audiences may have initially been expecting from a film about an alien invasion in pubs. 

The cast here is as excellent as the other instalments in the Cornetto trilogy. Nick Frost has surprisingly more to work with as the story progresses than in his other roles where he was more of a bashful assistant. As a result I'd regard this as one of his best performances to date. Rosamund Pike also pleasantly surprised with good comic timing. Given I'd only really seen her before in action movies like Jack Reacher I wasn't sure how she'd bear up against such comedic talent but she really held her own. The rest of the cast were also great and several cameos from other famous faces worked well too.

One of the only flaws with this was probably mis-marketing due to the fact that it was billed as a comedy. Whilst this definitely did have some funny moments, was it as witty and gag-filled as Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz? No. In my opinion it came off as more of an action movie with several brilliantly choreographed fight scenes - Edgar Wright clearly learned a lot from directing Scott Pilgrim. Many of the laughs and running gags were more chuckle worthy than laugh out loud funny.

Whilst it may not be quite as strong as the first two films, The World's End is still definitely a fitting end to the trilogy with plenty of nods back to them throughout making it a must see for any fans of Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz.

4/5