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