Kick-Ass 2: Review

Kick-Ass 2 is set a few years after the events that took place in the first Kick-Ass movie, and after Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) proved to everybody that it isn't impossible to be a superhero, many more random civilians have been dressing up in outlandish costumes in order to fight crime. The story picks up when Dave Lizweski (the real identity of Kick-Ass) and Mindy Macready (Chloe Grace Moretz) are attempting to live normal teenage lives, occasionally fighting crime as Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl, respectively. Mindy is soon forbidden to continue doing so however, by her new guardian Marcus (Morris Chestnut), while Kick-Ass discovers a group of heroes led by the righteous Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). Everything changes however when a vengeful Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) from the first movie decides to become the world's first super-villain, wearing a gimp suit and calling himself "The Mother-F**ker".

Now, this may be quite a long synopsis of the plot in Kick-Ass 2, but that's because the story is, although occasionally predictable, fairly interesting and detailed. Certain scenes focus on Mindy's battle with separating her crime fighting life with her everyday, mundane life, and these are certainly a nice spin on such a stereotypical feature of comic book movies. Her scenes in which she is Hit-Girl however, are amongst the best in the movie, just like the original. 

The Mother-F**ker (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)

Now, surely the name of the villain as "The Mother-F**ker" alone is a guide as to what the tone of the movie is. Kick-Ass 2 rarely takes itself too seriously, and in my opinion the scenes which try to depict drama work very well, despite not always being spot-on. I was surprised at how much I liked the newly introduced characters aswell, especially Jim Carrey's role, as I have never been a huge fan of Carrey, but Colonel Stars and Stripes is easily one of the most enjoyable parts of the film, and that is no bad thing. 

My only real negative about Kick-Ass 2 is that it wraps up rather quickly. There are a few intense fight-scenes and then the movie just ends, with a few quick fixes to jump over plot issues. Also, Kick-Ass 2 relies heavily on the first film in the sense that I can't imagine understanding a lot of the storyline if you haven't seen the original, something which may drive away newcomers to these hugely entertaining movies. 

Verdict
I find it difficult not to recommend Kick-Ass 2. It's funny, violent, action-packed and at times dramatic. Sometimes the humour is a little slapstick and the script is cringe-worthy, but I really enjoyed it as a fun comic book sequel, and sincerely hope there is a third. 8.5/10

"I try to have fun, otherwise, what's the point?"