Kick-Ass

Release Date: April 16th, 2010

Click here for the Kick-Ass Trailer.

Why hasn't anybody ever tried to become a real-life superhero? That is the exact question and point of Kick-Ass. Dave Lizewski(Aaron Johnson) is you average everyday teenager who wonders why nobody has ever tried to be a crime fighting superhero. After being mugged one day while a bystander watches and does nothing, Dave decides enough is enough. Buying a scuba suit from eBay and arming himself with fighting batons, Dave begins to wonder the streets looking for people in need and his first case comes sooner than expected. Walking home from school, Dave encounters the muggers who attacked him earlier breaking into a car. Dressed in his costume, Dave tries to fight off the muggers who end up stabbing him and leaving. As Dave staggers away he is struck by a car, which then drives off and leaves him as well.

Due to his accident, most of Dave's skeleton is covered with metal plates and his nerve endings are fried removing his ability to feel pain. Dave then opens up a MySpace account for his new alter ego, Kick-Ass, who has made city wide news after a video of him defending a man against three gang members hit the internet. Because of Kick-Ass' stardom, the girl of Dave's dreams, Katie Deauxma(Lyndsy Fonseca) asks Kick-Ass to take care of a guy that has been harassing her. Kick-Ass goes to the guys apartment only to find out that he is a violent drug dealer. As the man goes to kill him, Kick-Ass is saved by Mindy Macready, a.k.a. Hit-Girl(Chloe Grace Moretz) who kills all of the drug dealers with help from her dad and former police officer Damon Macready, a.k.a. Big Daddy(Nicholas Cage). Big Daddy and Hit-Girl think Kick-Ass has potential and tell him that they could all work together and that they will be in touch.

Kick-Ass goes on with his day to day life only to find out that the drug dealers Hit-Girl and Big Daddy killed were working for Crime Boss Frank D'Amico(Mark Strong), the biggest crime lord in New York. Kick-Ass also realizes that D'Amico thinks Kick-Ass is killing all of his men as opposed to the real threats, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who have a personal vendetta against the entire D'Amico crime family. D'Amico begins to formulate a plan to kill Kick-Ass and the only way he is going to survive is with the help of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl.

If I could describe this movie in one word it would be epic, bu I personally believe that the only way to describe this movie lies within the very title, this movie was Kick-Ass! It blended a great mix of well-known actors like Nicholas Cage and Mark Strong with some excellent up and comers like Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Grace Moretz. It took the comic book movie genre and turned it on its head creating one of the most unique and entertaining comic book movies ever.

Where to begin on this film. Well for starters, let me talk about the subject matter. This is not your mother's superhero/comic book movie. Its violent, graphic and contains more curse words than an episode of South Park. But it all works. The movie, directed by Matthew Vaughn, is an adaptation of the Marvel comic book series by Mark Millar and is one of the best adaptations to date. It follows the story very closely and does its best to stick true to the characters and capture the same feel that the comics were trying to impose. As far as comic book movies go, this one will definitely rank at the top of the list.

The film also had an amazing cast and amazing characters. A lot of times, movies either try to get as many big names in as possible or they try to keep most of the big names out. Kick-Ass tried to fuse that together by incorporating big names with small names and everything in between. Rolling out the big league names are acting greats Nicholas Cage and Mark Strong. Cage did a phenomenal job as vengeful ex-cop Damon Macready/Big Daddy. The character seemed to form a mix between "Elvis and Adam West" (who we know was the original televised Batman) coming from director Matthew Vaughn. What I liked most about Cage's performance was his awkwardness. Looking at him, you would never guess he spends his time hunting down and killing mob members and drug dealers. Sometimes when he talked under his alter ego of Big Daddy, I got feelings of William Shatner's Captain Kirk from Star Trek. It made the character seem like an odd ball which I thought worked perfectly. Strong also did great as crime boss frank D'Amico. Strong had the intense style of a hard core killer mixed with the humorous aspects of the family man that he also played.

Vaughn also did a great job of blending in great up and coming actors like Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Lyndsy Fonseca, with some rather unknowns like the lead Aaron Johnson and the show stealing Chloe Grace Moretz. Mintz-Plasse was awesome as Red Mist, another wannabe superhero who signs on to help out Kick-Ass. Mintz-Plasse has already a nice resume under his belt with such movies as Superbad, Role Models, and Year One and can now add another notch with Kick-Ass. Aaron Johnson, being that he was in every scene, was very well cast as the title character. He really brought the movie together and did a great job of making a real, down-to-earth character. However, the real show-stealer goes to the young Chloe Grace Moretz. Moretz has one of the most "controversial" roles of the film playing the 9-year old mob murdering Hit-Girl. Let me just tell you that if you are offended by a girl of this age saying some very crude words and packing enough hacking and slashing to make Kill Bill look like The Andy Griffith Show, then please walk away now.

Moretz was fantastic and was really the star of the show in my opinion. She took on the mature role extremely well and showed that she has some real acting chops. A lot of people were "offended" by her role, like that twat Roger Ebert. Well to that I saw get over it. This movie is rated "R". That means it probably isn't good for young children or the faint of heart. But what many people fail to realize is that the movie is also fiction. When you get so offended by something then you can no longer discern fact from fiction and it is you who needs some help.

Sorry about the rant and back to the review. The action in this movie was violent, intense and a wicked good time. It rivaled the action of many other comic book/superhero movies and Hit-Girl packed enough punch to make Bruce Lee flinch. The film also incorporated some very funny themes. This movie will have you laughing just as much as it will have you wincing at the sheer amount of damage that is dealt with each crushing blow from our heroes. I also thoroughly enjoyed the music in this film. Soundtracks are very important and the right music can make that perfect scene that much better which is the story with Kick-Ass.

Overall Kick-Ass is one of my favorite movies of the new year and will definitely be high on my list of overall amazing comic book movies. The characters were great, the acting was great, the action was great. An all around great movie for those who are not easily offended.

I give Kick-Ass 10 mob murdering little girls out of 10.

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Year One

Release Date: June 19th, 2009

Click here for the Year One Trailer.

Zed(Jack Black) is a hunter caveman in the first year of man's existence. However, Zed is the worst hunter and isn't even capable enough to be a gather like his best friend Oh(Michael Cera) who is already deemed weak because he is the only male gatherer which is considered a woman's job. While Zed and Oh are out exploring, Zed runs into the famed Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The one rule of the world is not to eat of that tree, but Zed decides to do it anyway, despite the disapproval of Oh. Believing that he is now the smartest man of the tribe, Zed and Oh return to camp to partake in the feast provided by Morlack, the tribe's best warrior/hunter. During the feast, the tribe learns of Zed's breaking of the one rule and the tribe shaman(Bill Hader) banishes Zed for ever. Angry at the tribe, Zed vows to make his own tribe and asks if anybody wants to join him. Only Oh decides to go with him.

While traveling, the two come across a herd of cattle and Zed attempts to kill one. When he is unsuccessful two brothers, Cain(David Cross) and Abel(Paul Rudd), appear and begin to converse with Zed and Oh until a fight breaks out between Cain and Abel. Cain takes a rock and kills Abel and asks Zed and Oh to help him cover it up. The three of them then return to Abel's home where they meet Cain's father Adam(Harold Ramis) who lets them sleep there for the night. In the morning, Abel tells Zed and Oh that they need to get out of town because everybody is going to blame them for Abel's death. The three then flee into the city.

When they get to the city, Zed and Oh find Maya(June Raphael) and Eema(Juno Temple), the two woman from the tribe they wanted to "lay" with, have been captured and sold into slavery. When Cain goes to negotiate for the release of Maya and Eema, Zed and Oh end up becoming slaves. While en route to their owner's home, the slave caravan is attacked by soldiers from Sodom who take all the slaves except for Zed and Oh who manage to escape. Zed and Oh plan to wait for the soldiers to fall asleep to rescue the girls but end up falling asleep themselves. The two wake up to find the soldiers are gone. Zed and Oh begin walking. They come to a mountain where they find a man named Abraham(Hank Azaria) preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac(Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Abraham believes Zed and Oh are angels sent by God to stay his hand. Abraham invites Zed and Oh to his home where they feast. Zed and Oh then learn of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and realize that Maya and Eema are being held in Sodom. When Abraham tries to circumcise Zed and Oh, the two quickly leave and head for Sodom. They are followed by Isaac who wants the two to sneak him into Sodom to party. Isaac runs away when Zed and Oh are taken prisoner by Sargon(Vinnie Jones), Sodom's military General. The two are about to be tortured when Cain, who is now a Sodomite soldier, walks in. When he is recognized by Zed and Oh he tells Sargon that they are his brothers and they are released.

Cain then makes Zed and Oh soldiers in the Sodomite army. The three men are walking around the city when Princess Inanna(Olivia Wilde) is ushered by. When all in the city except Zed, who is intoxicated by Inanna's beauty, bows before her, Inanna believes Zed to be "The Chosen One". Inanna sends her handmaiden, who happens to be Maya, to fetch Zed and invite him to a party. Zed is taken into the palace to clean up while Oh is forced to go off with Zaftig the Eunuch(Kyle Gass) who paints Oh's entire body gold and makes him act as a living statue at the party. At the party, Oh finds Eema who is working as a slave server. But before Oh can talk to her he is summoned by Sodom's openly gay High Priest(Oliver Platt) who forces Oh to rub warm oil all over his extremely hairy body. Zed is then ushered to his meeting with Princess Inanna who, thinking he is the chosen one, wants him to enter the Holy of Holy Temple and tell her what it is like in there. When he enters he finds Oh who is hiding from the High Priest. The two get into an argument and leave to find the King(Xander Berkley) and his guard waiting for them. The King was made aware of them entering the Temple by Cain. As punishment for their crimes they are sentenced to be stoned to death. But Zed pretends to be the "Chosen One" which gives them a lesser sentence.

The King, feeling betrayed by Princess Inanna, decides to make her and two virgins sacrifices to the gods in return for rain. Zed and Oh realize that the two virgins are Maya and Eema. Zed and Oh then stage a desperate rescue attempt which insights a riot. Oh rescues Eema and Zed grabs Maya while all the authoritative powers are killed. The Sodomite then want Zed to be their leader because they believe him to be the "Chosen One". Zed declines and decides to become an explorer with Maya. Oh decides to take Eema and form his own tribe and the two part ways, but not after a tearful goodbye.

Directed by Harold Ramis(Groundhog Day, Analyze That) I expected a bit more from this movie. I did have mixed feelings about this movie. When I saw the previews I thought it looked like an interesting comedy on a subject that hadn't really been touched. And when it came out, I heard of all the negative reviews it was getting. But, I wanted to see it myself and give it my own score and I was happily surprised. This movie had a very interesting concept, taking viewers back to the very beginning of time. Director Harold Ramis took most of the concepts for the movie from the Holy Bible. Cain and Abel, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Abraham and Isaac, and Sodom and Gomorrah are all straight from the Bible. These concepts, however, made for a decently funny concept to what some people perceive as the beginning of man. Jack Black adds his unique style of comedy to the movie with his fast paced and crazy antics while Michael Cera added the balance with his calm, meek, timid sense of comedy. The two really are a good balance. The comedy isn't extremely over the top thanks to Cera and it isn't too bland and calm thanks to Black. Add in other comedy players like David Cross, Oliver Platt, and Hank Azaria and you have a nice blend of different comedy styles that mesh well with each other.

I do think there could have been so much more to this movie. Harold Ramis is a funny actor and a really good director/writer of comedy movies with such great classics like National Lampoon's Animal House, Caddyshack, and Ghostbusters. But his comedic prowess seemed somewhat lost in Year One. The movie was funny, but only decently funny. It had potential to be extremely funny but some of the jokes seemed to be lost in translation and some punchlines left out. I would also have liked to see a different comedic side of Jack Black. All his roles seem to be the same and I think the movie would have been better if Black explored his inner comic deeper and pulled out something original. Cera brought his interesting take on comedy with his mild mannered demeanor. Cera definitley has a different take on comedy, and it is really refreshing. While the insane antics of comics like Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, and even Jack Black are very funny, it is nice to see a different aspect of comedic style portrayed by Cera. He has a sort of innocent style of comedy that makes him lovable as well as hilarious.

All in all this was a decent comedy worth an initial view and maybe more if you really enjoy it. Fans of Jack Black will enjoy the actors trademark antics and will also find Cera to be a nice counterpart. The same goes for the fans of Michael. A good movie but one that did not live up to the potential it had. Some decent humor and a unique and interesting story grants Year One 6.5 Incompetent Caveman out of 10.

Role Models

Release Date: November 7th, 2008

Click here for the Role Models Trailer.

We've all had one. Someone we look up to, admire, and try to be like; a roll model.

Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd star as Wheeler and Danny; two advertising executives for an energy drink company. After a long day of being dumped by his girlfriend, chugging down energy drinks and going from school to school filled with annoying kids Danny has had enough. He hijacks the company minotaur truck and crashes it into a school monument. After some wheeling and dealing from his lawyer ex-girlfriend(Elizabeth Banks), Danny and Wheeler are faced with two options: do some hard time in lock up or serve 150 hours of community service at the judge's favorite place, a big brother/big sister program. Everything sounds good until the two meet their little siblings. Wheeler is faced with a wise cracking, foul mouth fifth grader named Ronnie while Danny gets paired up with Augie(Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Superbad), a shy 16 year old nerd who is obsessed with his fantasy medieval live role playing game, LAIR.

While Wheeler tries to deal with civilizing Ronnie and Danny tries to manly up Augie things go sour. Surrounded by upity do-gooders, ignoring parents, wild partys, an ex-con director for the mentorship program and the looming penalty of jail time if they screw up, Wheeler and Danny just can't seem to get it straight.

I had big laughs during this entire movie! Little sarcastic Ronnie had me rolling with his foul mouth, big attitude, and utter hatred for Wheeler. And I could relate with Augie and his nerd fantasies, and seeing an epic battle played out in a community park with foam swords and cardboard castles couldn't have been any more hilarious. Scott performed good as the party-going, womanizing, adult adolescent. His and Ronnie's characters gelled nicely. As for Judd, his depressed, bitter, angry at life character acted as a wonderful opposite to Mintz-Plasse's down to earth, innocent character.

This movie is sure to please any fan of the loud, foul-language comedy. 8 Role-playing Nerds out of 10