Kick Ass 2 Movie Review

Kick-Ass 2 has a different Director. Kick-Ass 2 has a VERY different director and believe me, it shows. IT SHOWS!

Does anyone remember that 2010 superhero flick directed by the guy who gave us the wonderfully magical Stardust? You know the one, the one that kept pushing the envelope but in a really great way? The one that was filled with nerdy wit and a glowing appreciation for the superhero genre? Yeah that one, well they made a sequel and it sucks.

 From the visionary director that brought us delightful treats such as Never Back Down (sarcasm), and that great horror film that redefined the horror genre Cry Wolf (angry sarcasm), comes this sequel to the beloved superhero movie Kick-Ass (not sarcasm). I'm done with sarcasm now this movie is pretty terrible. I was very skeptical of this movie from the start. Not just because they changed the director from Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Stardust) to Jeff Wadlow, but because this seemed like a completely unnecessary sequel. I was very pleased with how the original ended and felt it could have benefited from remaining a stand-alone movie. But everything nowadays gets a sequel, so I went along with it. I would like to start off with talking about all of the things I liked about this movie, but I'm just drawing a blank. If I dig deep down, I think I can muster up some appreciation for Jim Carrey's role in the movie. Colonel Stars and Strips was a relatively interesting character. He was definitely not utilized as much as he should have been, but the small amount of screen time he had was fun. Okay, that is the only positive. Now with the negatives. I feel like this movie had some real identity issues. Throughout the movie, it felt like the writers were going for a sort of Scream 2 vibe. By that I mean some characters made comments referring to how this movie is a sequel, and then those comments just sort of stop. They don't go all the way that, either make this movie a satire on sequels the way the first was a satire on Superhero movies or don't, just make up your mind.

The biggest crowd pleaser in the original was obviously foul-mouthed little killer Hit-Girl. I will give props to this movie for showing a human side of her and going deeper into her character. But just because they went deeper into her character, however, doesn't necessarily mean her character was developed at all. Showing the audience a more sensitive side of a character is a great way to incorporate some character development, which is not what they do for some reason. Let me give some background. For the first time in her life, Hit-Girl has to go to High School, marking her first encounter with school bullies and all of the fun things that go along with being a teenager. Some of the kids are mean to her and for the first time she is up against an enemy she can't just slice and dice, even though she really wants to. This could have been a great opportunity for a tremendous character arc. She could have just taken the high rode and learned that there are some battles that you have to walk away from to become a better person. They don't do that, leading to one of the most immature and unfunny sequences I've seen in the series. Overall, the movie doesn't have the same comic wit that made the first a cult favorite, the writing was uninspired, great opportunities were missed and the director change was a huge mistake. Overall Rating- C-