By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Review-ish: Kick-Ass 2
I don’t have a lot to say about this film.
In some ways, it is better than the first film. It’s more consistent in logic, it’s got a bit more size to it, and it really goes for it on pretty much every gag.
In some ways, it is not as good as the first film. The lighting isn’t good, the narrative is oddly complicated, and it really goes for it on pretty much every gag.
I think that people who love Kick-Ass will love this film even more. I think people who just kinda nodded and felt ambivalence about Kick-Ass could fall on either side on this one. I think anyone who was the slightest bit irritated with Kick-Ass will think that Hollywood has gone to hell in a handbasket and this is the signal for the end times.
I was, generally, okay with it. Hit a wave of hate as I walked out of the theater. But I was okay with the uber-violence. I was okay with the underage girl doing very not-underage things. I like the Mean Girls mini-movie stuck in the middle of this one and think the boy band segment will be visually quoted for decades to come. I thought Jim Carrey was as good here as he has ever been as any character… and I completely understand why he doesn’t want to be associated with the violence now that the film is complete.
Someone pointed out, rather succinctly, that there is a comedy sequence where 10 policemen are murdered. I can’t tell someone to be okay with that. But I take the whole thing as a giant cartoon and my only shock in that sequence was that they made a point in one shot of getting cops out of a car before it exploded. (They would die later.)
Could I have lived without the shot of chocolate pudding—subbing for diarrhea—actually shooting out from under a girl’s skirt? Yeah. Wasn’t funny enough of done well enough to warrant its inclusion. (And Mr. Creosote is still one of my favorite movie moments ever.) But I thought the Mean riff from Claudia Lee, Ella Purnell, and Tanya fear was pretty good until that shitty moment. (And for the record… Yancy Butler did an amazing job disappearing into a really ugly character.)
But you know, it’s the kind of movies were balls get ripped out and arms pulled off, and bad puns are made using the word “cunt.”
That said, except for the language, I saw worse on “True Blood” this week.
So… there you go. Go if you feel really compelled. Hedge if you don’t. And if you are looking for something profoundly evolved from the first film, skip it as though your life depended on it… because it doesn’t… but you might think it does.
Intensely disliked the first one and have pretty much zero interest in this. DP wish we had a review of Elysium instead! Interesting thoughts as always though.
So Jim Carrey was fine with a character that has his dog bite people’s balls off until a crazy person killed kids in Connecticut. That makes sense. And then he went to a “autism isn’t real” rally in Washington. Maybe Jim should also donate his profits from past films that glorify violence to an autism charity.
Loathed the first, will be steering well clear of this one. The weird thing is, on paper it’s the kind of movie I usually like, but there’s something rancid about Millar’s world-view, and I gag on it. I hated WANTED too. He seems like an intelligent and funny chap in interviews, though.
The Jim Carrey stuff is such Hollywood bullshit. Sandy Hook was the first time he noticed people being murdered? Really, Jim? Was Columbine a comic book? The movie is getting terrible reviews so maybe it’s more he knew from the jump he was involved with a shitshow and didn’t want to support it. And actors like Carrey need to be careful with this stuff. Either you believe a movie is responsible for people’s actions or you don’t. If th former, then Jim needs a career change. I’d hate for him to be responsible for some awful event in the near future.
As far as the movie goes, I loved the first one and I’m disappointed it seems that this one sucks. I’ll probably still see it regardless. Hopefully of doesn’t turn me into a mass murderer!
Thank God for the return of the amazing shining star Yancy!