I recently rented the hit Summer 2010 comic book movie, Kick-Ass. It was highly entertaining, with incredibly choreographed action sequences and solid performances from McLovin and the adorable child actor Chloe Moretz. It was even nice to see Nic Cage getting work. I know he needs it.
However, I was uncomfortable with the violence. Not the fact that there was so much of it, or that it was extremely graphic, but that the so-called 'superheroes' dish it out indiscriminately without mercy or remorse.
Example: The scene where Kick-Ass attempts to threaten a drug-dealer who has been harassing his lady-friend. The young hero arrives at the sketched-out apartment armed with a tazer and his night sticks, nothing lethal. His endearing ineptitude gets the best of him and he is overcome by the gangsters. Then Hit-Girl, a ten-year-old with mad ninja skills and a vast array of death-dealing weapons, appears out of nowhere and saves the day. But she does so by ruthlessly dispatching not only the people who posed a threat, but the newly deceased drug kingpin's coked out girlfriend. The unfortunate skank is unarmed when Hit-Girl shoves two blades all up in her after ignoring her pleas for mercy.
This is what rubs me the wrong way. I can understand that HG took the woman out in order to leave no bleeding witnesses behind, but still there is nothing heroic about this.
Hit-Girl and her father, Big Daddy, are presented as a father and daughter grimly affected by corruption in law enforcement, and yet HG is taught to throw the value of life out the window when their secret identities are at stake. Seems to me like the two are so bent on revenge that their lust for blood has clouded their judgment.
It is because of this, Readers, that I feel Kick-Ass lacks substance. A true hero would respect the value of human life.
JP
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