The expectations for Kick-Ass were not held high, it seemed to be a half-arsed attempt at taking the superhero genre to a new height of wit, without success. However, it was much more enjoyable than first anticipated.
The screen was filled with saturated colour and ultra-violent action, pushing forward a teenage-superhero movie, overflowing action and black comedy.
Even after seeing the trailers, it seemed unbelievable that Aaron Johnson pulled off the effortlessly cool aura of John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, however, with a quivering American accent and “nerdy”, anxious demeanour, John Lennon and Dave Lizewski (a.k.a. Kick-Ass), are worlds apart, and equally believable. The creation of Kick-Ass as a superhero and character is laughable (in a good way), with a green and yellow lined scuba suit and Timberland boots, he seems a joke parading the streets of New York in the hope of helping the needy. His intentions are heroic (in the typical superhero sense), yet he quickly finds himself in too deep whilst attempting to aid his love interest, Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca). Although the revenge-action narrative that is stumbled upon is predictable; it is easy to get caught up in the action and forget about how mentally unchallenging the storyline is, and just be taken along for the ride.
The energetic, action-packed, highly violent sequences are choreographed and edited at a fast-paced; they are pleasurable and entertaining to watch, even though the action that takes place is murder, and most of which is carried out by the 11-year-old Mindy Macready (Chloë Moretz), or Hit Girl, as her superhero alter ego prefers to go by, it is enthralling. At times her dialogue was slightly cringe-worthy, particularly her overconfident attitude during dialogue that contained the ‘C’ word. It felt like the uncomfortable dialogue of a Diablo Cody screenplay. Regardless, her youthful, girlish charm shone through, and sympathy was adequately applied to her character’s circumstances. Nicolas Cage, dressed in dowdy ‘dad’ attire throughout and with a superhero alter ego – Big Daddy – with an uncanny resemblance to Batman, was surprisingly, less awkward and his dead-pan acting style was used brilliantly for comic effect, which was successful (even I never thought I would enjoy a performance by The Cage).
Gangsters, comic book ‘geeks’, vigilantly superheroes, witty high school humour, teenage love, revenge and misdemeanour. With a style that incorporates its graphic novel influence (original comic series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr.), it is hard to consider that anyone will not enjoy an element of this film that sets a new, black comic twist upon the superhero genre.
Although, initially it is stylish homicide disguised as ‘superhero’ antics, in a film that seems to take its influences from similar superhero movies and the aesthetics of Tarantino films (namely, Kill Bill); the comments it could make on the corruptible nature of the Criminal Justice system, the birth and creation of internet celebrities in today’s media obsessed society, it is somewhat witty & fun. It is one to see again for some ‘switch-off-and-enjoy’, ‘roll with the punches’ entertainment.
Thursday 1 April 2010
Friday 8 January 2010
The Road (John Hillcoat, 2009)
After hearing very promising things about ‘The Road’ as a novel (by acclaimed author of ‘No Country For Old Men’, Cormac MacCarthy) I had high expectations for the film as I thoroughly enjoyed the latter, unfortunately, my expectations were not met.
The Road follows a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they strive to stay alive travelling south towards the coast, whilst being faced with the threat of cannibalism and starvation. Years and years have passed since an unknown apocalyptic event has taken place. It has shaped the world and humanity left within it, and the means of survival become more scarce, forcing “the bad guys” to find alternative ways of preventing the inevitable, death.
I do champion the narrative for never enclosing the details that were involved in the apocalyptic event; however, this did limit my connection with the characters. Without any hint of hope throughout the duration of the film, I found it difficult to be optimistic about their survival knowing their demise was highly probable, given the circumstances. To further lessen my connection with the character’s situation, Kodi Smit-McPhee’s performance as the son irritated me. His unwillingness to listen or learn and his whiny performance severed any emotion I could have felt towards his character.
It seemed as though the film tried too hard to pull on the heart-strings, so much so that it was lost on me, and I didn’t buy into it. It was too simple; a flashback of his wife (Charlize Theron) playing the piano and then the man stumbles upon a piano and cries. I felt as though I was being spoon fed the emotion I was supposed to be feeling, yet never quite reacting to it. I am hoping the book will help me connect to the emotion of the story were the film failed to do so – particularly the father/son relationship. I’m not claiming that the relationship was void of emotion, I personally felt as though the father would have been better alone. They stand in as the contemporary pairing of the same relationship seen in The Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) – The man’s actions display the true nature of selfish survival within a diminished society, while the son is a constant (and somewhat annoying) voice of morality that has been lost on the older generation who remember a forgotten world.
The cinematography of Javier Aguirresarobe was outstanding. The dystopian road and landscape was thought provoking. It was easy to imagine the landscape in such disarray even without the events of an apocalypse. It is devastatingly elegant.
I wasn’t balled over by The Road; the pace, the events, the emotion left me disengaged from the characters, and therefore the narrative itself. However, if a slow-paced, post-apocalyptic, “heart wrenching” film is what you’re looking for, then look no further.
The Road follows a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they strive to stay alive travelling south towards the coast, whilst being faced with the threat of cannibalism and starvation. Years and years have passed since an unknown apocalyptic event has taken place. It has shaped the world and humanity left within it, and the means of survival become more scarce, forcing “the bad guys” to find alternative ways of preventing the inevitable, death.
I do champion the narrative for never enclosing the details that were involved in the apocalyptic event; however, this did limit my connection with the characters. Without any hint of hope throughout the duration of the film, I found it difficult to be optimistic about their survival knowing their demise was highly probable, given the circumstances. To further lessen my connection with the character’s situation, Kodi Smit-McPhee’s performance as the son irritated me. His unwillingness to listen or learn and his whiny performance severed any emotion I could have felt towards his character.
It seemed as though the film tried too hard to pull on the heart-strings, so much so that it was lost on me, and I didn’t buy into it. It was too simple; a flashback of his wife (Charlize Theron) playing the piano and then the man stumbles upon a piano and cries. I felt as though I was being spoon fed the emotion I was supposed to be feeling, yet never quite reacting to it. I am hoping the book will help me connect to the emotion of the story were the film failed to do so – particularly the father/son relationship. I’m not claiming that the relationship was void of emotion, I personally felt as though the father would have been better alone. They stand in as the contemporary pairing of the same relationship seen in The Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) – The man’s actions display the true nature of selfish survival within a diminished society, while the son is a constant (and somewhat annoying) voice of morality that has been lost on the older generation who remember a forgotten world.
The cinematography of Javier Aguirresarobe was outstanding. The dystopian road and landscape was thought provoking. It was easy to imagine the landscape in such disarray even without the events of an apocalypse. It is devastatingly elegant.
I wasn’t balled over by The Road; the pace, the events, the emotion left me disengaged from the characters, and therefore the narrative itself. However, if a slow-paced, post-apocalyptic, “heart wrenching” film is what you’re looking for, then look no further.
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