Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are back in this sequel to 2010’s Kick-Ass. With the help of a few new real-life superheroes, they fight villains and figure out what it means to be true to who you are and to be a hero.
At the end of Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass, also known as Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), killed Mr. D’Amico and Hit-Girl’s (Chloe Grace Moretz) father, Big Daddy, gave his life to protect his little girl and the city. Dave and Mindy (Hit-Girl’s civilian name) dealt with those events in different ways: Dave has given up being Kick-Ass and Mindy lies to her guardian, Marcus (Morris Chestnut), because she feels obligated to keep protecting the city as her father did. So, she patrols the city as Hit-Girl, even hacking into the school computer to give her a perfect attendance record.
Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson)
While Kick-Ass was about picking up the mantle, Kick-Ass 2 explores the hero’s responsibility and duties while asking which is the mask: the civilian identity or the superhero moniker? Dave sits at home and watches as others, inspired by him, become real-life superheroes. Soon, he misses the thrill of patrol and convinces Mindy to get him back in shape. After a training session, Marcus discovers Mindy’s secret and demands she be just a teenager, stating that her childhood was taken from her and she is Mindy, not Hit-Girl. Just as Mindy agrees to give up being Hit-Girl, Dave is eager to be Kick-Ass again. Dave tries to convince Mindy to keep being Hit-Girl, but she refuses. Dave likes to be Kick-Ass in a team and he soon finds a group called Justice Forever, led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey).
As Dave enjoys being Kick-Ass again, Mindy has a new fight: high school. Mindy gets mixed up with Brooke (Claudia Lee) and her group of friends. During a sleepover, Mindy discovers her hormones as she watches a video of a boy band and finds one of them attractive, but she hasn’t shed Hit-Girl completely. During tryouts for the dance/cheer team, Mindy imagines four attackers and the scene cuts from Mindy alone to Hit-Girl fighting the attackers in the gym. At the end of her routine, the crowd of girls is impressed, which upsets Brooke. Through her interactions with Brooke (the film does pass the Bechdel test), Mindy learns that even superheroes can be the victims of bullying. Mindy can’t wear the Hit-Girl mask all of the time, but she can allow Hit-Girl’s attitude to surface when she’s Mindy, and she does so when she brings justice to Brooke and her crew. All I have to say is this: I really wish I had a “Sick Stick” when I was in high school.
Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit-Girl
Just as Mindy and Dave struggle with their dual identities, Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is also undergoing a transformation. He wants to be a man. A man who can avenge his father’s death, but he can’t as long as he lives with his mother. In a fit of anger, Chris finds a way to rid himself of his mother, so he can start his journey. Chris is no longer Red Mist, his superhero identity, because he aims to be the world’s first super-villain… The Motherf***er. The conflict between Chris and Dave are like many others between a superhero and his nemesis. Chris’s reaction to tragedy is similar to Dave’s: both don a mask, but Chris wants to destroy while Dave wants to protect. Their battle also asks a question many comic book storylines have tackled: Which comes first, the hero or the villain? Does one create the other? In Kick-Ass 2, vengeance begets violence, a cycle that climaxes when Kick-Ass and his band of heroes confronts The Motherf***er and his group of henchmen, the Toxic Mega-C**ts.
The actors are more comfortable in their roles in Kick-Ass 2 than they were in the first film, especially Moretz, who understands what the curse words mean this time, so her delivery of the insults has more bite. Since Moretz is older, her punches and kicks are harder. She even takes down several attackers while moving from the top to the sides of a speeding van in a thrilling sequence. Mintz-Plasse relishes his role, turning up the hamminess to eleven. Chris’s MF costume is a bondage outfit with feathers. Mintz-Plasse embraces the ridiculous outfit and doesn’t let the outfit overpower him. He knows how to hit every outlandish beat, making Chris a mixture of a toddler’s tantrum and psychopathic glee.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D’Amico, The Motherf***er
Kick-Ass 2 is more emotional than the first film, focusing more on the characters and their struggle with identity. The raw, grounded feel of the first one is present here. Although the film is character-driven, there is plenty of action. The film is tight and quick. The final fight between Hit-Girl and Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) is brutal. The way Hit-Girl handles the situation shows she is tough and smart. Kick-Ass 2 is funny and ruthless. The superheroes learn that it’s the heart of the individual that determines if one is a hero, not a cool name and a mask.
Check out our other review of Kick-Ass 2:
Rick Swift’s Review
