Review: 'Kick-Ass' on Blu-ray/DVD Entertaining, But Not for Kids

First off, Kick-Ass is not for kids. No way, no how. And it was never supposed to be. Fans of the source material know this, but parents who see it and think "oh, look, another superhero movie," should be warned. Of course, that R-rating could be a big clue.

Even the violence in Christopher Nolan's Batman film The Dark Knight was tamer, more implied at times than the mayhem here. But really, for adults, that's part of the fun rollercoaster ride delivered by Kick-Ass. The film didn't exactly blow up at the box office earlier this spring.  But it didn't leave the non-comics audience going "huh?" either, like Watchmen.
The movie is based on the comic book series and graphic novel by writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr., for Marvel's more adult imprint. In fact, the movie was optioned and went into development while the comics were still being worked out and coming out.
The premise is actually quite simple. What if some people - mostly kids - decided to be superheroes in "real life," but without that "super" part; that is, they have no powers. So Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), inspired by his comic book collection, dons a modified green diving suit (he looks like he might be called Frogman, really, if he wore a diving mask and flippers) to become Kick-Ass. And how does he go? Watch and see.
Then, along comes an adult doing this, psychotic ex-cop Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his equally giddy to kill bad guys tween daughter Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz). The escalation of violence is only matched by the rise in expletives, too. 

So our, uh, heroes, which also include the Red Mist  (Christopher Mintz-Plasse - cult hero McLovin from Superbad) take on mob boss (Mark Strong - Sherlock Holmes and the next year's Green Lantern as Sinestro) with a connection to one of the would-be crimefighters.
Now the actors, except for a semi-cheeky Cage, who turns in an Adam West (Batman on TV) gone nutso impression, play it pretty straight. There's no nudge, nudge, wink wink. It's director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), working from a script by Jane Goodman who sets things all tilt-a-whirl to the point of not parody, but dark humor satire.  There are plenty of funny moments, but there are dead-serious scenes (including dead bodies) as well. 

Johnson and Mintz-Plasse have a believable sad sack teen buddy thing going on, but in so many ways, the film belongs to Moretz, who also shined whenever she appeared in the very kid friendly Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which is also out on DVD and Blu-ray). While Kick-Ass didn't rake in mega-bucks, there's still talk of a sequel and it wouldn't be a surprise to see it focus even more on Hit Girl. 

Special Blu-ray features include: An Ass-Kicking BonusView Mode; a Matthew Vaughn Audio Commentary; a documentary, "A New Kind of Superhero: The Making of Kick-Ass; "The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass"; The Art of Kick-Ass; BD Touch and Metamenu Remote Enabled for iPhone/iPod/iPad; D-Box Metadata Track for D-Box Motion-Based Systems; and Lionsgate Live, a BD-Live menu system to access exclusive content, special offers, ringtones, and other extras.  Disc two features the film on DVD and the third disc is a digital copy
So watch this one when the kids are asleep or still at summer camp during the day or on a sleep=over at  a friend's house.  Because while Kick-Ass may not be family entertainment by any stretch, it is quite entertaining in many twisted and quite clever ways.