DVDs in Review

Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughan, 2010)

Title: Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughan, 2010)

Release date: August 30 2010

Certificate: 15

Format: Blu-ray

RRP: £24.99

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

'Kick-Ass' reteams director Matthew Vaughan and screenwriter Jane Goldman (who, interestingly enough is Jonathan Ross' model wife) after their lightweight but ultimately enchanting 'Stardust', but this time they've got a lot more grit to match their wit.

Riding the recent, more adult comicbook adaptation wave, they give us an unlikely superhero – Dave Lizewski/Kick Ass (Aaron Johnson), a geeky kid with no superheroes and not a particularly wild background.

He's just bored, decides to don a cheap costume and help people out but becomes a Youtube superstar and ends up getting mixed up with a local crime lord Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), his conniving, rejected son and the object of his affection who thinks he's gay. Thrown in the mix is a child assassin and her superhero-wannabe father Big Daddy (a moustachioed, vibrant Nicolas Cage), giving 'Kick-Ass' a solid, yet eclectic character base to have some fun with.

Unfortunately the plot  isn't as well structured and the somewhat pretentious self-referential narration may lend itself to the film's theme of economy class theatrics but it doesn't do much to hold film's disjointed threads together.

The risqué idea of having an all-swearing, ruthlessly brutal child killing the majority of the film's cannon fodder actually works well thanks to the chemistry she shares with her revenge-driven father, and Mark Strong follows his villainous turn 'Sherlock Holmes' with another expert performance.

In fact, the weakest character of the bunch is Kick-Ass himself. Johnson, who recently won plaudits for playing a young John Lennon in 'Nowhere Boy', falls flat in some scenes as the blundering hero but is effective in his roles as his naff zero. He has two speeds but little depth. He simply isn't intriguing; instead he's surrounded by a more inventive film than he can headline.

Still, 'Kick-Ass' is a fun twist on the crowded genre and a welcome blast of adult escapism that isn't afraid to push the envelope with confidence and colourful energy.