Review of Kick-Ass

Superficially enjoyable, with nods in the direction of liberal sensibilities, but actually a more or less fascist film. Nerdy comic book fan Dave decides that he will live out his fantasy of being a superhero and fighting crime, but despite the suit he's still a nerd so he gets stomped and hospitalised after he tries to take on a pair of thugs. Then he's rescued by a father-and-daughter crime-fighting superhero combo who are much, much better at violence than he is - their whole lives are dedicated to training for violence and the acquisition of weaponry.

There's plot, and teen stuff (his nerdy mates convince the gorgeous girl at school that he's gay, and she wants him for a Gay Best Friend even though she wouldn't look at him before), and lots and lots of violence - real splatter stuff, made slightly easier because it's supposed to be comic-book. But really it's almost snuff-grade, and there are no problems that can't be resolved with the application of sufficient force, violence and weaponry. The film's sympathies are entirely with the use of more and bigger guns, and the more skillful use of them. Our (anti)hero's moment of redemption, when he finally steps into his own power and authority, comes when he uses a really big machine-gun enabled jet-pack.

Oh, and the villains are all caricature Italian-Americans in a way that would be grossly unacceptable if they were say Jews or Chinese.

Watched this on BBC iPlayer.