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I think the story does a good job of depicting what would really happen if someone in the real- world tried to don a costume. Kick-Ass gets his butt kicked when he first dons his costume to do heroic deeds and almost dies as he tries to stop two thieves from stealing a car. He does not magically get bitten by a spider and does not gain super powers by being thrown into a toxic waste dump. He just spends a lot of time in the hospital. In the end he finds his inner strength and is able to accomplish a lot of good things along side the more talented heroes Hit Girl and Big Daddy.
Although, I think the comic book did a better job than the movie did in demonstrating how average Kick-Ass was (he does not get the pretty girl in the comic book)I really could relate to both Kick-Asses portrayal of a kid who just wanted to do good. I know what you guys are thinking. Wait, Jacqueline there have been plenty of supeheroes who are popular and who did not have super powers. Well those same super heroes had millions of dollars, years of martial arts training, and were incredibly intelligent. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Kick-Ass did not have any of those things. He was just a kid. And that's what has him stand out from the rest he could of been any kid it could of been you. Anyways I totally recommend you guys should definitely check it out.
...the comic book did a better job than the movie did in demonstrating how average Kick-Ass was (he does not get the pretty girl in the comic book)...
ReplyDeleteAn important difference! Do you think the movie is as critical of the superhero fantasy as the comic book seems to be? (Or is it just wishful thinking on my part that the comic book is critical?)
The movie is definitely critical there is no doubt about it,however, everything appears to work out for Kick-Ass in the end. He gets the girl and life at school seems to get much better for him. In the comic book that is not so. The comic book definitely seems to show that life is not all about happy endings. Therefore, though I think the movie hinted at the absolute struggle it is to be a superhero I think it didn't make it's message as strong as it could have been by making it appear that everything worked out in the end. In real life you don't always get what you want and I think the comic book did a much better job at showing that.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I asked this question because some reviewers of the movie remarked that, for all its unusual qualities, Kick-Ass, in the end, comes back to the same old fantasy, the same kind of wish fulfillment. I don't know if that's a bad thing, but, OTOH, Kick-Ass does depict a lot of violence and destruction and pain... and I'm wondering if all that awfulness feels different when the outcome of the story is different.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the appeal of the genre is able to survive all that realism? Perhaps the "realism" just a question of style, not something that undercuts the fantasy. I'm not sure. My reaction to Watchmen, for example, tends to be that the realism vacuums out the fantasy and really undercuts the heroic ideal.
I'm a fan of an ideal world were the superhero saves the day. But I feel that when things are as real as they are in let's say "Kick-Ass the comic book" the message is just simply stronger. I know it is because it gives me that uncomfortable " oh no I don't want to see this anymore" feeling. Therefore, I guess it has a lot to do with what you want to take from the work of art. If you want it just to broaden your imagination or if you want it to mean something.
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