From the director of 80's shlocker tribute Slither, James Gunn, comes a story of an everyday guy who transforms himself into a superhero, hellbent on fighting crime, high on enthusiasm but low on actual skills...
Sounds familiar? Well it should because it is basically the premise of Kick Ass, except that this is also the premise of Super and with the first trailer released, this hardly looks promising. The first mistake is having woefully unfunny "comic" Rainn Wilson starring in it. You may (or may not) have seen him in the US version of The office, Juno and My super ex girl friend, and he is like a black hole that sucks out all that's funny in the world of comedy.
And then having the "hero" be some 40 something is another mistake.
While there was a certain charm in the youthful innocence of nerdy Kick-Ass, having a sightly overweight middle ages man don some red superhero tight makes him look just a little pathetic. "That's the whole point" I hear some naysayers clamour but then, even with a anti-hero of some sort, if you cannot muster some kind of sympathy, then your film is doomed.
While there was a certain charm in the youthful innocence of nerdy Kick-Ass, having a sightly overweight middle ages man don some red superhero tight makes him look just a little pathetic. "That's the whole point" I hear some naysayers clamour but then, even with a anti-hero of some sort, if you cannot muster some kind of sympathy, then your film is doomed.
Liv Tyler seems to be giving one of her barely there, ethereal kind of performance, and Kevin Bacon appears mildly amusing. Only Ellen Page as his nerdy side kick brings some conviction and humour to her part (but then she's no Hit Girl!).
First reviews have actually been positive after its presentation at the Toronto film festival last year, and there is an awful lot of gore in it, which is not obvious by looking at the trailer. I am not convinced still.
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