Kick-Ass

"Why hasn't anyone become a superhero?"

That question is at the heart of Matthew Vaughn's "Kick-Ass", a deconstructionist superhero movie that sees awkward teenager Dave (Aaron Johnson) actually don the spandex and venture out onto the rooftops ... who then proceeds to promptly gets his ass kicked on more than one occasion.

But the question gets away from Vaughn, as the movie introduces a larger narrative and centers on a violent pre-teen girl (Chloe Moretz) who, as the sidekick to the Batman-esque Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), eschews a normal childhood in favor of ACTUALLY kicking ass.

For the most part, it's a fun ride. Cage gleefully chews the scenery in his gun-wielding Batman ripoff role (complete with Adam West dialogue impersonation). "Kick-Ass" features more bloody fight scenes than you can shake a stick at, with Moretz doing most of the anatomical damage. And unless you're Roger Ebert, there's some deliciously twisted humor to be found in those ass-kickings. And Mark Strong shines as the big bad guy crime boss (unexpectedly hilarious).

There are moments of adolescent angst, the "hero" actually does get the girl (not really a spoiler, here) and the words, "With no power comes no responsibility" are actually uttered. What better time for this movie's release than at the height (I hope) of Hollywood's superhero fetish.

7/10