Certificate 15 Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn

Kick-Ass has pretty much killed off the Superhero movie as we know it. I pity the fool who has to step into the red & blue leotard for Spiderman 4, 5 or 6 as nobody will take it seriously anymore.

In Kick-Ass, teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) asks his nerdy friends “How come nobody’s ever tried to be a Superhero?”

“Because nobody has real Superpowers!” comes the reply.

“What about Batman?” says Dave. Good point Dave.

From here on Dave realises that there is no reason why he couldn’t become a Superhero and it’s not long before his tacky mail order Superhero costume arrives complete with possibly the worst looking mask ever, a pair of yellow marigolds, a couple of martial art truncheons, …and Kick-Ass is born. The problem is that without Superpowers or special training he’s all set to get a good arse kicking.

This happens while stepping in to defend some poor guy being beaten to a pulp in the street by a gang of thugs. Instead of calling 911 a young bystander delights in announcing to a crowded coffee shop that there’s a real Superhero fighting crime outside. This sparks off a typical 21st century pastime when everyone whips out their mobile and starts filming the action. This results in Kick-Ass becoming a ‘You Tube’ celebrity and ends up front page news.

This exposure brings him to the attention of two professional vigilantes who actually do fight crime, Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and his 11-year old daughter Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz). I must admit I’m not a great fan of Mr Cage but in this movie he does do ‘tongue in cheek’ very well. Although his superhero abilities could give Batman & Robin a run for their money, you can’t help but think that Big Daddy has a screw loose somewhere. Cage even does the slow dramatic Adam West voice when wearing his costume. However, it’s Hit Girl who steals the show and also generates most of the violence as she slices and dices her way through the bad guys. This has created some tension with a few of the national tabloids mostly because of this element of schoolgirl violence but mostly because she also utters the ‘C’ word. I’m sure Universal Pictures couldn’t have wished for better publicity.

Meanwhile, the local city mobster Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) starts to lose his henchman in some violent retribution by what witnesses can only describe as ‘some kinda Superhero’. He naturally assumes that the culprit is Kick-Ass following the media attention that made him TV news.

All the controversy aside the film develops into a highly entertaining movie which has no time to let the audience get bored or fidgety. Director Matthew Vaughn does a great job of keeping the pace moving and the laughs rolling with the assistance of his co screenplay writer Jane Goodman. The film is also supported by a largely British cast plus an appearance by the King of geek himself Christopher (McLovin) Mintz-Plasse. I recommend you see it…but don’t try jumping off tall buildings at home. It leaves a nasty mess.

Four stars.