By Shannon Hood

Reprinted from the SXSW Film Festival, 3/14/2010

Make no mistake about it, Chloe Moretz (500 Days of Summer) owns this movie. She may only be 11 years old, but her performance as Hit-Girl is spunky, sassy, and exciting. Hit-Girl is poised to become a new comic cult icon, and Kick-Ass is quite simply a rollicking good time.

At one of the panels I attended this weekend, someone likened Kick-Ass to a comic type Pulp Fiction, which I would say is a pretty accurate description. British Actor Aaron Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a nerdy high school type whose only interaction with the popular kids is when he brushes up against one at his locker.

One day out of the blue he decides he is going to become a vigilante superhero. He concocts a hideous green costume that resembles a wet suit, sets up a social media homepage for his alter ego, and starts “training.” When someone asks his name, he proudly proclaims, “I’m Kick-Ass!”

Completely inept and not blessed with any actual powers, Dave gets the living crap beat out of him by a few thugs mere moments after his official debut as Kick-Ass. This results in a multitude of injuries requiring steel plates and rods being placed throughout his body, which makes him a little more impervious to injury, but still not in possession of actual powers.

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With the Kick-Ass movie about to hit theaters Marvel is doing another cool thing to tie in with the film’s release. Starting today, they are offering the complete Kick-Ass limited comic series in single issue format for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The comics can be downloaded via the Comixology or Iverse applications for Apple devices and PSP users can download directly to their device.

“I have an ancient cell phone given to me by a relative that’s so old it can’t take pictures so this tech is so far away from me it might as well be science fiction,” said Kick-Ass writer and co-creator Mark Millar. “But I read about it on Comic Book Resources and Marvel.com– the guys seemed excited so consider me excited by osmosis. More readers and new readers is always a good thing.”

John Romita Jr, artist and co-creator of Kick-Ass, said, “I’m excited about these advances in technology that I have been hearing about for, what seems like ten years. Now it has arrived, and all I can think of is that it advances the state of ‘comic books’ in that it will direct people to the source material. I believe this will cement the tangible material, the comics themselves, into the hands and minds of future ‘young’ generations! It always comes down to the quality of writing and the sequential art. Holding a comic and turning the page for more will forever be a novelty, even with advanced technology as an option.”

So there you have it right from the creators. This is a new way to discover the world of Kick-Ass and hopefully enhance your appreciation for the comic and what the filmmakers were able to accomplish when bringing the comic to the big screen.

Kick-Ass the movie opens everywhere tomorrow.

As I was reading all about the controversy surrounding Hit-Girl in the movie Kick-Ass, I wondered why all this hullabaloo? There have been a ton of sidekicks in the past that no one has said boo about. My favorite sidekick of all time, is also the first in comics: Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Robin was a sweet, acrobatic kid until he was trained to be a super-soldier by his caring and crazed “parental guardian” Batman. Albeit, he didn’t kill, but he still had bullets whizzing by his head. He was captured every other week and the Joker even killed one version of him.

Where was the parental outcry for my beloved Boy Wonder then? Instead of my dad decrying the shoddy parenting skills of Batty, he crafted a bat cave out of our sewing room, devised numerous bat-inspired gadgets for our utility belts, and together we trolled the streets of the cul-de-sac in search of evil.

In between ridding the streets of crime by returning a lost cat back to our neighbor, I read copious comic book adventures and looked forward to seeing a kid thwart crime on the mean streets of Gotham. It’s a wonder Robin has survived at all. His mentor, old Bats is a little Batty himself. He’s either sleeping at the office, obsessing in his bat cave over the latest baddie, or being all angsty, dark, and solemn.

The only time he does pay attention to Robin is when he trains him as a soldier to fight crime in grungy alleys. Not exactly, a nice afternoon in the park. Especially since the “superhero” by Robin’s side refuses to carry a gun against super-villains who have many distinct plans on how to torture and kill them. If I was Robin facing a coo coo for CoCo Puffs super-villain, I would certainly be packing a boatload of ammo and not be afraid to use it.

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While a few of The Flickcast team  got to see Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the popular comic Kick-Ass at SXSW, the rest of us are still pretty excited for its US release next Friday. We’ve been bringing you some great stuff from the film, including clips and the official music video, so why not bring you even more?

We’ve got two brand new clips that are hot from the studio, waiting for you to check out. In one, Kick-Ass (Aaron Johnson) enters into his very first fight and, well, gets his ass kicked. You can pick up on Vaughn’s British directing influence here, as Prodigy’s “Omen” plays in the background.

In the second clip, Dave Lizewski decides to don the costume of his heroic alter ego in order to surprise and impress the girl of his dreams, played by Hot Tub Time Machine’s Lyndsy Fonseca. Things get a big violent from there.

Check out the two new clips after the jump, and be sure to catch Kick-Ass when it hits theaters next Friday.

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Many months ago, I was strolling past the movie theater on one particularly beautiful morning in downtown Burbank when I happened upon one of those annoying movie ticket barkers.  I was about to ignore him when I saw the following letters in big, black type: KICK-ASS. Exuberant, I ran over and as he started to explain what the movie was about, I told him I’d take 6 flyers.

That night at the plushy and sometimes snooty Hollywood Arclight I sat with a few of my very geeky friends in the front row and watched a test print of the most Kick-Ass film of the year.  Below is my review….from a gal’s pov of course.

TO ANYONE WHO HASN’T READ THE COMIC, SPOILERS FOLLOW:

The film begins with a shot of who you think is the lead character.  He is dressed in superhero tights and leaps from a tall building to his death.  The voice-over then aptly tells the audience that this is the real world and crazy men in tights don’t have super powers.

The next opening scenes are extremely reminiscent of the very first Spider-man film. Here’s the thing. I get how in any new comic book movie there is usually a very long and very slow opening arc where some normal guy has something horrible or great happen and he gets turned into a superhero– but it’s been done.  I hear it’s even going to be re-done again in a new Spider-man flick.

I know how Spider-man gets his powers, my mom even knows how Spidey gets his powers, his name implies that maybe a spider was involved.  I don’t need an hour of exposition to get to the good part.

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While those lucky film goers in the UK (and at SXSW) have already gotten the chance to see Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass in theaters since March 26th, we still have two weeks before the US gets a wide release. In that time, you can still set your sights on some great new clips from the film, which we’re happy to share.

For those unfamiliar with the source material, Kick-Ass is based on a Marvel comic by Mark Millar (Wanted) about a regular teen who decides to take a stand against crime and become a super hero. What he doesn’t know is that it’s not all that easy. He encounters a few other heroes along the way, all who have an interesting perception of morals.

The film is directed by Stardust’s Matthew Vaughn and has a pretty deep cast, from Nicolas Cage to Mark Strong and Superbad’s Christopher Mintz-Plasse. We’ve got three new clips from the flick for you to check out. Aaron Johnson stars in the first, as the titular character.

We get a ridealong in the Red Mist Mobile in the second clip, and in the third, Nic Cage’s “Big Daddy” takes out some bad guys.

Check out the clips after the jump, and be ready for Kick-Ass when it hits theaters stateside on April 12th.

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I’m still anxiously awaiting the day I get to see Kick-Ass, and be as cool as our SXSW team that caught its Austin premiere. (Be sure to check out Shannon Hood’s review.)   But at least I could content myself with Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie which the gang at Titan Books was kind enough to let me review.

Anyone who viewed the trailer knows that Kick-Ass is going to be a unique movie. One look at Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl can tell you that much. But I hadn’t realized just how unusual its page-to-screen transition was. Millar was still in the process of sketching the book out when he approached Matthew Vaughn (licking his wounds after leaving Thor) about directing.

The movie took shape as the comic did, with Millar running back and forth between the production offices and his own keyboard, incorporating ideas from Vaughn and screenwriter Jane Goldman as he went. Characters who were meant to be minor players such as Red Mist took on a life of their own after they were cast, and ended up becoming major players in Kick-Ass’ story arc. If there’s a sequel to Kick-Ass, it may be entirely due to Christopher Mintz-Plasse single-handedly rewriting his character.

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Just when we thought things were slowing down on the side of marketing for the upcoming Lionsgate adaptation of Kick-Ass, they come up with even more eye candy for us to peruse over. With that in mind, come three new posters for the upcoming flick, which all have a neat retro theme.

The film, which is based on the indie Marvel comic by Mark Millar (Wanted), already takes on the attributes of a zany ultraviolent film of yesteryear, so it only makes sense that they would put together some quirky posters that showed that off.

The film stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Nicolas Cage. Check out the new posters after the jump, and be sure to catch Kick-Ass in theaters on April 16th.

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Make no mistake about it, Chloe Moretz (500 Days of Summer) owns this movie. She may only be 11 years old, but her performance as Hit-Girl is spunky, sassy, and exciting. Hit-Girl is poised to become a new comic cult icon, and Kick-Ass is quite simply a rollicking good time.

At one of the panels I attended this weekend, someone likened Kick-Ass to a comic type Pulp Fiction, which I would say is a pretty accurate description. British Actor Aaron Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a nerdy high school type whose only interaction with the popular kids is when he brushes up against one at his locker.

One day out of the blue he decides he is going to become a vigilante superhero. He concocts a hideous green costume that resembles a wet suit, sets up a social media homepage for his alter ego, and starts “training.” When someone asks his name, he proudly proclaims, “I’m Kick-Ass!”

Completely inept and not blessed with any actual powers, Dave gets the living crap beat out of him by a few thugs mere moments after his official debut as Kick-Ass. This results in a multitude of injuries requiring steel plates and rods being placed throughout his body, which makes him a little more impervious to injury, but still not in possession of actual powers.

Continue Reading →

With Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass coming to theaters this April, Lionsgate has been stepping up their marketing in spades over the past month. They put out a few cool new trailers, some great character posters, and now they’re rolling out a neat new mini documentary of life on the set.

Empire was lucky enough to film the antics backstage with just about everyone from the cast, including Aaron Johnson, Mark Strong, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and even Matthew Vaughn himself.

Now that Mark Millar’s first run has ended in the comics, we all know what we’re in store for with the film, and it should be a fun ride, including the possible on-screen death of a very unlikeable A-list actor.

Check out Empire’s mini documentary after the jump, and be sure to catch Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass in theaters on April 16th.

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Big week for international trailers, with the first one for Clash of the Titans hitting yesterday. Now the first red band international trailer for Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass is here, and it looks, well, kick ass.

We first got a glimpse at the film by Matthew Vaughn when the San Diego Comic-Con footage leaked in July of last year, then Lionsgate picked up distribution for the film and started rolling out tons and tons of promotion for the project.

With that comes the newest red band trailer for the film, giving us all of the f-bombs and headshots that we loved to see in the book. The adaptation of the Mark Millar comic stars Aaron Johnson as the titular Kick-Ass, along with Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Nic Cage, and  Sinestro frontrunner Mark Strong.

Check out the new NSFW trailer after the jump, and catch Kick-Ass in theaters on April 16.

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Thanks to the cool guys and gals at Yahoo Movies, we can bring you the latest theatrical trailer for Matthew Vaugh’s highly anticipated (especially in Geek circles) film Kick-Ass. As you might be aware, the film is based on the comic series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., tells the story of teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who decides to take crime fighting into his own hands and don the moniker “Kick-Ass” while he uncovers the true darkness in the city and gets the crap kicked out of him in the process.

The first trailer and the clips looked pretty cool and left us all hungry for more. And I don’t mind saying that this new trailer only increases our level of excitement adding much more to the action and character mix. This movie looks great and hopefully we’ll get to see it once SXSW rolls around.

Check it out after the jump. Kick-Ass, starring Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage, hits theaters on April 16th, 2010.

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