Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

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Watch this if you liked: “Zombieland”, “Superhero Movie”

His only superpower is being invisible to girls but Kick-Ass sure stirs up enough feel-good underdog sentiments to make this peculiar action-comedy instantly better than that genre spoof we survived two years ago -"Superhero Movie".

Delightfully adapted from the Marvel published comic, high school dweeb Dave Lizewski is Kick-Ass, a self-explanatory character who arms himself with some batons and a green suit bought online to fight New York criminals when he's not busy being bullied in school. Kick-Ass is all heart and no brains, which makes watching this movie immediately more fun, especially when English director Matthew Vaughn's visual styles from his previous movies like "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels" and "Layer Cake" are involved. Sometimes the film (like the titular character) seems not to know what it really is but the picture is largely entertaining thanks to a committed cast and an easy-to-follow plot.

Aaron Johnson doesn't really need to do much and it could've easily been Michael Cera ("Juno") or Jesse Eisenberg ("Zombieland") in the bumbling, talky role we're all too familiar with. It's Nicholas Cage as paranoid Big "Batman" Daddy and Chloe Moretz ("Diary Of A Wimpy Kid") as the impossibly badass Hit-Girl who really give the story a great twist, with young Chloe showing us that Abigail Breslin isn't the only upcoming child actor whose career we ought to watch. She really is showing us more spark and spunk since playing the sister of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "500 Days Of Summer". You'll soon realise why the movie is R-rated Stateside, M-18 in Singapore and 18 in Malaysia when you hear her say "c***" like a sexy, swearing, under-aged female sailor! This makes the other swearing by baddies like Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, McLovin in "Superbad") and his mob boss dad played by Mark Strong ("Babylon A.D.") seem like church hymns!

"Kick-Ass" won't get its ass kicked at the box office for sure, despite some of the humour being a little lethargic and the 18 ratings hurting its chances internationally, especially the uproar about the excessive violence and Hit-Girl's toilet mouth. The movie finishes strong and a good time can generally be forecast for most audiences. Kids, don't do this at home. We'll have to repeat this community service message when the sequel gets underway!

Cinema Online, 14 April 2010