Kick Ass

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong
Release Date: April 16, 2010
Length: 1 hour 57 minutes

Who kicks ass? Superstar director, Matthew Vaughn does. Creating a down to earth, hysterical portrayal of real life good guys and bad guys, with co-writer Jane Goldman, he knocks Kick-Ass out of the park. In New York City, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) was just your average teenager, before coming up with the idea to get a suit and help people. When he realizes his plan of being a superhero without a real supernatural ability is harder than it looks, he is approached by two other masked good guys, Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), who seem like they know what they’re doing. Hit Girl and Big Daddy are really father and daughter Damon and Mindy Mcready.  Together the trio plan to take down the biggest mafia guy there is, Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), but Kick-Ass gets sidetracked when D’Amico’s son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) becomes superhero, Red Mist and pretends to help them. Not only is this film original, exciting and hilarious, but it’s also something no one could have ever expected. The words, disturbing, gruesome and gory usually don’t go with a comedy, especially one with a little girl in it, but it all fits in to make Kick-Ass as mind-blowing as it is. There were some incredible special effects during the fight scenes, which make it more interesting - for people who don’t just like things blowing up – to watch. Although this film is essentially about the one and only Kick-Ass (or his alter ego Dave Lizewski), the real star of the film is Hit-Girl. She is clearly made out to be the likable superhero because she actually knows what she’s doing. You have to admit it’s pretty interesting to see a little kid save the day. British newcomer, Aaron Johnson gives a pretty funny performance as Kick Ass because he makes him seem like any other immature teenage boy, who the audience doesn’t really put their faith in as the one to save the day. Johnson is quickly making a name for himself with films like Kick-Ass, Nowhere Boy and The Greatest, which are all coming out this month. He’ll definitely be one to watch for future films. Someone to keep an even better eye on would be 13-year-old actress Chloe Moretz, who completely kicked the Asses of all the other actors in this movie, no pun intended. She delivers quite a funny, matter-of-fact performance for someone so young. Hollywood can now say goodbye to Abigail Breslin, with Moretz around. Making a comeback is Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy, who might just be forgiven for the national treasure films, after Kick-Ass. Although Cage has chosen some bad films over the years, there was never a question that he wasn’t a great actor and he proves that in Kick Ass. With this film, and Bad Lieutenant, which came out in the fall, he is slowly making his way back onto the Hollywood radar screen. Even if you think this film is too young, I guarantee you will enjoy it. This is a refreshing, action filled comedy that’s never been done before. Kick Ass is the one to see. 

Date Night

Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Josh Klausner
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey
Release Date: April 9, 2010
Length: 1 hour 28 minutes

Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Those are probably the two funniest people in show business right now. When you put them together, you get an unbelievable chemistry. When you throw in a decent script, it get’s even better. Boring 40-year-old couple, Phil and Clare Foster are leaving their two kids with the babysitter for the night, when they spontaneously go into the city for dinner. When they stupidly don’t make a reservation at a popular restaurant, they pretend to be another couple, the Tripplehorns, who missed their dinner. This becomes their first risk of the night, when two tough looking guys accuse them of stealing from Italian mafia guy, Joe Moletto (Ray Liotta). Director Shawn Levy (Cheaper By The Dozen, Night At The Museum) is not one of my favourites, and I was scared Date Night was going to be a Get Smart version of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, but Tina Fey’s and Steve Carell’s performances made me realize why I was seeing this movie in the first place. Although the script has an original premise, and some funny jokes, it dragged during quite a lot of scenes. Perhaps those scenes dragged for me because they were trying to be serious and I couldn’t possibly take them seriously. I needed funny lines in this movie to keep me going, which thankfully there were a lot of. Date Night has one bad case of celebrity cameo-itis. Although Mila Kunis and James Franco gave funny performances as the real Tripplehorns, all the familiar faces reminded me of bad films that use celebrity cameos to get your attention back to the screen. Thankfully, Date Night’s script and performances held there own and I could tell the film wasn’t using these recognizable people to cover a bad script. Exceeding my expectations, but not rising to the top, Date Night was an altogether steady film.