Danielle Solzman
Kick-Ass gets the exclusive Best Buy 4K Ultra HD SteelBook treatment in honor of the comic book film’s tenth anniversary.
The film was initially released on 4K UHD back in October 2017. For this particular Best Buy exclusive, a new cover is provided with Tracie Ching’s illustration on the SteelBook cover. Only one bonus feature is limited to the Blu-ray and there will be more on that later.
Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is just your average run-of-the-mill teenager obsessed with comic books. The fanboy decides to take things to the next level by becoming a real-life superhero. Suffice it to say, he has no idea what he’s about to get into. Before he knows it, he’s mixed in with a former cop, Damon Macready/Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), on a mission to get revenge against crime boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and his son Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Damon teaches his daughter Mindy (Chloë Grace Moretz) prior to getting revenge. Not knowing any of this, Dave soon sets way to introduce Red Mist to Big Daddy. `Thus the stage is set up for the sequel.
By 2010, the world was ripe for a film about the average person wanting to be a superhero. I’m not talking so much about a parody in the form of Airplane! but one that subverts the genre. Credit to comic book creators Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. for subverting the genre in their own way. I’ve read Millar’s work for a number of years to know that I would expect this project to come from him more so than any other creator. Romita added his own touch to the comic book series by depicting scenes around his Queens neighborhood. But enough about the comic book, let’s talk about the film here.
It’s not unfair to say that there are some controversial things about the film. This mostly comes down to Chloë Grace Moretz’s character being so violent and vulgar for someone her age. I have an idea of what parents might be thinking but they also aren’t around their own children all the time. And yet, this film wouldn’t work without Hit Girl.
In watching the film ten years later, the violence is a bit much. I say this in looking at the climate in America in the past ten years. There have been more shootings at places that Americans have long considered safe. Yes, there are certainly people that want to be superheroes. But at the same time, you also have militias that want to take things into their own hands. Unfortunately, the latter are almost always on the wrong side of the law.
Despite the change in climate over the years, Kick-Ass remains a fun and thrilling genre subversion ten years later.
Bonus Features
- A New Kind of Superhero: The Making of Kick-Ass
- It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass
- Audio Commentary by Director Matthew Vaughn
- Marketing Archive
- The Art of Kick-Ass Gallery (Blu-ray Only)
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
SCREENWRITERS: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
CAST: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz, Plasse, Mark Strong, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Nicolas Cage
