Ebert hated Kick-Ass. That disappoints me a little bit, but I can see where he comes from. I still want to see it again. It kicked ass.
Edited to add: But Margaret Pomeranz loved it. HA! I love it when she accuses David Stratton of becoming “this conservative person.”
Kate
April 16, 2010 — 1:36 am
As a geek I loved it – as a parent I hated it and felt guilty because I enjoyed it. I agree with Ebert that the early satire changed to a much darker animal – I really couldn’t feel comfortable seeing an 11yr old girl get beaten up by an adult male – even if it was supposed to be an exaggeration. Nick Cage was the perfect person to represent the creepy obsession of Big Daddy but the ending felt a bit too trite. I’m with David Stratton on this one.
Kris
April 16, 2010 — 7:49 am
I read a response to Ebert on a review that said the point was to show what Batman would have REALLY been like in the real world. A twisted dude with a vengeance fixation trains his young ward to go after bad guys? That’s messed up.
ADB
April 17, 2010 — 8:39 pm
I’m with Ebert. Big frown.
Kevin
April 19, 2010 — 3:08 am
I liked it a lot, and I think the criticisms are way off. KICK-ASS didn’t invent this trope: Hit-Girl is basically Robin, Bucky, Kitty Pryde, or any number of very young sidekicks throwing down in the comics for the past 50 years. Let’s remember, 15 years ago the Joker beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar. It’s a little late in the day to be aghast.
So I think Ebert et al are way off, nor do I think Ebert is very consistent about what constitutes exploitation to him. As Mr. Beaks pointed out while eviscerating him at AICN:
“As for Hit Girl’s extreme capacity for violence… look, this isn’t fucking LOS OLVIDADOS. It’s an aburdist superhero movie with lots of CG bloodletting. It’s not real. Were you outraged by the sight of Baby Droopy beating the shit out of Dishonest Dan? No? Okay, then. And if you’re worried about Moretz being asked to commit unspeakable pretend acts on a movie set, I sure hope you never see PRETTY BABY (and I certainly hope you never gave it three stars).”