The superhero genre saw a drastic rise in prominence throughout the 2010s. Spearheaded by Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga, and the X-Men movies from 20th Century Studios, the genre became a true force to be reckoned with in the cinematic landscape. Of course, the arrival of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008 led to a superhero explosion, the undeniable peak for the genre in the mainstream. Sandwiched between Marvel’s early efforts and their eventual dominance is Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 subversive superhero exercise, Kick-Ass.
Adapted from the eponymous comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., the film is a landmark in superhero cinema. It wasn’t a commercial success, nor did it turn the titular superhero into a household name capable of going toe-to-toe with Marvel and DC’s finest. However, Kick-Ass was a full 180 for the superhero genre, pushing its boundaries to the extreme and inviting more chaotic and daring perspectives into the space. At a time when the superhero genre is fighting for its life, Kick-Ass seems like a true breath of fresh air, aging like fine wine despite (or because of) the sheer volume of superhero properties released every year. On its fifteenth anniversary, it’s time to look back at this hyper-violent and explosive gem of the superhero genre, which remains as fresh today as it was in 2010.
Can an average Joe truly kick ass?
Kick-Ass follows Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a teenager who gets carried away by his appreciation for comic books by becoming a crime-fighter named Kick-Ass. During his first outing, he gets stabbed and run over by a car, resulting in several of his bones being replaced with metal, giving him enhanced durability and resistance to pain. Soon, Kick-Ass finds himself in the middle of a very real war between violent and psychopathic mafia boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and a pair of costumed vigilantes, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who have the genuine fighting ability he sorely lacks.
Looking back at the movie, it’s quite impressive how it managed to assemble such a group of up-and-coming actors and provide what would essentially be their big break. Taylor-Johnson, a teen heartthrob in his native UK thanks to the 2008 teen rom-com Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging, got his breakthrough in the West with Kick-Ass, which would eventually lead to his career as a leading man throughout the 2010s. Similarly, Moretz became the go-to child actress for the early part of the 2010s, with Hit-Girl establishing her as one of her generation’s most promising talents.
Several underrated actors received a boost from Kick-Ass. Aside from continuing a strong collaboration with director Matthew Vaughn, which had begun with Stardust and continued with the Kingsman franchise, Mark Strong cemented himself as one of Hollywood’s favorite bad guys. Meanwhile, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who had risen to prominence as McLovin in the 2007 cult comedy Superbad, got the chance to show a different side to his on-screen persona.
For his part, director Matthew Vaughn graduated to the big leagues after this film, going on to helm the widely praised X-Men: First Class and the Kingsman series. Indeed, Kick-Ass is one of those movies that one looks back to with raised eyebrows at the sheer talent involved, both in front of and behind the camera.
Superheroes unleashed
The premise for Kick-Ass was truly out-of-the-box in 2010, a time when superhero movies were characterized by their sillier approach and embrace of familiar tropes. Kick-Ass didn’t feature abilities of any kind, nor did it adopt a hyper-realistic, crime-adjacent approach to the genre like Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies. Instead, it existed somewhere in the middle, enjoying the humor and inherently silly tone of traditional superhero movies while grounding the story in the absurdity of an average teenager attempting to become a crime-fighting vigilante.
Kick-Ass was in on the joke while actively trying to redefine the punchline. It was deliriously violent and vulgar — an infamous line in which Hit-Girl, played by a then thirteen-year-old Moretz, said the word “c—” caused some anger from pearl-clutching audiences in 2010. Indeed, the overall violence, and the fact that it was Hit-Girl behind most of it, was a subject of discussion with prominent critics, including Roger Ebert, who condemned the film for glorifying violence among children. Sure, the whole thing might seem tame by today’s standards, but watching the adult Frank D’Amico beat Hit-Girl halfway to death was pretty harsh by 2010s standards.
There was also something quite refreshing about seeing a superhero movie be so angry, often dismissive, and downright cruel. Sure, it wasn’t the kind of profound and shocking intensity found in the best Martin Scorsese movies, but it was far more than one would expect from a movie based on a comic book. There were no friendly neighborhoods or Wolverines here; instead, Kick-Ass offered a certain dry cynicism that’s far more expected from the average mobster movie than a movie about caped individuals fighting crimes. Kick-Ass‘ world was populated by violent mobsters who had no issue with killing a child playing dress-up. The scene where Big Daddy is burned alive while Hit-Girl tries to rescue him is among the most iconic in the film, and it pretty much summarizes its essence perfectly: it’s morbidly funny, hectic, and thrilling while remaining impactful and far more emotional than you’d expect.
Realism has no place in superhero cinema, and Kick-Ass understood that. However, the film also understood that there is value in bringing the action closer to home and making it resonate with audiences. After all, real life is full of violence, organized crime, injustice, and pain. Is it so strange or inconceivable that someone out there would try to take matters into their own hands? Kick-Ass‘ magic is making us not only sympathize but also empathize with Dave Lizewski because maybe there is a bit of Kick-Ass within us all.
A badass legacy
Kick-Ass was not a major box office success, grossing less than $100 million worldwide, which was enough to recoup its budget and warrant a sequel but was still far from impressive, especially compared to the usual superhero project. And yet, its legacy lives on, not only in the careers it helped launch but in the boundaries it helped push within the superhero genre. Indeed, few superhero movies have aged better than this delightfully unhinged gem. It might not be an overstatement to say the average fan has fonder memories of Kick-Ass than half the entries in the MCU, say Thor: The Dark World or the Ant-Man movies.
By now, the superhero genre has perhaps run itself into the ground, and audiences are not satisfied with the same story offered in the same packaging, with the same jokes and similar structures. For the superhero genre to survive, it needs to adapt and venture outside its overly limiting comfort zone, which is precisely what Kick-Ass did fifteen years ago. The fact that it was so ahead of the curve is impressive in and of itself, but it’s how it did so that is even more worthy of recognition.
Kick-Ass perfected a formula that hadn’t even been invented yet, pioneering everything from Deadpool to The Boys. By blending humor with wit, sharp satire, and over-the-top violence, Kick-Ass became something else entirely, breathing new life into a blossoming genre and laying the ground for some of its most successful future efforts. What’s more kick-ass than that?
Kick-Ass is available to stream for free on Plex.
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