Kick-Ass has defined itself as a superhero movie with heroes wearing silly costumes and little girls brutally beating up tough grown men. That piece of creativity has been appealed by many for smartly satirizing the genre, despite of some absurdity still existing and glorified in the action scenes. For that hype three years ago, here comes the sequel that still got the good old charms of its predecessor. The bigger difference now is the theme they are supposed to present seems tougher, but the action has also gotten strangely out of hand. While those upgraded elements can be a bit uneven, it's not really hard to enjoy the overall film since it's still quite hilarious and utterly entertaining. Although it only has little sincerity in its own message, there's no denying that Kick-Ass 2 is a lot of fun.
Kick-Ass 2 is somewhat like any sequel, it heightens the scale to look even more exciting than the first one. Other than that, the rest is mostly the same. As usual, the most entertaining parts are having fun with the characters and some superhero satires. Even if it takes a different direction, the tone surprisingly sticks to the picture which is a joy. Everything is just enjoyable and amusing, but we all know that these movies are more than being fun. It always takes some darker themes so it can come close to reality. The film suddenly becomes intriguing when it discusses about the consequences of being involved in crime fighting, but those elements didn't stray far enough.
The better surprise you're gonna see here is the performance of Chloë Moretz. She already stole the show in the first film, but here she has grown her Mindy Macready into a much mature character than just a simple violent crass as Hit-Girl is, and as Hit-Girl she is still pretty awesome. Aaron Johnson is charming as always as Kick-Ass. Jim Carrey is also delightful as Colonel Stars and Stripes. The villains are kind of caricatures, but the one who played their leader, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, brings both wimpy and menace to keep him from being too sinister.
Noticeably, the style of the last director was more inspired than the new one's. Though, the aesthetics are intact. What people might brag about is how preposterous the action scenes are. I understand it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and faithful to the illustrations of the graphic novel, but the fact that they're trying to avoid these heroes and villains from being "Super", it seems they can't help to justify that and make it all incredibly badass anyway. Besides, everyone is only interested about how violent it is. I just wish it has more of those anti-hero parts to make it feel human. Otherwise, people will cheer on how awesome these set pieces are, because it's inevitable to call them awesome.
The ones who will likely enjoy Kick-Ass 2 more are the fans. It's almost too identical. Same entertainment quality, same amount of laughs, and got ironically ridiculous action scenes(from jetpack to lawnmower); while we get an impressive performance from Chloë Grace Moretz and a story that has potential of being compelling. It has the same pros and cons, but bigger. Although bigger, I think the original has smarter execution. I guess the film wants to focus more on its coolness than the morality and humanity it suggests. In other way, Kick-Ass 2 is good enough as a blockbuster and a competent sequel.
