Kick-Ass

This is not a kids’ movie. You think that would be obvious considering that the word ass is in the title, and it’s not referring to a playful donkey, but apparently not. Also, if you’re one of those numerous people I’ve heard say they thought this is a kiddy flick, check the rating foolio! It’s rated R. Not R as in a Roaring good time for the whole family, or R as in Run, don’t walk with your toddlers to this film, but R as in you’re Risking getting kicked out of the theater if you are under 17. So now that we have that cleared up, go see this movie. Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother reading the rest of this blog. But, since I’ve already seen it, I can take the time to write it.

This movie is relevant. Not in the way that superheroes are now strutting around the streets of your city, but in that the humor and characters are what’s funny now. This is a movie in the tradition of Superbad. This is Superbad 2.0. Superbad 2.0 with superheroes. I know! It sounds awesome! Why are you not at the theater already? Oh, right, because I’m so charming and you can’t leave without knowing what other brilliant and witty things I’m going to say. Keeping the dream alive baby.

Of course, the whole socially awkward teenage boy bit has sort of been done to death, but at least the dorks/coolest people you will ever see in this movie are really entertaining to watch. The main character is completely endearing and you can’t help being entirely drawn in by his story. Let me just say it’s not a normal story, and that’s part of what’s great. Another part is that he frickin’ dresses up like a superhero! The combination of pure reality and comic book style melodrama makes this film a joy to watch. Anytime you begin to get swept into the fantasy of the movie, you’re hit with the authenticity of real life problems. The little girl superhero (the one who may have made you believe that this was a kids’ movie) is the most violent character in the film. At first this is weird. But, then, it’s amazing. I mean she kills a lot of people. Like there is blood everywhere. This is definitely a violent movie, but it honestly didn't really bother me. Normally, you might say that that reflects poorly on me, but everyone in the theater was cracking up, so if you feel like being critical, blame society. Did I mention Nicolas Cage is in this movie too? Neat, but not a big deal. Basically, it's fun to watch. Which you should know already because you should already be in the theater!

The Last Song

I think I just need to get this out of the way because I fear that otherwise it will seep into the rest of the review. This shouldn’t have affected my viewing of the movie, but I have to say it did. Even when Miley Cyrus is not making any particular face, her cheeks and mouth still do this strange drooping thing, like she’s pouting, all the time. It really bothered me. It made her already moody character seem even more disgruntled. Now I will move on to evaluate the movie and her acting without thinking of that.

Liam Hemsworth is a good-looking young fellow, and I admit to having seen movies purely because they have other similarly attractive fellows in them. However, he was not the reason I saw this film. But, by the end, I felt I needed to say I’d seen it for him as a defense. I was unimpressed with the writing and the majority of the acting in this film. Characters like the troubled red-headed girl seemed unneeded. While a few extra scenes before the two teens declare their love for each other would have been nice. It’s true that the story is rather tragic, but is that supposed to be enough? Liam Hemsworth and Greg Kinnear both did fine jobs. But, the performance I was most moved and impressed by was the young boy, Bobby Coleman. I won’t ruin it for you, but there’s a scene near the end that is heartbreaking because of his excellent acting. Watching someone like Cyrus is always hard to do because as an actress and star she comes with so much baggage. I tried to let all that go, but I have to say, I couldn’t help feeling that her fame got her the role someone else could have performed better. She played a teenager, angry and grumpy and ultimately not such a bad person, but nothing Cyrus did left me feeling connected to her character. The dialogue she said often seemed random and cliché, a hard effect to accomplish, but it actually made me think that perhaps she was improvising (also, I saw an interview where she said she never learned her lines, so that may have affected my opinion as well). If not, than it truly was the writers’ fault because this stuff was akin to the dialogue catastrophe of Star War III. I could see how this could make a good novel, as I’ve heard it is, but too much was missing from the film. Partly because of the time issues that don’t allow a director to include all of a book I’m sure, but also because the commitment didn’t seem to be there. I’d skip it.

Remember Me

I’ll admit that my curiosity about this film mostly stemmed from my love of Lost and Emilie de Ravin. I was also probably tempted to see if Robert Pattison could play a character that wasn’t part of a beloved fantasy series. I may be the only person, but I was not let down by either actors. Although the first scene seemed a little cliché, (and frightening since I live in New York) I found most of the movie to be charming and enjoyable. Certainly the plot of an angsty college student has been done before, but at the least, this was an interesting study of family dynamics and how they truly affect the people we become.

The love story was not an epic one by any standards, but I think I prefer it that way. It seems more natural to have your college boyfriend/girlfriend just be one part of the mess that is your life. Stories that are only about love ignore the many other aspects of everyone’s lives that can drive them crazy just as much as a new crush can. Pierce Brosnan did not seem nearly as out of place as I assumed he would, and in fact, gave a rather multi-dimensional and moving performance. Equally surprising and delightful was the young Ruby Jerins, who played a child stuck in the middle of family tragedy with grace and humor. Although, Pattinson’s character may have been written as an obvious uncontrollable and lost twenty-something, he was able to draw me into the story and remind me that such a boy doesn’t have to be a cliché. I was a little unsure how to feel about da Ravin’s family situation in the movie at points, and her character didn’t have the depth that Pattinson’s did, but she still put in a good performance as a quirky and intelligent young woman.

As to the ending, I did not know what it was going in. I hate having movies, books, anecdotes, anything ruined for me by knowing the ending. If you don’t know the ending, keep it that way. I found it startling, and I was incredibly affected by it. I hope this doesn’t give it away, but it really struck me that there are about 5,000 other stories that could end that way. We saw only one story.