"Kick-Ass 2" & "Elysium"

Hey Movie Fans! Two films this week, but because I'm sleepy as all get out, they're a bit short.

When it came out, “Kick-Ass” attempted to turn the superhero genre on it’s head. It attempted to show exactly how silly, violent, crazy, and earnestly heartfelt a would would be if it was actually filled with costumed vigilantes. The Sequel, “Kick-Ass 2,” hopes to take this one step further, expanding the concept beyond a few, and into teams of both heroes, and villains.  The only problem, much like other sequels that look to introduce new characters, “K-A 2” is soon overloaded with new plot lines. To make room for all these new stories, we not only have to sacrifice much of our time with the main protagonist, we also have to wade through a lot more talking, and less ass-kicking. Mind you, many of the scenes without violence are still funny, but there isn’t the same level of action as the first note. While I understand the need for the additional characters, and I enjoyed some of them, I felt some of the plot lines were left dangling, or simply ended with no clear resolution.

Also, while this is “Kick-Ass 2,” it should have been named “Kick-Ass & Hit-Girl.”  Chloë Grace Moretz’s purple hair girl with the innocent face, and the taste for bloodshed takes a much more prominent role. This isn’t really a complaint. We’ve already seen the story of “Kick-Ass.” Now we get to see what happens when a girl used to taking out crack-dealers and pimps takes on something really evil; Mean Girls.

The action, when it happens, is on same bloody, over the top level as the original. Expect some extra fun from Jim Carrey, who looks like he’s having way to good of a time, and a surprisingly underplayed John Leguizamo who is, for one of the few times, playing the straight man.

In short, if you were a fan of the original, you should enjoy "Kick-Ass 2," but it may leave you with the feeling you want to watch the original again.

Next up is a late review of the Neill Blomkamp hard Sci-Fi film, “Elysium.” Much like the amazing surprising “District 9,” this film attempts to use the sci-fi medium to tell a parable about today’s world, and the injustice we live in. This time, his target is health care, immigration, and using our fears of terror as an excuse to shut ourselves off from the pain the rest of the world endures. Just like his previous film, “Elysium” does it well. The world is both wretched, and believable. Filled with robot thugs who are programed to follow the law without compassion, and a system that seems more concerned about keeping the poor mollified than helping them rise up. The special effects are likewise impressive, with mostly believable high-tech gear. (with the exception of the main mcguffin of the film. The tech for an instrument like that is far beyond the scale of what we see.)  The action is shaky, and very violent. It can be hard to follow at times, but I felt the frantic pace kept up with the immediacy of what was happening.

The only real problem I had with the film was the lead, Matt Damon.  Just like the protagonist of “D9”, he plays an everyday man who is forced to challenge a larger problem not due to his desire, but due to circumstances beyond his control. But Damon, while acceptable actor, is just too good looking, and too likeable. Even after shaving his hair, he doesn’t look like  a man who has lived a hard life on this terrible world. Sure, he looks beat up, and sick, but still, this is Matt Damon we’re talking about. But this is a minor problem in what is otherwise a fine film. It may not have the same resonance as “District 9,” but in terms of action, and rating it as a summer pop-corn flick, it surpasses the previous film in many ways.

That’s it for this time. In an unrelated note, I’m considering a pod-cast version of my reviews. Let me know what all of you think.

Ron