Movie Night

While this is a sports website, I will, from time to time, post on topics of cultural relevance. If you don't like it, we'll give you a full refund for your subscription.

Anyway, I didn't want to waste my time watching the Crew lose to the Nationals, so I went to Kick-Ass last night with my better half. She did not like Kick-Ass. I liked Kick-Ass. I liked it very much.

A brief synopsis: Kick-Ass centers around an average teenage boy who, one day, wonders "why hasn't anyone ever tried being a superhero?" He buys a wet-suit, fashions some fighting sticks, and satire ensues. I laughed throughout the entire film. I was the only one. The theater was half-full late last night. Me, my lady, and 17-19 year old boys. That's it. No other females. Not one. And I'm sure no one else was in their 20s or 30s. They came for the comic-book action. And there was plenty of that. But they just didn't GET the satire.

For example: two additional "super-heroes" play prominent roles in the film. Hit Girl and her father, Big Daddy. Hit Girl is 11. She's got the mouth of a sailor (sort-of). Big Daddy is a former NYC cop. He talks like Ward Cleaver (from Leave it to Beaver). The dichotomy is F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. There's also no way a typical small-town Wisconsin male teen is going to appreciate/understand that. Which is sad, because the entire film is filled with this stuff.

As I said, my lady didn't like the film. She's not a big fan of action, but her mind is quite nimble; she should have LOVED the satire and laughed along with me. But the problem was two-fold: a masturbation scene early in the movie turned her off and, more importantly, comic-book movies weren't an especially poignant topic of satire for her. She's never really enjoyed comic book movies, so she didn't really find the subtle jabs all that interesting.

This leads me to two conclusions: first, 20-30-something males will LOVE this film. Love it. Love love love it. But that's it. There isn't enough there for the teen crowd. And there isn't enough there for any other demographic that isn't into comic book movies. Sure, your lady may enjoy Kick-Ass. But I don't think she'll like it unless she also dug on Spiderman.

I recommend Kick-Ass for a gentleman's night out. Final tally: 4.5/5 cowpies...