Directed by: Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey, Lyndsy Fonseca, Morris Chestnut, Yancy Butler, John Leguizamo, Lindy Booth
Following the death of her father, Mindy (Moretz) is living with his friend, Detective Williams (Chestnut). At her new guardian's request she retires her Hit-Girl persona, despite pressure from Dave (Taylor-Johnson) who has returned as Kick-Ass and is now part of a masked vigilante group, "Justice Forever", lead by Colonel Stars 'n Stripes (Carrey), a reformed Mafia enforcer. After accidentally killing his domineering mother, Chris D'Amico (Mintz-Plasse) becomes a super-villain known as "The MotherFucker" (groan), forming a gang of villains, based on ethnic stereotypes, and vowing revenge on Kick-Ass for the death of his father.
'Kick-Ass 2' is the 'Piranha 3DD' of comic book movies. Like that travesty, it seems to be made by someone who merely read a plot synopsis of the first film and came away with a completely misguided idea of how this sort of material should be handled. Were it not for the exceptionally low water mark (or should that be urine mark) set by the vile '21 & Over', Wadlow's sequel would be a strong contender for the worst movie of 2013.
Jim Carrey made it publicly known he wished to distance himself from this garbage and it's easy to see why, even if you find his reason (the violence is no worse than most R-rated movies) questionable. His part is miniscule and makes you wonder if he was hastily written out during production. The character he portrays ends up being absolutely pointless and his patriotic schtick comes off as so fascist you expect him, rather than the oh so wittily named "MotherFucker", to become the film's real villain.
Fonseca, who played the love interest of the first film, has a total of two "blink and you'll miss them" scenes. That's because she's essentially been replaced as a source of sexual tension by Moretz in what is a downright creepy move, one that makes you wonder if her parents read the script. The first movie told us Mindy was 11 years old, which would make her 13 here, as we're told this takes place two years after 'Kick-Ass'. Then, contradictorily, we learn she's now fifteen. So, if we are now to assume this film takes place four years after the first, how in hell is Dave still in High School? Whatever way you do the math, there's something very dodgy about the use of Moretz here. While she clearly looks like a young teen, every other member of her high school appears to be at least 27. And since when did courts start awarding single adult males sole custody of teenage girls they aren't even related to?
Every other Hollywood movie this summer seems to have featured some disgusting variation of body fluid "humor", whether it's characters pissing on themselves ('This is the End') or pissing on someone else ('21 & Over'). 'Kick-Ass 2' features one of the more vile moments of the year, involving a double whammy of vomit and feces, that made me seriously tempted to walk out of the movie.
With green-screen effects that wouldn't be acceptable in a SyFy original and an immature potty-mouth script, 'Kick-Ass 2' is cheap in every sense of the word. Oh, and Hollywood, you may not be aware of this but the Soviet Union no longer exists. If you're so determined to win over the international market you should probably pay attention to details like this.
1/10
Eric Hillis