Kick-Ass 2

Maybe it’s because meanwhile I’ve read the comic book original, but the sequel is much weaker than part one. For one thing, Jeff Wadlow comes nowhere near Vaughn. His directing is erratic and lacks invention. The story diverges from the comic book in the most interesting passages, while it sticks quite faithfully to the less interesting parts. Chloë Moretz is fine, unfortunately she’s grown a little too old and I simply can’t see the well-behaved, sweet little girl in her anymore. Most of the time the poor girl is hanging around in High School Musical mode and not only is it boring, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is annoying, completely inappropriate as a bad guy and even Iain Glen who appeared on screen only for about a minute easily outplayed him. And the best characters - Carrey and Leguizamo are given too little space. The action is decent, but in places more distasteful than plain bloody entertainment. The cuts between dramatic and entertaining scenes are about as smooth as a slap in the face. Why am I even giving it 3 stars? (29/11/2013)

The first Kick-Ass was crap, but at least there were a couple of characters about whom I thought they had a nice job in the movie. Of course, I am talking mainly about Nicolas Cage. But then the sequel arrived and I thought that I should watch it. I mean Jim Carrey shouldn’t be a disappointment regardless of whom he portrays. But in the end I have to admit that I barely noticed him. It’s not that he was forgettable, but he was simply very unlike himself. Well and the rest of the cast can’t make up for that. So, the way the sequel starts as a fan movie, it ends up a tragic movie. The whole thing is sort of wannabe action-loaded and what’s worse it’s wannabe emotional. And the worst part is that I really miss any semblance of emotion in the movie. (29/12/2013)

The violence is the same as in the first film, but the difference is in the way the film shows the violence. While Matthew Vaughn has somehow managed to justify its use with his own playful directorial style, Jeff Wadlow could not. Blood is again spurting out on all sides of the world (and not only blood, actually), but so what? In my opinion, it's a useless sequel, a hotly edited mash-up that can only stare enviously at its predecessor. The title character didn't interest me at all this time, the heroine didn't interest me either, although she was given more space, and the only really interesting character I really enjoyed was played by Jim Carrey. But there was so desperately little of it... (25/09/2014)

The second part of the source material was at least a whole level worse than the first, and the film adaptation is heading in the same direction. And yet I have to support the adaptation because compared to the first one, it's not explicitly worse, but deliberately different. In the comic, Mark Millar sometimes went off the rails in the second act, exaggerated with brutality in some scenes, and saved himself with a fateful finale. Thanks to the incorporation of the Hit-Girl storyline, Jeff Wadlow can approach it much more calmly and give the story a more believable touch of humanity. It's hard to say if he would have succeeded if Chloë Grace Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson weren't unexpectedly capable of playing any sincere interlude or over-the-top line with first-class delivery. But he succeeded, people still want to be superheroes, and the true superheroine actually wants to be human. I really hoped for Kick-Ass to get a worthy continuation and with it, a probable farewell. Mission accomplished – with flying colors. (21/08/2013)

Well, I’m surprised. I was sceptical of the sequel to the sharp Kick-Ass, but Jeff Wadlow, or that “boring routine artists” and “video-clip maker devoid of fantasy”, as they “mandatorily” call him here, has nothing to be ashamed of. I would’ve easily believed that Matthew Vaughn remained in the director’s chair. It’s got drive, great action sequences, a fantastic soundtrack and good comedic timing. The only issues come from the script (and maybe also from the comic book), which balances worse between seriousness and detachment than in the previous movie. Otherwise, it’s more of the same, which in the case of Kick-Ass I don’t mind. (26/08/2013)