The name of this movie kind of says it all... it kicks ass. I was hesitant to put this one into my Netflix cue when I read the description (and contemplating the difficulties actually saying the name of the movie in front of the kiddies, but now I'm glad I did. There was more actual violence than I envisioned, but it certainly isn't more shocking than anything else you'll see in the theaters these days. Further, this story centers around the life of a teenage boy and his relationships, so there will be plenty of crude humor and language for that set too. Frankly, that stuff never bothers me, so I can plow right ahead.
The great thing about this movie is that the premise is kind of nuts, and the characters know what they're doing is nuts -- even those that are actually nuts! That kind of self-awareness, despite the ridiculousness of what is going on, really helps the viewer suspend disbelief enough to really get into the movie. You can really start to care about the naive boy and his silly action hero dream; and you even root for the psychopathic vigilante and his screwed up off-spring as they go down a similar path to our hero, albeit with different methods and motives. Hell, you can even care for the bad guy a bit as all he really wants to do is go out there and commit his crimes and corrupt his fellow man a little bit so he can make a comfy living. Why is that superheroes are always screwing that up, right?
Point is, this is a story with well developed characters, a plot that is silly and yet somehow almost believable, and all the special effects and eye candy you would expect in a superhero-ish film. It's got plenty of laughs to balance out the action, and plenty of potential to do another film... which I'm actually not sure is a good thing.
One thing I DO know for sure is that it was a lot of fun to watch, and I have a new favorite pre-teen super/action hero: Hit Girl! Good stuff.
Movie to Skip: Enemies Among Us
Yep, you're not seeing things, this one doesn't even rate a full star. This movie is about as big of a stinker as there is. I did derive a little enjoyment out of this one, but it was certainly for all of the wrong reasons. The one bright spot in this film is the performance of Eric Roberts as the policeman on the Louisiana Governor's security detail. His character was really over the top mischievous and he was clearly enjoying his role in what was clearly a dumb, dumb movie. And besides the innate humor in watching a movie suck so bad that you almost feel sorry for the people in it, that was about all this movie had to offer.
Here is a collection of some of the problems: the acting, the "plot", the acting, the supporting "actors", the writing, and the severe lack of preparation that went into this dog. There were several times during this movie that the actors were CLEARLY reading from cue cards off to the side of the screen. And those that weren't reading from cards, like Billy Zane, kept stumbling over the lines that he had clearly just tried to memorize. Since none of the dialogue made any sense, however, it was just hard for everyone to spit out. And let's not forget that despite FIRST BILLING, Billy Zane was probably on the screen for less time than Steven Segal was in the movie Executive Decision where he had second billing.
One of the other chief detractors from this movie was the parade of idiots that made up the supporting cast. Apparently every hooker and trophy wife (and every guy had one on his arm) has a minimum cup size of D -- but they should have been looking for a modicum of acting talent. How hard can it be to play a vapid moron? Apparently it just hit too close to home, because these ladies couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. The best of them was the prostitute/assassin from early on in the movie, but her role fell apart pretty quickly when she stopped acting like a prostitute and had to trade dialogue with the Governor character... who was not much better. It should be pretty telling that none of these ladies got any cast credit for their performances...
I've seen worse movies, but this one certainly ranks right up there. It's actually better than a lot of the non soft-core crap you'll see late at night on cable, but only because of just how terrible it is. I don't recommend this one unless you just like really bad movies.
