Film: "Kick Ass 2"; Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Clark Duke, Morris Chestnut, Donald Faison, John Leguizamo and Jim Carrey; Director: Jeff Wadlow; Rating: **1/2
The concept of the comic book-inspired "Kick Ass" germinated from the idea of average Americans without any special powers dressed up as superheroes to fight street crime. A fantasy which most US teenagers share.
And "Kick Ass 2" delivers. This hyper-violent teen superhero flick, co-produced by Brad Pitt takes off from where the previous "Kick Ass" left in 2010.
Mindy Macready (Chloe Grace Moretz), who has been robbed of her childhood and Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), both try to adjust to normal high school life. Mindy, who lives with her guardian Marcus (Morris Chestnut), is constantly reminded of her father and the injustice that took him away from her. So, she dons purple hair and a leather suit to slip into her alter-ego, 'Hit Girl'.
On the other hand, Dave apes to be a superhero. Despite being an ordinary kid, he decides to dress up in a green superhero suit to fight crime. He christens himself 'Kick Ass' and pursues Mindy to join up a legitimate group headed by the wily Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey).
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In the meanwhile, a new villain is busy empire-building: Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), the spoilt rich brat who spent the last film trying to be a hero, now apes to be the super-villain, with an obsession for revenge. He rechristens himself with an obnoxious title and with his financial capacity, he hires all the thugs he can lay hands on, gives them exotic names, and craves to destroy Kick Ass and his team.
The end is predictable, where fairness prevails and good overcomes evil.
The plot progression squarely falls on Aaron, Chloe and Chis. While Aaron comes out to be sincere and hardworking, there is something lacking in his performance. Chris excels in histrionics and offers comic relief, big time, with his actions and dialogues. Though technically Aaron plays the titular lead, the focus of the film is on Chloe for her action with the samurai swords and nunchucks. Jim Carrey and Morris are wasted.
The first half of the film drags a bit with high-school subplots, crabby teen disagreements, street fights and shock value that consist of foul language, explosive and sadistic diarrhea and bloody fights. But it is the action-packed second half with the costumed final battle that salvages the film from being a mediocre dish out.
The well-choreographed action sequence and a racy background score adds zest to the narration. Director Jeff Wadlow subtly injects humour into the script with the unusual character names that he introduces like - Dr. Gravity, Night Bitch, The Tumour, Genghhis khan and Mother Russia. They definitely add spark to a mundane story line.
Overall, "Kick Ass 2" is a watchable fare that will entertain you if you have nothing better to do.