by Catherine Leopold - 2010-04-09

Based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and adapted for the screen by Jane Goldman and director Matthew Vaughn, Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a normal teenager living an unremarkable life, who one day decides to become a superhero, despite a complete lack of fighting prowess or any discernible superpowers.

After ordering himself a garish green diving suit on the internet and practising his tough-guy act in front of the mirror at home, Dave takes to the mean streets of New York to fight some crime and... well, it doesn't go well. Beaten and bloodied but undeterred, and after a car park punch-up that makes him a YouTube celebrity, Dave soon finds himself on the wrong side of mobster Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), who wrongly suspects Kick-Ass (as Dave has christened his crime-fighting alter-ego) of killing his henchmen.

The real perpetrators of this recent blood-letting are Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), two night-stalking vigilantes who really know what they're doing. Hit Girl is a foul-mouthed pre-teen who's handy with a samurai sword; Big Daddy is her ex-cop father who's been training her since she was old enough to hold a knife.

To give away more of the plot would spoil all the surprises in this brilliantly inventive, wildly enjoyable film, which embraces many of the superhero movie clichés, only to subvert them to hilarious effect. Brilliantly staged and shot by producer-turned-director Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust), Kick-Ass is a thrilling cinema experience.

The script and the actors' performances complement each other perfectly: Aaron Johnson is a likeable lead, easily conveying Dave's puppyish enthusiasm and amusing incompetence, as well as his grim determination to do the right thing against pretty poor odds; Chloe Moretz is a revelation as the butterfly-knife-toting Hit Girl; Nicolas Cage is completely mental (in the best way); and Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and the rest of the cast all give strong support.

Full of 'oh-no-they-didn't' moments, Kick-Ass is not for the easily offended (it gets away with a lot considering its 15 certificate), but it will make you laugh and smile as well as gasp and wince. A superhero movie with no superheroes, Kick-Ass has heart, humour and guts, and is likely to send you out of the cinema with a big grin on your face.