Kick-Ass, the movie

I've been a fan of Mark Millar since his work with Bryan Hitch on "The Ultimates", probably my favorite super-heroes in a realistic world story ever. Since then, he's remained a pretty popular writer and, when I heard that he and John Romita, Jr. were co-creating a series together which already had Hollywood buzz, I knew that it would be worth picking up...for the huge price inflation at least! So, when the comic was released in 2008, I grabbed it and, for the most part, really enjoyed it. Some of the pacing seemed a bit weird and I thought Millar went a bit overboard on how badly beaten one would get if one decided to become a costumed vigilante (can nothing go right for poor Dave Lizewski), but the action and overall plot keep me very entertained.

Now, comic to movie adaptations have been notoriously hit or miss in the past but, since the "Kick-Ass" movie was being created nearly simultaneously with the comic book and since the comic itself was fully couched in the real world, I held a lot of hope for the "Kick-Ass" movie. Plus, most of the reviews I've read so far have been positive, so I went into the movie expecting quite a lot...and got back some of that optimism.

"Kick-Ass" the movie starts exactly like the comic book and follow most of the major story beats, character development, and over-the-top violence. These are all good things. Sadly, enough details are changed that much of the comic's pacing is shifted by the middle of the movie. Especially sad are some of the changes made to Nicholas Cage's character Big Daddy; not to spoil them, but his character arc in the comic was totally unexpected and its change really diminished his interest as a character. Also, despite what you may have heard about the violence of this movie, much of it directed at children, the film never seemed to capture the impact of every punch that the artwork of John Romita, Jr. in the comic book. Perhaps it's unfair to compare JRJR's art to a film as no one creates a visual of a character drooling blood like he does, but I really wanted more ass-kicking in "Kick-Ass".

Really, my biggest problem was the film's ending. The "real people doing stupid super-hero thing" point of the movie was almost utterly abolished by an over-the-top finale which would have been more in place in the ridiculous "Spider-Man 3". Though this didn't ruin the movie's good performances, especially by Christopher Mintz-Plasse in a non-McLovin role and Chloe Moretz as the totally awesome Hit-Girl, it did leave me slightly disappointed. Much like in his "Stardust", another adaptation of an awesome property that just didn't entertain me as much as the source material, director and co-screenwriter Matthew Vaughn has made a pretty good movie...it just leaves me wanting more.

"Kick-Ass" is OK.

Waiting for Vacation

Man, I super hate wating for vacation. It's such an excuse to turn every free moment into a moment to screw around. Should I start a project for the class? No, not enough time to finish it before school ends. Should I get some things organized? No, it'll take too long to finish; then I'll just have a bunch of crap lying out while I'm gone and it'll get lost.

Just nothing but excuses. Waiting for vacation is AWFUL! And whining about it is also pretty AWFUL.