Kick-Ass: Why The First Movie Worked (And Why The Second Failed) (2024)

The 2010 movie Kick-Ass was a colossal hit and cultural phenomenon. Based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., the adaptation was directed by Matthew Vaughn and co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman and starred Aaron Johnson, Nic Cage, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

The darkly comic superhero story launched the careers of both Aaron Johnson and Chloë Grace Moretz. It brought about an interest in the darker side of superhero stories that was lacking at the time. Hyperviolent and stylized, the film's success ensured a sequel delivered in 2013. However, the sequel failed to ignite audiences and critics in the same way and in fact was poorly received. What went wrong?

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Kick-Ass followed ordinary teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), who, after constant bullying and mugging, decides to become a real-life superhero. Unfortunately, Dave is a normal teenager and his first attempt at fighting crime ends up with him getting stabbed and hit by a car. Luckily for Dave's crime-fighting ambitions, this leaves him with nerve damage and a lot of metal in his skeleton leading to enhanced durability and an inability to feel pain. Now, Dave is ready to become his alter ego: Kick-Ass.

The story takes another turn when once again Dave gets in over his head, but this time is rescued by Big Daddy (Nic Cage) and his daughter Mindy, aka Hit-Girl (Moretz), who has been following his exploits on MySpace. Formerly a cop framed by the mafia boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), Big Daddy has been training himself and his daughter to take revenge on D'Amico. Dave teams up with the pair to take down D'Amico. However, the three are being played by new vigilante Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who is D'Amico's son Chris masquerading as an ally to Kick-Ass in order to trap him and finally get the love he desperately wants from his father.

The first Kick-Ass film is a wild and bloody ride from start to finish. Yet, it also packs an emotional punch. It delves into complicated family dynamics, emotional trauma, and the need to belong and become more simultaneously.

The sequel, Kick-Ass 2, came out in 2013 and condensed the plot of the second and third books in the comic book run. The sequel had everything going for it to continue the success of the first. The source material was more than solid, the established cast and characters had already endeared themselves to audiences, and the huge names joining the cast created a solid buzz. Unfortunately, the punch didn't land. Taking place 4 years after the end of the original, Dave and Mindy begin training for the superhero life once again after Dave becomes bored with living without Kick-Ass. Meanwhile, Chris D'Amico takes over his father's criminal empire and assembles a team of supervillains who become cult sensations on social media. Dave follows suit by joining a team of superheroes called Justice Forever, helmed by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) who clash with authorities and D'Amico's team of psychopaths.

Alongside Carrey, Daniel Kaluuya, Donald Faison, and John Leguizamo also joined the cast, along with many others. The added star power certainly caused great interest in the project, but when it came to promoting the film, it was anything but a boon. The film completed production a month before the horrific Sandy Hook tragedy, which influenced Carrey to publicly denounce the film and its level of violence. While this acted as a form of publicity for the film in itself, it wasn't exactly positive. It also created a rift between Carrey and the creators as well as other cast members.

Of course, fans still turned out to watch the film, eager to see a continuation of the bombastic story of Kick-Ass. Unfortunately, the film didn't live up to the hype or to the expectations of fans and critics. It's always hard to recapture or even continue the momentum of an initial installment in a sequel, and the continuation of Kick-Ass certainly fell into this trap. The story didn't land despite the strong performances, and critics didn't have many compliments for the overall film.

The overall consensus on the film was that it was messy and jumbled. People that disliked the original pounced on it for being the same as the first, while fans of the original claimed it lacked the spark of originality and dark humor that was prevalent in the first film. One thing that most agreed on was that Hit-Girl and Chloë Grace Moretz's performance of the character was a standout, and deserved a standalone adventure.

The poor performance and reception of the sequel squashed the plans in motion for a third film at the time. However, the cast expressed interest in coming back and Vaughn continued to express his desire for further installments. In fact, a third entry is in development under Vaughn's studio Marv, andin December 2021 Vaughn confirmed that a reboot is in the works and due around early 2024.

Ultimately, it is impossible to say how a new entry in the series will fare. The sequel failed because of multiple issues from script to controversy to simply a lack of originality. Kick-Ass originally succeeded because it was fresh and had an almost DIY feel to it despite its large budget. It was a mix of over-the-top action sequences, likable protagonists, and well-blended humor that struck a chord with audiences. It was a film that had heart and people related to it. The sequel, on the other hand, lacked that same connection. It was a film that tried to recapture the original by doing exactly the same thing, which is exactly why it failed. Kick-Ass is a story about being different and embracing it, whereas Kick-Ass 2 was already on its way to becoming a tired rehash.

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