5/10
Although this film has enjoyable moments, the whole is less satisfying than the individual parts. It could have done with losing 20 minutes, and thinking more clearly who its target audience is.
Dave (Aaron Johnson - John Lennon in Nowhere Boy) is an everyday semi-nerd; not friendless, but not significant, and in love with a girl out of his league. For reasons which are implausible, he decides he wants to impersonate a superhero. Lacking any superpowers, and dressed in a green wetsuit he is - to say the least - not very effective. It so happens that there is also a Very Bad Man in town, with whom Dave aka Kick-Ass gets accidentally involved, and there's also a father/daughter team (Big Daddy and Hit Girl), who really do have special powers, and they're out to get the Villain.
The above description doesn't quite prepare you for what to expect. The film is a) extremely violent, b) full of swearing and c) interested in teenage sexuality. So the first audience who can't watch it (till it's out on DVD) are under 15 year olds - in theory. But they're just the age group who will want to see one of their own trying to live out their comic book fantasies, while still behaving like a horny adolescent. The film has an R certificate in the USA which limits both its audience and its marketing. And while I'm all for films not censoring themselves just to reach a wider audience, I'm not quite sure if the trade off is worthwhile in this case.
The other problem is that there's too much going on, too many different characters, too many fight scenes and showdowns and just too much in general. There's no need for it to last 2 hours, apart from the director's unwillingness to keep snipping until it was a good deal shorter. Having said all which, it will be very popular with quite a lot of people, most of them younger than me.
