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a few notes on Kick-Ass the Movie vs. the Comic
It's hard sometimes to look at the original material that's been written when you've seen the adaptation and want to take it on its own terms. The Kick-Ass movie that came out earlier this year is in many ways very faithful to the comic. And in other ways not at all. I have to mention that I wasn't a huge fan of the movie when I saw it; Vaughn's style was, at least in the action scenes, like a Tarantino rip-off and not in a good way, and the disturbing element that I was enjoying of Hit Girl and Big Daddy was diluted by Joan Jett and Ennio Morricone blaring on the soundtrack during such scenes.
Coming to the comic, I have to admit I've yet to read a lot of Mark Millar's work, though his reputation as a kind of mainstream-punk-rock comic book writer, if that makes any sense, precedes him and the one book I have read of his- Superman Red Son- is one of the essential books about the Man of Steel. With this, I kept thinking back to the movie, if in some part because Vaughn was *so* faithful that full lines, scenes and sequences were recreated, if not to Watchmen accuracy then close enough. Yet I think that overall I found that the Kick-Ass story and writing in the comic was much more suited to that medium than it was to film.
In a comic you can make your own speed with the images, go back and look at something again (or, in this case with the ultra-violence, maybe move along or gawk for an extra few seconds depending on the mood), and in a movie you have to really show what's going on - and give flesh and blood and performances to it. I felt more connected to Dave/Kick-Ass here than in the movie, and maybe that is because of something I found lacking in Aaron Johnson's portrayal of the character, or just how the writing translated over into the film.
Ironically where I found Dave/Kick-Ass' story really compelling in Millar's writing and in Romita's "cool" artwork (no other word for it), I was less so drawn in to the Big Daddy Hit Girl story.... that is until their issue comes around (#6) and especially a mammoth revelation Big Daddy has near the end before his demise that was unwisely cut out of the film. The satire here is sharper on Millar's end by giving Big Daddy that dimension. The only major thing the film improves upon with this is the casting: Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz are so brilliant and conscious of who they are in their roles they make up how they're ultimately only somewhat in-depth characters and more play-things for the director.
But is this comic all the bees-and-ees? Not quite. Millar tries to skate a line between doing a raucous, dangerous satire on superheroes and the comic book mythos in the real world and just doing a immature thing for 13 year olds, and sometimes he really slips over into he latter. Some of the writing I felt like I could've done at an earlier age, and the very last few pages, which is also faithfully recreated in the film, just made me groan - this despite the fact that a lot of the comic ala Tarantino (in a good way) is smart in its referential nature.
Perhaps the film itself was as good as it could be based on the nature of the material and who was directing and cast and how it was recreate it. Another thing, to momentarily digress into bitching, is how much more funny and insightful into the high school bullshit-relationship realm it is between Dave and Katie, particularly with the resolution in issue #8 when she finds out the whole truth, as Millar doesn't let *anyone* off the hook easy, save for Hit Girl whose final pages bring some much needed emotional resonance.
Kick-Ass does its name service when it works best, and Millar and Romita do their best to take a fresh take on a the "what-if" angle of comic book superheroes as an influence on popular culture and society. This doesn't mean it lives up to its absurd over-proclamation on the back voer "THE GREATEST SUPERHERO EVER" or whatever the hell. But it is, I have to say, more entertaining and packs a sharper, visceral punch than the film (which, if you haven't seen, I might suggest doing the opposite of what I did and check out the comic first).
Coming to the comic, I have to admit I've yet to read a lot of Mark Millar's work, though his reputation as a kind of mainstream-punk-rock comic book writer, if that makes any sense, precedes him and the one book I have read of his- Superman Red Son- is one of the essential books about the Man of Steel. With this, I kept thinking back to the movie, if in some part because Vaughn was *so* faithful that full lines, scenes and sequences were recreated, if not to Watchmen accuracy then close enough. Yet I think that overall I found that the Kick-Ass story and writing in the comic was much more suited to that medium than it was to film.
In a comic you can make your own speed with the images, go back and look at something again (or, in this case with the ultra-violence, maybe move along or gawk for an extra few seconds depending on the mood), and in a movie you have to really show what's going on - and give flesh and blood and performances to it. I felt more connected to Dave/Kick-Ass here than in the movie, and maybe that is because of something I found lacking in Aaron Johnson's portrayal of the character, or just how the writing translated over into the film.
Ironically where I found Dave/Kick-Ass' story really compelling in Millar's writing and in Romita's "cool" artwork (no other word for it), I was less so drawn in to the Big Daddy Hit Girl story.... that is until their issue comes around (#6) and especially a mammoth revelation Big Daddy has near the end before his demise that was unwisely cut out of the film. The satire here is sharper on Millar's end by giving Big Daddy that dimension. The only major thing the film improves upon with this is the casting: Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz are so brilliant and conscious of who they are in their roles they make up how they're ultimately only somewhat in-depth characters and more play-things for the director.
But is this comic all the bees-and-ees? Not quite. Millar tries to skate a line between doing a raucous, dangerous satire on superheroes and the comic book mythos in the real world and just doing a immature thing for 13 year olds, and sometimes he really slips over into he latter. Some of the writing I felt like I could've done at an earlier age, and the very last few pages, which is also faithfully recreated in the film, just made me groan - this despite the fact that a lot of the comic ala Tarantino (in a good way) is smart in its referential nature.
Perhaps the film itself was as good as it could be based on the nature of the material and who was directing and cast and how it was recreate it. Another thing, to momentarily digress into bitching, is how much more funny and insightful into the high school bullshit-relationship realm it is between Dave and Katie, particularly with the resolution in issue #8 when she finds out the whole truth, as Millar doesn't let *anyone* off the hook easy, save for Hit Girl whose final pages bring some much needed emotional resonance.
Kick-Ass does its name service when it works best, and Millar and Romita do their best to take a fresh take on a the "what-if" angle of comic book superheroes as an influence on popular culture and society. This doesn't mean it lives up to its absurd over-proclamation on the back voer "THE GREATEST SUPERHERO EVER" or whatever the hell. But it is, I have to say, more entertaining and packs a sharper, visceral punch than the film (which, if you haven't seen, I might suggest doing the opposite of what I did and check out the comic first).
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Comment by 2late on October 14, 2010 at 1:54pm -
The movie improved on almost all the aspects of the comic. It took an interesting concept and adapted it to the big screen in a such a way that it could actually work because, make no mistake about it, an 1:1 adaptation wouldn't have worked in a million years.
Millar's book was clearly directed at comic book fans and while they could appreciate it for what it was for newcomers or the movie going audience the concept had some major flaws which would be hard to get over.
Putting aside its cynicism, the biggest issue I had with the comic was that it punished you, the reader, for caring about the characters:
- Hey, you like this Kick-Ass character? Do you relate to him? Come on, his heart is in the right place and his intentions are pure. Well, tough luck if you care for him because we're gonna end the comic with him getting his ass kicked, losing the girl, and masturbating to a photo of her giving a blowjob to the guy who kicked his ass.
He's a complete fucking loser in the comic. He ends in worse state than he was in the begging.
In the movie there's an actual progression to his character. Sure, maybe getting the girl (at least so easily) wasn't exactly realistic but
a) I'm not looking for realism, I'm looking for entertainment and him getting the girl is still far better than the downer of an ending the comic had, and
b) katie is not the same in the movie .. she was actually likable
And then we have the big elephant in the room: Big Daddy's origin. I mean sure, it was far more original in the comic and provided an interesting twist. It was also a concept that comic book fans could easily accept, as big daddy was a projection of Kick-Ass and, to a certain extent, the readers themselves. It was fanboysm taken to the extreme. However with that plot twist they pretty much killed big daddy's character before the mobsters even pulled the trigger. In one single move Millar turned one of the main characters into a complete monsters that no normal person could sympathize with.
- You wanted to offer your daughter an exciting life? Take her to disneyland you fucking psycho
And here's a bit of sweet, sweet irony: the villains in the movie, the mobsters, are the actual VICTIMS. Think about it. They were minding their own business when out of nowhere came this guy who started killing them one by one and taking their operation apart ... why? Because he needed a villain.
He got what he deserved - you fuck with the bull you get the horns. His origin also made Hit-Girl's motivation pretty weak.
Now, what Vaughn and Jane Goldman did with the movie was nothing short of a miracle: they managed to add a soul to a comic that had none. All the characters in the movies had more depth and were overall more likable (from Kick-Ass to Red-Mist, from the mobsters to dave's friends and so on). The movie allowed you to care for them.
Red-Mist was a complete prick in the comic ... and so he was to a lesser extent in the movie but at least you could empathize with him to a certain degree. He loved his father, all he wanted to do was to follow in his footsteps and he cared about Kick-Ass. In the comic his relationship with his father is almost non-existent and to summarize how much of a fucked up asshole he was let me use one of his quotes "I fantasized about watching you in pain. I even jacked off to it. Does that make me seem weird?"
Same could be said about frank d'amico. He's just a name and a face in the comic but in the movie he actually has some depth (despite being a stereotype): he comes off as a loving and caring father as well as powerful and respected crime boss.
I could go in-depth with big daddy and hit-girl too and how their relationship is one of the best things about the movie but that would take too much time.
As far as directing goes vaughn did a fantastic job. His use of primary colors was brilliant (not bad for a colorblind guy), as was the way he shot the action scenes. Saying that they were reminiscent of tarantino is a bit of a stretch. Out of all the scenes only 2 (the lobby scene and the fight at razul's place) have similarities. The hallway scene is more like a mix between the matrix and john woo while kick-ass' fights and big daddy's warehouse scene .. well, I'm not sure what they're reminiscent of but it's not taratino that's for sure.
But, by far the best, most impressive and original action scene in the movie - the standout - was all matthew vaughn. The rescue part is easily one of the favorite scenes of all time. The first person view, the strobe, the music, the acting, the emotional weight behind it ... they all complemented each other to the point of perfection. The comic book version by comparison couldn't hold a candle to it.
There would be a lot more to say but this is taking way more than it should and I think I've made my point.
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