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I didn't know anything about this movie and the trailers didn't really give me a glimpse of what to expect, but I kept hearing positive things about it, so I reserved a couple of bucks for it and saw it at the cheap theater. If you are as unfamiliar as I was, the story is about a guy who decides to become a super hero despite the fact that he has no super powers. He orders a scuba suit online, puts on some rubber gloves, and starts training himself to fight and gain physical strength so that he can start fighting crime on his own. At the same time, a father and daughter team are doing their own form of crime fighting, with some specific targets in mind. Their paths are destined to cross, once the public get wind of costumed crime fighters in their city.

Maybe it's because I had zero expectations going into this movie, but it's actually one of my surprise favorites of the year. It's a parody of super hero movies in some ways, but holds its own with its story and characters, and tends to feel very genuine. I really liked Aaron Johnson as the hero. He is convincing in the various directions his character goes, and all the time spent with his character is great.

A surprising part of the movie for me was Nick Cage as the vigilante father. It could be his best role in years. His character is training his young daughter in weapons and fighting, and he does all of this with a big smile and positive attitude. For a long time, it seems like the movie just has a sick sense of humor (which it does at times), but we later find out that he's got a motive for what he does, and that his overall attitude is a sort of coping mechanism to shield his daughter from how dark their situation actually is. This is why I think it would have been great if the daughter had appeared a little more naive, rather than foul-mouthed; but I have to admit that for most of people who are watching a movie called Kick-Ass, I'm sure her lines were shockingly funny.

With Big Daddy and Hit Girl on the scene, Kick-Ass's crime fighting becomes much more significant, and the fight scenes are a spectacle to be sure. I loved the variety of weapons and fighting methods. And everything was accompanied by a pretty awesome soundtrack as well. I recognized a lot of the music, so it wasn't new-awesome - it just felt like a Kick-Ass party.

I can definitely see this movie lending itself to some repeat viewings in the future, especially if it's available for instant viewing on Netflix. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Roku? I've been thinking about declaring this the Summer of Roku for myself. I'm packing in so many movies, and great ones at that. This blog is doomed to be incredibly behind, since last week I averaged about one movie per day between the Roku and the theater. Anyway, thanks for indulging that tangent. Kick-Ass lived up to its name.