Kick-Ass is the latest superhero movie to satirize the world of comic books, comic geek culture, and Watchmen-esque metafiction. In the movie, teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to supplement his boring life with the creation of a superhero alter ego, the questionably named “Kick-Ass”. Thanks to the wonders of Web 2.0, Kick-Ass becomes a local celebrity in no time at all. Dave’s new crime fighting career starts opening up doors for him, but is he going to be able to keep himself from getting killed to even take advantage of it?

Dave finds himself getting in way too over his head very quickly as predicted. Luckily he finds aid in the help of the superhero duo Big Daddy, played by a wonderfully unhinged Nicolas Cage, and his daughter Hit-Girl (Chloë Moretz). These two are looking for vengeance for past events and seem to have fairly well developed superhuman capabilities for a world in which superheroes only exist in the comics. How exactly does an eleven year old girl take out a whole building full of armed guards? Does it even matter at this point? The movie finds itself transitioning from reality to the worlds it parodies by the end.

There’s some controversy surrounding the character of Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass. She’s a foul-mouthed, homicidal child who takes as much of a beating as anyone else in the movie. There are multiple scenes in which adult men are trying to kill her. One of which where she is brutally punched and kicked repeatedly. Some of these scenes do have moments of genuine discomfort with what’s going on. Part of me wonders if I should find it offensive or accept it in the absurdity of it all. If there’s one thing that this movie is, it’s definitely absurd.

Ultimately the movie ends up being some sort of perverted nerd wish fulfillment more than anything. Dave gets to live out his superhero fantasy and even gets the girl in the end. “Hey, these comic books you gave me sure are awesome. Also you are so cool now as a superhero even though I was visibly disgusted by you only a short time earlier. Let’s go fuck in the back alley!” Uh-huh.

(2010; Directed by Matthew Vaughn)

Welcome to The Outtake: Film.