Kick-Ass? Hmm...
Such a movie is what I would call "good concept, bad execution."
Good concept: The desire for a teenager who loves to read comic books to emulate his/her hero/heroine in some way, shape, or form. It's a mostly universal drive to follow the one(s) you idolize (even if they're fictional), so it's easily understood at the personal level of the average movie-goer.
Bad execution: The trailer comes off to me as a "Superbad" knock-off mixed with exploitation and trivialization of the concept the director desperately tries to hype up and make appeals to a younger generation with.
Why exploitation? The comic book series which this is based off of (artistic license, anybody?) will draw in not only comic book geeks, but comedy fans of such movies as Superbad and Knocked Up as well. Also, it'll probably draw in people who are curious to see how the movie will fare as a story.
Why trivialization? Every basket-case comic-book geek yearning for adventure and actualization do so in this movie (and the comic book series) through the childish assembly of their costumes, their fantasy-world hero names, and the foes that they go out of their way to pick a fight with and whom they're clearly outmatched against. Fighting crime isn't a game, neither is being a vigilante (vigilantism is illegal), and the film (as does the comic series) takes it as something you just "go out and do".
Basically, it's the equivalent of sending a costume to every comic book reader in America and saying "Suit up and go get 'em!" I'm not looking forward to it, but I am working on an idea for a television series that will take a serious tone towards the concept.
What says you?
