tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post1964067151271868744..comments2024-03-10T07:42:17.071-04:00Comments on The Film Doctor: The critical debate and the bratty pleasures of Kick-AssThe Film Doctor http://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-44930887004117314132011-01-29T10:31:53.911-05:002011-01-29T10:31:53.911-05:00Thanks, Malcolm,
The Green Hornet also felt like ...Thanks, Malcolm,<br /><br /><i>The Green Hornet</i> also felt like more of the same antiquated crap, with its emphasis on a newspaper. <i>Kick-Ass</i> shows how the viral video is the contemporary medium of choice.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-20431488370926741902011-01-29T10:09:52.031-05:002011-01-29T10:09:52.031-05:00I really enjoyed Kick Ass as well, watching it on ...I really enjoyed Kick Ass as well, watching it on a dining room table surrounded by friends all eating our dinners... It was everything I was looking for, an action/comic book film that decided to push the accepted limits of the genre. Being a huge fan of Kubrick, I really enjoyed the A Clockwork Orange references, and am disappointed in Ebert for being so short sighted... oh well, Blue Velvet and Brazil and several other films have shown that he is definitely fallible as a reviewer, but you got to respect the guy.Malcolmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14152750627121159394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-21747390885369238202010-04-21T16:27:24.520-04:002010-04-21T16:27:24.520-04:00Thanks for the further thoughts. What's up nex...Thanks for the further thoughts. What's up next to consider? Oh, yeah, forgot, another superhero movie: <i>Iron Man 2</i>.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-63618121307223529022010-04-21T10:00:19.150-04:002010-04-21T10:00:19.150-04:00Hokahey,
Certainly there are major problems with ...Hokahey,<br /><br />Certainly there are major problems with the (spoiler alert) latter half of the movie too. In the comic, when Katie learns that Dave is not gay, she rejects him. In the movie, she proves rather unrealistically sympathetic for the purposes of adolescent wish-fulfillment. Also, I didn't care much for Frank D'Amico's erstwhile snuff video designed to prove to the world that you shouldn't become a super power. Like so many plot developments in action films, this scene uses "torture, kill, repeat" like another cycle in a washing machine.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-54652273101953717062010-04-19T19:13:42.954-04:002010-04-19T19:13:42.954-04:00FilmDr. - I really appreciate how you are tolerant...FilmDr. - I really appreciate how you are tolerant of my opinion on this movie - never coming back with, "You just don't get it." We both saw things to like and dislike - just for me there was more to dislike. I think this is well said - "The film has an odd amateurish sweetness mixed in with the bloodshed." That's true - I noted in my post that I liked the character of Dave - I also like the "Crazy" scene you point out here. <br /><br />As for the updates you point out. That's interesting because I never thought of the other superhero movies as NOT being updated. They always seemed set during the present time - and I guess all the CGI just evokes an atmosphere that makes me feel like superhero movies of the past ten years are quite updated. <br /><br />But I can see what you saying about the values and roles not being updated. Interesting. I guess there is a place for a superhero movie for our time. Just, this one didn't do it for me and I don't know if I'm looking forward to anyone else giving it a try.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-71212206853355833252010-04-19T15:54:30.188-04:002010-04-19T15:54:30.188-04:00Thanks for your thoughts, Hokahey, and the link on...Thanks for your thoughts, Hokahey, and the link on your blog.<br /><br />We can fully agree on being sick of superhero movies (<i>X-Men Origins: Wolverine</i> is my definition of obscene), but whereas <i>Kick-Ass</i> appears to have exacerbated your weariness, I found the movie something of a relief from the usual stuff. For instance, I liked the way nobody in the film had any real superpowers at all. Also, the film found ways to increase the pitifulness of the main character (Dave), so it seems to follow along a continuum already established by the woes of Peter in <i>Spiderman 2</i>. And I do think <i>Kick-Ass</i> updates the genre some, with its tendency to favor the internet over television, the emphasis on social networks, and the way Dave finds fame through a viral video. What did <i>Spiderman 3</i> have in comparison? An emo haircut and Dunst once again in the (yawn) maiden-in-distress mode (Hit Girl seems a step up on that). I'm hoping that <i>Kick-Ass</i> will oblige the genre to take change faster than it otherwise would have. <br /><br />As for your point about stupidity, I guess, but I didn't notice it as much. I liked the way the film found odd moments of pleasure in transformation--Red Mist and Kick-Ass goofing around to "Crazy" in the Mistmobile as they head to the next hyperviolent scene. The film has an odd amateurish sweetness mixed in with the bloodshed. I'm also amazed at how Nicolas Cage took his major problems as an actor and a star (witness his hair issues in the loathsome <i>Bangkok Dangerous</i>) and somehow turn them to his <i>advantage</i> in his warped characterizations in <i>Kick-Ass</i> and <i>Bad Lieutenant</i>. How often do actors do that? <br /><br />Anonymous,<br /><br />Good point about her being childlike. I think Moretz is a good actress as she proves in <i>500 Days of Summer</i>. I found myself wondering if she was imitating Clint Eastwood's deadpan delivery in some of the action scenes.<br /><br />I heard that both Hit Girl and Big Daddy were originally the central focus of the comic, but Mark Millar decided to make them secondary to Dave, who more closely resembles Mark. I wouldn't be surprised if Hit Girl took over later.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-34220691090529349062010-04-19T14:51:42.076-04:002010-04-19T14:51:42.076-04:00They've removed any childlike qualities that m...<i>They've removed any childlike qualities that might have made the character troubling or nuanced</i><br /><br />She is childlike when she is with her Dad. And with her foster father. Just not when she is in action.<br /><br />Otherwise she would not be a walking incongruity.<br /><br /><i>I'm not convinced of Hit Girl's feminist credentials, nor in the claim that the makers were interested in telling "her story".</i><br /><br />If there is a sequel, I gather that her role is intended to be a bit like that of the central character in "A History of Violence". So that probably will be more about her.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-11169397204673980532010-04-19T14:50:32.851-04:002010-04-19T14:50:32.851-04:00I didn't dislike this movie because I am one o...I didn't dislike this movie because I am one of the "older" critics. I can see its attempt at irony. Also, I'm not easily shocked by movies, and I'm not coming from that group of writers responding to this film. I didn't find it especially shocking - sort of obscene as Hit-Girl does her thing. My reaction was kind of like, "Oh, yeah, that's cute, but now where is this going?" - and where it went was into overblown ridiculousness. Tarantino had already done the plaid-skirted schoolgirl thing with <i>Kill Bill</i> - and then it was gripping and visceral. Yes, I got a kick out of Hit-Girl's first spree to the inane TV show tune - then the film strayed from art into excessive stupidity. I can't compare <i>Hit-Girl</i> with <i>Clockwork Orange</i> - that film has a visceral gravity to it that makes you think. This film has no thoughtful control over its ironies and genre lampooning and superhero parody. Part of it is that I'm totally tired of anything having to do with superheroes. I found <i>Dark Knight</i> refreshing only because of Ledger's performance. I hope this is not the superhero for the present generation - because that would be sad. I have no better argument than to say that this is just a stupid movie that missed its mark and fails to do anything clever, artistic, thoughtful, visceral, or satisfyingly memorable.<br /><br />Sorry for the free-flow rant at a number of ideas touched on here in this well-rounded presentation of the different arguments. Good work, FilmDr.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-1546872466366813742010-04-19T10:55:02.564-04:002010-04-19T10:55:02.564-04:00Thanks for your thoughts, Dan. I agree with you a...Thanks for your thoughts, Dan. I agree with you about the self-division. My impression is that other younger viewers often have no problem with ironically appreciating the movie. One 18 year old I know couldn't understand what the older critics were objecting to, and he basically used the "It's only a movie" defense. <i>Kick-Ass</i> could indicate a new toxic level of irony, but it also has warmth and some craft. If critics want to make a stand about <i>Kick-Ass</i>, then I find that fascinating and commendable, but they should beware of having double standards with their previous reviews of Tarantino films, for instance.<br /><br />Ultimately, I'm not defending the sometimes gleefully unethical movie so much as being intrigued by all of the critical hullaballoo. It says a lot about the critics.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-11465811804309427392010-04-18T11:03:05.871-04:002010-04-18T11:03:05.871-04:00Thanks for posting this, Doc. I'm glad that th...Thanks for posting this, Doc. I'm glad that the film has divided critics. It should. For some of us, it divides us within ourselves - it's an exciting film that takes care to construct euphoric, crescendous action scenes that sweep you up in the thrill of it all. Then you might realise what it has made you feel excited about (indiscriminate, vigilante slaughter, mostly committed by a brainwashed child to carry out her father's vengeful mission). The film itself never does the pull-back-and-reveal that might make it easier to accept that the film has anything at all to say that is reflective about cultural violence. So, in the words of Homer Simpson, there is no moral: it's just a bunch of stuff that happened.<br /><br />I'm not convinced of Hit Girl's feminist credentials, nor in the claim that the makers were interested in telling "her story". Her story consists of carrying out her father's dirty work (they've removed the moment in the comic book where it turns out that he's fed her anti-liberal slogans and coked her up before a fight), and her characterisation hinges on the single joke that she's a walking incongruity, and the safety of the depiction comes from the knowledge that she could never exist in real life. They've removed any childlike qualities that might have made the character troubling or nuanced, leaving only the daffy fun of seeing her mimic precisely the aestheticised kills of any other superhero assassin - her role is one of mimicry, not innovation. But by the time she got around to stabbing a defenceless, near-nude woman in the back as she screamed for her life, I somehow stopped enjoying the joke. I'm prudish like that.Dan Northhttp://drnorth.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com