Kick-Ass 2 (film)

Kick-Ass 2 is a 2013 British-American superhero Action Comedy film based on the comic book of the same name and Hit-Girl, both by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., and is the Sequel to the 2010 film Kick-Ass, as well as the second installment of the Kick-Ass film series. The film was written and directed by Jeff Wadlow and co-produced by Matthew Vaughn, who directed the first film. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloë Grace Moretz reprise their roles from the first film as Dave Lizewski, Chris D'Amico, and Mindy Macready respectively.

The film was released on 14 August 2013 in the United Kingdom and Ireland and on 16 August in the United States and Canada. Matthew Vaughn's production company, Marv Films, produced the film alongside Universal Pictures.

Plot
Dave Lizewski, bored after having retired from fighting crime as Kick-Ass, begins training with Mindy Macready to become a proper hero. After accidentally killing his mother, Chris D'Amico is now in control of his family's money, and reinvents himself as supervillain the Motherfucker, swearing vengeance on Kick-Ass.

Mindy's guardian, Marcus, discovers she is still fighting crime and makes her promise to give it up. Dave's girlfriend, Katie Deauxma, has noticed Dave behaving strangely and breaks up with him, believing he is cheating on her with Mindy. He resumes his life as Kick-Ass, and joins the superhero team Justice Forever, led by Colonel Stars and Stripes; it includes Battle Guy (Dave's friend, Marty), Dr. Gravity, Insect Man, Night-Bitch, and the parents of a missing child named Tommy. The team starts out working at soup kitchens and patrolling the streets before taking on the larger task of shutting down a brothel. Kick-Ass begins a relationship with Night Bitch, and he and Marty try to get their friend Todd involved with heroics, but instead alienate him by calling his chosen identity, Ass Kicker, a copy of Kick-Ass.

Mindy, attempting to lead a normal life, tries out for the dance team at school, and impresses the audience with her audition. Dave tries to convince Mindy to join Justice Forever, but she refuses, and promptly asks a boy to take her on a date. The date ends up as a cruel prank planned by a group of bullies in her school, leaving Mindy abandoned in the forest to walk home alone. Dave consoles the tearful Mindy and encourages her to beat the bullies at their own game. The next day, Mindy does so with verbal put-downs and a crowd-control shock baton, resulting in her suspension from school. Meanwhile, Dave's father, Mr. Lizewski, discovers Dave is Kick-Ass after finding his superhero costume in his room.

The Motherfucker assembles a gang of supervillains and establishes an underground lair. He finds Colonel Stars and Stripes and has his henchwoman Mother Russia decapitate him before taunting Justice Forever on Twitter. He then tracks down Night-Bitch and attempts to rape her, though he is unable to attain an erection. When police arrive, Mother Russia kills all of the officers, resulting in a police clampdown on both costumed villains and vigilantes. When the police track Dave through his IP address, Dave's father claims he, not Dave, is Kick-Ass.

The Motherfucker, unconvinced the real Kick-Ass has been caught, learns from Todd, who had inadvertently joined the Motherfucker's group, that the man identified as being Kick-Ass is actually his father. The Motherfucker has Mr. Lizewski killed in jail and sends a photograph to Dave, revealing his true identity as Chris D'Amico. Grief-stricken, Dave vows to never put on the Kick-Ass costume again, as he had promised his father. At the funeral, the Motherfucker's gang ambushes and kidnaps Dave. Mindy pursues their fleeing van, killing all but one of its occupants, rescuing Dave, and convincing him to confront the Motherfucker.

Dave and his superhero friends attack the villains' lair where an all-out brawl ensues. While Kick-Ass fights the Motherfucker, Hit-Girl struggles against Mother Russia. Hit-Girl tricks Mother Russia into injecting her with a syringe of adrenaline, which gives her the strength to kill Mother Russia with shards of glass. Fighting on a rooftop, the Motherfucker nearly falls through a skylight, but Kick-Ass grabs him. The Motherfucker refuses help and falls, landing in his own shark tank, where he is mauled. Justice Forever decides to give up its superhero duties, and help people in their ordinary lives instead.

Mindy takes Dave home and tells him that because she is wanted for murder, she is leaving New York. She tells him he is now the superhero the city needs, and kisses him before departing. Dave accepts the responsibility and begins training and upgrading his equipment.

In a Post-credits scene, Chris screams from a hospital bed for water. He shouts that his legs and genitalia were bitten off and is barely able to move.

Cast

 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson as David Lizewski / Kick-Ass
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico / The Motherfucker
 * Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy Macready / Hit-Girl
 * Clark Duke as Marty Eisenberg / Battle Guy
 * Morris Chestnut as Detective Marcus Williams
 * Donald Faison as Doctor Gravity
 * John Leguizamo as Javier
 * Jim Carrey as Sal Bertolinni / Colonel Stars and Stripes
 * Augustus Prew as Todd Haynes / Ass-Kicker
 * Garrett M. Brown as Mr. Lizewski
 * Iain Glen as Uncle Ralph D'Amico
 * Lindy Booth as Miranda Swedlow / Night-Bitch
 * Robert Emms as Insect Man
 * Steven Mackintosh as Tommy's father / Remembering Tommy
 * Monica Dolan as Tommy's mother / Remembering Tommy
 * Andy Nyman as The Tumor
 * Daniel Kaluuya as Black Death
 * Tom Wu as Genghis Carnage
 * Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie Deauxma
 * Olga Kurkulina as Katryna Dubrovsky / Mother Russia
 * Yancy Butler as Angie D'Amico
 * Claudia Lee as Brooke
 * Benedict Wong as Mr. Kim
 * Charlie Clapham as Goth Kid

Additionally, comic book creators Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's stepdaughter Angelica Jopling make cameo appearances in the film.

Development
On 8 May 2012, it was reported that a Sequel would be distributed by Universal Studios, and that Matthew Vaughn had chosen Jeff Wadlow, who also wrote the script, to direct the sequel. Later that month, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloë Grace Moretz entered negotiations to reprise their roles as Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl, respectively.

Writing
Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey performed uncredited work on Wadlow's script to make Hit-Girl more feminine and less crass in light of Moretz's older age.

Casting
In July 2012, Christopher Mintz-Plasse confirmed that he would return as Chris D'Amico who becomes the supervillain The Motherfucker. Mintz-Plasse expressed relief that a rape scene from the comic book would not be included in the film and went on to compare the gang violence in the story to the film The Warriors. That same month, it was announced that John Leguizamo would play a character named Javier, one of The Motherfucker's bodyguards.

In August 2012, it was reported that Donald Faison would play the superhero Doctor Gravity. Also that month, Yancy Butler was set to reprise her role as Angie D'Amico, Lyndsy Fonseca stated that she would return as Katie Deauxma in a smaller role, Robert Emms was cast as the former police officer turned superhero Insect Man, Morris Chestnut was confirmed to replace Omari Hardwick as Hit-Girl's guardian Marcus Williams, Lindy Booth was confirmed to play Night Bitch, a superhero seeking to avenge the murder of her sister, Andy Nyman was announced to play one of the villains named The Tumor, and Claudia Lee joined the cast as Brooke, the leader of a gang of school bullies.

In September 2012, Jim Carrey was cast in the role of Colonel Stars and Stripes, former gangster, born again Christian, and leader of superhero group Justice Forever. Also in September, Enzo Cilenti was confirmed to appear in the film. It was confirmed that bodybuilder Olga Kurkulina would portray the villainess Mother Russia. It was revealed that Clark Duke would reprise his role as Marty Eisenberg, who becomes the superhero Battle Guy, and that Augustus Prew would take over the role of Todd Haynes from Evan Peters, who becomes the superhero Ass-Kicker.

Filming
Principal photography began on 7 September 2012 in Mississauga, Canada. Once filming in Mississauga wrapped in late September, the cast and crew continued shooting in London, England. Filming concluded on 23 November 2012.

Differences between comic and film

 * Hit Girl is 11 to 12 years old throughout the comics, whereas in the film she is 15, presumably to account for the age of Chloë Grace Moretz.
 * Chris's mother is killed in the film after Chris unintentionally causes her tanning bed to malfunction. No such incident occurs in the comics.
 * The comic characters Colonel Stars and Lieutenant Stripes are combined into one character, "Colonel Stars and Stripes" in the film.
 * During the Toxic Mega-Cunts' attack on Justice Forever's HQ, Colonel Stars's dog is called Sophia, and is killed in the comics. In the film, the dog is called Eisenhower and does not get killed, the Motherfucker stating that he is not that evil.
 * Kick-Ass starts dating the superhero Night-Bitch in the film, whereas in the comic he has no romantic relationships.
 * In the comics, The Toxic Mega-Cunts attack and gang rape Dave's crush, Katie Deauxma. In the film, they go after Night-Bitch, and while the Motherfucker attempts to rape her, he is foiled when he is unable to get an erection.
 * During the above attack, The Toxic Mega-Cunts indiscriminately massacre nearly 100 people, mainly civilians and children, in the comics, whereas in the film, the only known casualties are ten responding police officers killed by Mother Russia.
 * In the comics, Mother Russia guns down the police with an assault rifle, while in the film she uses a variety of objects in the fight, including a propane tank, a car door and a lawnmower.
 * The climax of the comic has Kick Ass, Hit Girl and a large group of superheroes arrive in Times Square to prevent a massacre of civilians by the Motherfucker's supervillain army. The film meanwhile has Kick Ass and the superheroes attack the Motherfucker's lair.
 * In the comic, Hit Girl kills Mother Russia when the latter gets distracted during their fight, allowing Hit Girl to repeatedly stab and cut her with shards of broken glass, before cutting her head off. In the film Hit Girl gains the upper hand when she tricks Mother Russia into giving her an adrenaline shot, and while she kills the supervillain the same way she does in the comic, she does not remove her head.
 * The Motherfucker has his legs and genitals bitten off by his pet shark in the film, whereas in the comic, he suffers no such injuries.
 * The comic ends with Hit Girl getting arrested for her vigilantism. In the film, she shares a tender moment with Dave, before fleeing town to escape the authorities.

Controversy
On 24 June 2013, Jim Carrey withdrew support for the film on account of the violence in the film and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Carrey wrote: "I did Kick-Ass a month before Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."

Mark Millar replied in his official forum, saying "Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin," and compared it to films by Quentin Tarantino, Sam Peckinpah, Chan-wook Park, and Martin Scorsese. Millar insisted the film concentrated on the consequences of violence rather than the violence itself.

Moretz also commented "It's a movie. If you are going to believe and be affected by an action film, you shouldn't go to see Pocahontas because you are going to think you are a Disney Princess. If you are that easily swayed, you might see The Silence of the Lambs and think you are a serial killer. It's a movie and it's fake, and I've known that since I was a kid... I don't want to run around trying to kill people and cuss. If anything, these movies teach you what not to do."

Critical response
Kick-Ass 2 received mixed reviews from critics. The film holds a score of 41 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said "Kick-Ass 2 is a lesser version of what it appears to be, an uncertain jumble rather than a true exploration of outrage, violence and identity." Olsen found Hit-Girl dealing with ordinary life more interesting than Kick-Ass trying to be a superhero but feels, the story is marred by bad jokes about bodily functions. He criticized Taylor-Johnson's performance as "a charisma-free zone". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said "There isn't anything good to say about Kick-Ass 2, the even more witless, mirthless follow-up to Kick-Ass." Dargis further criticized the misogyny, and the poorly delivered jokes, as well as the director's failure to grasp the terrible beauty of violent imagery. PopMatters said "Like the age old admonition that too many cooks spoil the broth, Kick-Ass 2 suffers from having too many characters and not enough time to deal with them all." Gibron wishes there had been more time to explore the supporting characters, like Mother Russia. He notes the echoes of Carrie White in the Hit-Girl high school sequences. He suggests a Hit-Girl film would be preferable to "limp, unlikable results offered [by this film]".

Justin Chang of Variety said "Kick-Ass 2 improves on its 2010 predecessor in at least one respect: It doesn't make the mistake of trying to pass off its bone-crunching brutality as something shocking or subversive." John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter said the "Sequel offers exactly the blend of R-rated nastiness and candy-colored action fans expect."

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said "The sequel to 2010's punk-superhero rampage has lost quite a bit of shock value – but Chloë Grace Moretz's Hit-Girl is still the coolest thing in a cape." Owen Williams, writing for Empire magazine, notes that despite the larger cast of characters this feels like a smaller film, and calls it a "faithful adaptation of its namesake source comic" and in the absence of Mark Strong he praises Mintz-Plasse for holding his own as the villain. He calls it a "more modest success than the first Kick-Ass" and gives it 3 out of 5 stars.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has named the film as one of the ten best he had seen, so far, in 2013.

Box office
On the film's United States opening weekend, from 16 to 18 August 2013, Kick-Ass 2 opened in fifth place, with $13,332,955, behind The Butler (in its first weekend), We're the Millers, Elysium, and Planes (all in their second weekends). This placed it below industry experts' expectation of around $15 million and studio higher hopes of as much as $19.8 million, in line with the first film. The film would gross $28.8 million in the United States and $32 million in other countries for a total gross of $60.8 million, much less than the first film's total of $96.1 million.

Sequel
If Kick-Ass 2 is successful, Mark Millar hopes that production would move ahead on a third film: "Kick-Ass 3 is going to be the last one... I told Universal this and they asked me, ‘What does that mean?’ I said, ‘It means that this is where it all ends.’ They said, ‘Do they all die at the end?’ I said, ‘Maybe’ – because this is a realistic superhero story... if someone doesn't have a bullet proof vest like Superman, and doesn't have Batman’s millions, then eventually he is going to turn around the wrong corner and get his head kicked in or get shot in the face. So Kick-Ass needs to reflect that. There has to be something dramatic at the end; he cannot do this for the rest of his life."

Moretz has shown interest in returning for a third installment, and would also be interested in exploring Hit-Girl's dark side: "I want to see something we haven't seen yet. Now we've seen who Mindy is, now we've seen who Hit-Girl is, I think we need to meld the characters together and have Mindy become Hit-Girl and Hit-Girl become Mindy. Maybe her natural hair has a streak of purple in it, maybe she really does go kind of crazy and go a bit darker since she lost her father." She also added, "I would only do the third one if it was logical. It needs to be a good script and a director, probably Matthew (Vaughn). The third film needs to fully wrap up the series and has to be a good note to end on." On 30 August 2013, Millar stated that the film is "in the pipeline".