I hope the title of this post isn’t too deceiving. I am not posting random trailers that I find to be kick ass. I’m actually posting a few different trailers from the upcoming movie Kick-Ass. However, from the look of the trailers, I do think this movie might just live up to it’s name.

Kick-Ass is one of those films whose origins has a strong cult following, but is also relatively new. It’s based on an indie comic series (creator owned, but published though Marvel) by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr that was only first released in 2008. What’s interesting is that this is an ongoing series, so the movie only encompasses the first volume. From what I can tell, it takes a good amount from Watchmen but puts a 21st century spin on it. Much like the Minutemen of Watchmen, teenager Dave questions why no one has thought to done a mask and fight crime like in the comic books. His friends scoff at the notion, but soon enough he’s in spandex and beating thieves to a pulp with duct-taped lead pipes under the name Kick-Ass (which means when people ask who he is, saying “I’m Kick-Ass” truly applies). Of course, other crime fighters (another teenager and a father/daughter team) come out of the woodwork and it doesn’t take long before the mobsters figure out they need to snuff out the heroes before they become a real problem.

While many of the main actors are relatively new, there are a few familiar faces. Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin from Superbad is Red Mist, the other teenage avenger with plenty of attitude and a driver’s license. I don’t think Mintz-Plasse has had a really great role since his breakthrough success and I think this one can really show he’s not a one role wonder. Clark Duke (best known for 2008’s Sex Drive but whom I loved in the webseries Clark and Michael) plays one of Dave’s skeptical friends. The main bad guy is played by the actor who portrayed Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes. And then there’s Nicholas Cage, whose superhero facade is more or less Batman with an assault rifle (side note: I loved that they brought up his resemblance to the Dark Knight in the first trailer so we can get that out of the way from the get go). Cage has not made the best movie choices in the past few years (I’m thinking of Knowing, Astro Boy and Ghost Rider in particular, but those are just examples). But he’s also been in Raising Arizona, Moonstruck and the sweet It Could Happen to You (even the first National Treasure had some charm). If this film is good and his performance is strong, Kick-Ass can do for Cage what Pulp Fiction did for Travolta in the 90s. Maybe it’s because he’s wearing a very similar mustache to his one in Raising Arizona, but I do have hope for his role (and is anyone else getting a Tobias Funke vibe from the character?).

Here are a couple of the trailers, the first being the teaser with a great opening and the second a longer, more revealing video.

Something to note is that this movie is rated R. Even though 3 of the 4 heroes in this movie are minors, this is not your kid’s superhero movie. It’s not too obvious in the above trailers, but there will be gratuitous violence and very adult language. The reason I know this is because there is a slightly controversial red band trailer for the film involving Hit Girl, the youngest of the heroes at 11 years old, using the “c-word” to taunt some thugs. Oh, and she also slices a man’s leg off at the shins, but to paraphrase Sheila Broflovski, “Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don’t use any naughty language”. The truth is the comic itself is incredibly violent and controversial, so to make a film with this kind of source material and make it PG-13 or lower… well, why make the movie at all? Anyway, check out the red band trailer, but realize that it is red band for a reason… do not watch this at work.

After watching it, I can’t help but think this is the kind of daughter Rorschach would have had if he hadn’t been conditioned to feel indifferent/bitter towards women. And I am very glad the one heroine wasn’t changed to Megan Fox in a skin-tight jumpsuit. In other words, I’m glad Michael Bay isn’t directing.

Kick-Ass will be released in the U.S. on April 16th.