6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.6 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
The costumed high school hero Kick-Ass returns, this time with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey, Clark DukeAction | 100% |
Comic book | 63% |
Teen | 19% |
Martial arts | 16% |
Dark humor | 14% |
Comedy | 13% |
Crime | 12% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Postmodern irony can only take you so far when confronted by a tragedy of immense, almost unimaginable, proportions. Kick-Ass 2 received some probably unwanted publicity—which ironically was all about publicity—when co- star Jim Carrey announced that in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School he could not in all good conscience promote the film due to its extreme violence. The fact that it took Carrey several months after this still shocking mass shooting to come to this conclusion may cause cynics to wonder about the real motivations spurring this action (or inaction as the case may be), but the fact is even Carrey’s participation in promotional efforts for the film probably wouldn’t have swayed either critical or public opinion, for the film met with even less praise than the highly mixed response the first Kick-Ass received, and box office receipts were similarly pallid (the sequel, though budgeted at around the same amount as the first film, made barely half of what the original did). The first Kick-Ass was a rather odd mash up of snarky humor and extremely graphic violence, and that seemed to catch at least some people off guard. Kick-Ass 2 tries to recreate that strange casserole, but in this case the ingredients seem warmed over, repetitive and often surprisingly uninvolving. There’s a dash more teenaged angst in this picture than in the first, but that actually only provides some perhaps unintentional comedy, as both Dave (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Mindy (Chloë Grace Moretz) have to come to terms with both their everyday lives as well as their alter egos of Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. The fact that Kick-Ass 2 wallows in a morass of Mean Girls shenanigans may indicate how unfocused this follow-up is. When the social pecking order of high school provides more passing interest than superhero smack downs, something is seriously awry.
Kick-Ass 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. To my eyes, this is a much more satisfying looking high definition presentation than the one afforded the original Kick-Ass. Now admittedly I never saw the original film in the theaters, but I was actually shocked at some of the color and contrast boosting in the film, which ended up creating weird anomalies on the Blu-ray, like what appeared to be the sheen of a purplish oil slick in a scene where Mindy was brushing her hair. This film has a much more natural looking palette, which is not to imply that it's pallid by any stretch of the imagination. The film is full to bursting with bright primaries and cooler pastels in virtually all of the costumes the various superheroes and supervillains wear. Wadlow and DP Tim Maurice-Jones also capture some wide vistas of Manhattan that have excellent depth of field and maintain an artifact free appearance. Fine detail is excellent in midrange and close-up shots, to the point that some may feel there's a bit too much fine detail in the blood and bruising that shows up on several characters. There is some extremely lame CGI in the lunchroom sequence where Mindy exacts her revenge on the mean girls which seriously detracts from an otherwise sharp and appealing looking presentation. This native HD shot presentation has no compression issues per se, though there are a couple of brief moments where Chris' jet black rubber costume tends to blend into darker backgrounds.
Kick-Ass 2's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is, not so very surprisingly, an incredibly bombastic and immersive affair that is awash in fairly ubiquitous LFE and well placed foley effects. A couple of the set pieces—notably the well done scene with Mindy atop a van trying to rescue Dave—feature expert directionality and some extremely punchy (no pun intended) sound effects—listen, for example, to how the spray of automatic gunfire pans through the sound field or how when Mindy is taking on bad guys in different locations the accompanying effects are precisely directional. There is also a fair amount of source cues utilized throughout the film which spill through the surrounds quite appealingly. Dialogue is cleanly presented, and perhaps surprisingly never gets buried even in the noisier action sequences.
- Upping the Game (1080p; 7:05) focuses mainly on Wadlow and how he came on board, as well as his ambitions for the project.
- An Ass Kicking Cast (1080p; 12:05) focuses on the casting.
- Going Ballistic: Weapons and Stunts (1080p; 8:47) has some good behind the scenes looks at weapons and stunt work.
- Creating a Badass World (1080p; 7:56) looks at production and costume design.
- Street Rules: Showdown at the Evil Lair (1080p; 15:49) explores the final climactic fight.
Kick-Ass 2 is a pretty sad follow-up to what was, for better or worse, one of the more unusual and provocative superhero films of the past few years. Fans will still probably find enough to enjoy in this outing, but it's a pretty stale, warmed over rehash of what made the first film so notable, without much of anything new to recommend it aside from a couple of admittedly well staged set pieces, including the exciting van sequence that has Mindy taking on a coterie of bad guys from both the top and side of the vehicle. The technical merits of this Blu-ray are still very strong, so for those who do love the film, a purchase won't be regretted.
Blu-ray + DVD + HD Digital Copy + Exclusive Bonus Content
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Titans of Cult
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Director's Cut
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