Kick-Ass 2

Review by Matt Finley

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I really enjoyed KICK-ASS 2. I’m ashamed because the sequel to 2010’s ultraviolent, sailor-mouthed superhero sugar rush is at once dumber, cruder and significantly more disjointed than its predecessor. I enjoyed it because, I dunno… there’s a bunch of ridiculous homemade costumes, two dudes get merked with a lawnmower, some stuff explodes, there’s some cool music…

Look, if you didn’t like KICK-ASS, don’t even bother. Written and Directed by Jeff Wadlow (CRY WOLF), KICK-ASS 2, which picks up 2 years after the original, features many of the same characters, repeating the same inane question (what would happen if someone tried to be a superhero in real life?), with half the narrative and twice the swearing. Also hella puke.

Bob's Lists: Bob's 10 Favorite Coimic Book Movies

By Bob Ignizio

I like making lists. I like writing for this blog. Here is where the two come together. At least once a month, maybe more, I'll be putting together a cinematically related top ten list. This time it's my top ten favorite comic book movies.

Notice I didn't specify super hero movies. There's a lot more to comic books, and comic book movies, than guys running around in funny costumes and punching each other. Not that you won't find plenty of that kind of thing on here, but some of my favorite comic book movies are much more down to earth. So without further ado, here's the list.

X-Men: First Class

Review by Bob Ignizio

The focus of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is primarily on exploring the past of 3 characters we know from the other X-MEN films: Professor Charles Xavier (James MacAvoy), Erik “Magneto” Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) and Raven aka “Mystique” (Jeniffer Lawrence). Only this time around, they're all on the same side, more or less.

As depicted in 2000's X-MEN, Erik discovered his powers as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp in 1944. FIRST CLASS restages that scene and then expands on it, introducing us to Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a powerful mutant working with the Nazis as an expedient way of discovering other similarly powered individuals. Despite extolling a philosophy of mutant superiority and brotherhood, Shaw is perfectly willing to kill Erik's mother to get him angry enough to use his powers, turning the boy into a self-proclaimed “Frankenstein's monster” in the process.

Thor

Review by Bob Ignizio

Thor makes for an interesting departure from the usual super hero formula. He has no secret identity, and no need for an origin story or any pseudo-scientific explanation for how he got his powers. He's purely and simply Thor, the God of Thunder we know from Norse mythology. Or to be more precise, the immortal alien being the Vikings once worshiped as such, dodging any possible theological issues the character might otherwise raise.

As played by Chris Hemsworth, Thor is something of an arrested adolescent who isn't happy unless he's fighting or partying, He's arrogant, rash, and certain he knows better than his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), who Thor will one day succeed as ruler of the Asgardians. Thor mistakes his father's caution and thoughtfulness for cowardice. With a little subtle nudging from his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), he openly defies Odin by breaking a truce with another race of immortals known as frost giants. Odin contains the mess as best he can, but realizes his progeny needs to be taught a lesson in humility. To that end, he strips Thor of his powers and sends him to earth.

Super (opens in Cleveland April 22nd at the Capitol Theatre)

[SUPER opens in Cleveland April 22nd exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

I liked last year's KICK-ASS. Liked it quite a bit, as a matter of fact. That said, the movie didn't really make good on it's premise. It claimed to be about what would happen if ordinary people in our ordinary world decided to become super heroes. No powers, not even any special training or gadgets like Batman. Just a costume and the determination to do it. But by the time the first act was over, the main character essentially had super powers, and we were introduced to a couple of other would-be costumed crime fighters who were as proficient at taking down the bad guys as any Hollywood action hero. It was fun, it was clever, but it wasn't what it professed to be.

James Gunn's SUPER actually follows through on the idea of an everyman hero. When his recovering drug addict wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) goes missing, Frank D'Arbo (Rain Wilson) has a vision from God telling him to put on a costume and save her. With a little advice from comic store clerk Libby (Ellen Page), Frank becomes The Crimson Bolt and sets out to fight crime and get back the love of his life.

THE GREEN HORNET

Review by Pete Roche

Buried inside THE GREEN HORNET is a fun, kid-safe movie about honesty, trust, and friendship.  But while the big-screen adaptation of the F.D.R.-era radio serial is a modernized BATMAN BEGINS-meets-LETHAL WEAPON “buddy” flick, its cavalcade of profanity and potty jokes all but washes away the obligatory superhero morality lessons on responsibility, integrity, etc. That’s mostly because it was co-written by Seth Rogen, who plays Britt Reid / The Green Hornet.  A former standup comic, Rogen’s made a name for himself penning and playing in sex farces like 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP.  He can be a very funny guy; the question is whether his brand of hipster humor belongs in a film that ostensibly pays homage to a classic crusader’s “do the right thing” ethic.  The OLD SCHOOL-ing of the script instead results in a hero who gives the middle finger to cops as well as crooks.