This year’s superhero season kicks off next month with Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 (see the writing’s team reaction to that trailer here) and after that we’re treated to the sequel to 2010’s Kick-Ass in the form of Jeff Wadlow’s Kick-Ass 2.
Yesterday saw the release of the first red band trailer and it got several members of the Flickering Myth writing talking…
Chris Cooper: I’ll get the joke in now. It looks Kick-Ass. The cast seem to be really enjoying themselves and Carrey in particular looks good. His voice doesn’t sound like him at all.
I was very on the fence about this, as I thought the first film botched the ending (changing it too much from the source). But, that has got me excited.
Ozzy Armstrong: I’m liking the look so far. Doesn’t look quite as sharp as its predecessor and now we know the style, it won’t be anywhere near as fresh. From this showing, I’m thinking it will be of a lesser quality but still entertaining.
Brogan Jameson Morris: I’d agree with Ozzy. Looks entertaining, but less surprising, less sharp. Can’t say the trailer has got me excited as such, but it looks less disappointing than I thought it would, considering the director. The beautifully casual, Daily Mail-baiting attitude to violence and swearing looks to still be there, which was the key plus for the first film. Jim Carrey is going to be the Cage-esque standout of the film by the looks of things, having fun with what could potentially be quite a memorable role for him.
One thing though: is Aaron Johnson still supposed to be a high schooler in this? He looks like he’s grown an extra two feet and a six-pack overnight.
Piers McCarthy: I absolutely loved the comic and disliked the first’s adaption (parts were well done and all the cast, bar Christopher Mintz-Plasse, were great, but it never left an impression on me as much as the comic) so I’m not too concerned about this one. However, Carrey looks terrific in it and is relatively unrecognisable with that voice and (obviously) the mask.
The special effects and green screen work looks worse than the first’s (difficult to imagine with what I imagine is a bigger budget) and it’s distracting and off-putting.
Not so much comedy in there either, unlike the first film’s trailer starting with Nicolas Cage shooting a little girl. “We’re the good guys” You’re the DEAD guys”…REALLY?
Moretz and Johnson do look like they’ll be doing a job leading the movie, despite Cage’s absence. But Christopher Mintz-Plasse…What can I say? Hate is a strong word but I really do hate him as an “actor”. The amount of screen-time he’ll be getting this time round is worrying and immediately makes me wonder if I’ll bother to see it. In the comics the character was very different in looks and personality and his casting always disappointed me. If there is anything that’ll bring this film down, it’s him.
Action does look appealing – something that can’t always be captured properly in print. On the whole, what the trailer advertises to me more than anything is to read the comic which I’ll get on asap.
Ryan O’Neill: The first film had a pretty good stab at combining action, humour and some deeper issues – the morality of vigilantism and the corrosive effects of an obsession for revenge to name two. This trailer suggests to me they’ve toned down the ‘thinking’ part and amped up the action and humour – nothing wrong with that if the tone works, I’m not sure it will for me.
Luke Owen: I get the feeling that Jim Carrey is going to steal the show here.
Perhaps not as ‘well-thought-out’ as the first movie, but this looks like a whole lot of fun. I’ve not really read much of the books so I can’t do a like for like comparison, but I like what I’ve seen so far. It got a good couple of laughs out of me and made me want to see the movie. Job done.
Gary Collinson: I can only really echo what’s been said here already – looks like a hell of a lot of fun, but didn’t grab me in the same way as the trailer for the first movie did. I think Ryan makes a good point that it seems they’ve upped the action and humour at the expense of any real depth, or at least that’s the way they’re going to sell it. Still, it’s done its job, as I am sold.
Oliver Davis: Again, I feel the same as y’all. Carrey looks great, film looks funny, but maybe a bit lacking in emotion. The great thing about Kick-Ass (and most ‘super’hero origin films) is their transformation from zero to hero. Hopefully Mark Millar has found a story to tell that’s equally endearing, but the absence of Matthew Vaughn is a little bit telling in the visuals. I’ve never even heard of Jeff Wadlow.
Also, Aaron Johnson and Clark Duke don’t look like they can pass for high school students anymore.
David Bishop: Looks like good fun. As everyone’s said, it seems like Jim Carrey will still the show. I don’t think it will be as surprising or shocking as the first film, most sequels never are, but all I’m hoping for is a fun couple of hours. Judging by this trailer, it looks like they’re on the right path.
Matt Smith: As said before it looks like a hell of a good time. Looks like they’re really focusing on the action and entertainment, which to be honest isn’t a huge loss as the first one wasn’t that deep to begin with. Obviously it had its dramatic moments (Nicolas Cage’s scenes are the first film’s best), so hopefully they haven’t skimped on that and this is just an action-packed trailer.
Aaron Johnson is no longer the plucky young kid though, so they’ve gotten rid of the wish fulfilment side of things meaning this could be very different to the first. While the first was all about ‘What would an ordinary kid do if he tried to become a superhero?’, this is more ‘What would a kid with access to various weapons and Abdominators do?’
Jim Carrey’s casting never worries me, though I can see why it might worry others. But really, I wouldn’t know it was him just from looking. There’s the classic Jim Carrey laugh at the end (and the words ‘And Jim Carrey’, which are a giveaway) but you just can’t escape the feeling it’ll be like Nicolas Cage, where the experienced star steals the show. It’s certainly what they’re going for.
It’s too early to tell what it’ll be like. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first (apart from said Cageiness). It was okay. But as Colonel Stars and Stripes says, ‘Try to have fun. Otherwise, what’s the point?’
So there you have it. A mostly middle-of-the-road reaction to the trailer with most feeling it won’t capture the spirit or integrity of the first movie. However it seems to be a fact that Jim Carrey will be the best thing in it.
What did you think of the trailer for Kick-Ass 2?
