Kick Ass Movie Review
Posted by: huzaifa
Superheroes are a big deal. Look at Hollywood for the past 10 years, or the way that characters like Superman, Spiderman, Batman, or the Hulk have become iconic in almost every aspect of modern culture. It’s enough to make high schooler Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) wonder why no one’s ever tried it in real life. There’s a lot of comic book fans and a lot of crazy/angry/bored people in the world. Surely there must be some overlap.
Dave decides to remedy the world’s lack of costumed vigilante heroism, and donning a green scuba suit he becomes Kick-Ass. The first day on the job he takes a knife wound to the gut and gets the crap beat out of him.
But his example has inspired a father-daughter duo to take up the call. Big Daddy’s (Nicholas Cage) an ex-cop who was framed and put in jail and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) is his foul-mouthed, borderline psychopath, 11 year-old killing machine daughter. As the three heroes begin to make some ground though, drug kingpin Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) wants to put an end to their do-gooder ways.
With a self-referential wink and a nod to almost every comic book superhero you can think of, some of the best action sequences since Shoot ‘Em Up, and a brilliant sense of humor reminding us again and again how ridiculous this entire movie is, Kick-Ass is the most perfect post-modern celebration of superhero cinema ever set to celluloid. This is Scream for superhero movies.
Kick-Ass is pure frenetic violence and humor and there’s no reason on Earth why anyone between the ages of 17 and 70 shouldn’t see this movie.
The Square (2010) Movie Review
Posted by: huzaifaThe Square is an impressive film noir from Australian filmmakers Nash and Joel Edgerton. The story revolves around adulterous couple Ray (David Roberts) and Carla (Clair van der Boom). Ray is a construction contractor who deals in kickbacks to supplement his income and Carla is a hair dresser married to low level thief Greg (Anthony Hayes). When Carla inadvertently sees Greg hiding a duffel bag full of cash in their house, she goes to Ray with a plan to take the money and leave town together. Ray initially dismisses the idea as too dangerous, but soon changes his mind when Carla questions his commitment to her.
Ray decides to hire an arsonist for the job. He figures a simple robbery of the house would be too suspicious and it wouldn’t take Greg long to tie it back to Carla. Instead he devises an elaborate plan to take the money then set fire to the house when Carla and Greg are guaranteed to be gone. That way Greg would believe the money had burned with the rest of the house.
Needless to say things go horribly wrong and the fire sets off a torrent of violent and catastrophic events. Ray begins to receive anonymous blackmail letters threatening to turn him in to the police for his crimes, and he slowly starts to crack with paranoia. Each move he makes leads him deeper into a web of corruption, bloodshed and murder.
The Square’s slow burn of unraveling consequence brings to mind elements of Body Heat and Before the Devil Know You’re Dead. It is a surprisingly fresh take on noir that continues to surprise right up until the last frames of the film.
