Talkin’ about Kick-Ass

WANTED comic writer Mark Millar’s high-concept shock book KICK-ASS is coming to life in full ultraviolent glory, courtesy of director Matthew Vaughn (STARDUST, LAYER CAKE). What can we expect from this story about a geeky teen who randomly decides to become a costumed superhero (and mostly fails at it quite painfully)?

Millar and Vaughn talked up the flick with the UK mag Tripwire, and LITG extracted some interesting bites. Here’s how Millar thinks the extreme amounts of bloodshed will be received in the US: “The nice thing about Western audiences is that they’re so fucked up and actually really get off on violence and freak out at sexuality so I think in that regard we won’t have any problems. Heads getting cut off, I don’t think anybody will care. If anything it’ll just be perceived as cool.“

Okay, that’s kind of a fair point. But what about Hit Girl, a 10-year-old who vividly carves grown men into parts with her samurai swords? Vaughn says it’s all for the chuckles: “The tone is fun. It’s like what we did with LOCK STOCK and SNATCH. There’s a lot of violence in those movies, but you laughed through them. Those are films that I’ve made so I understand the juxtaposition of seeing a girl going ‘OK, you cunt, who’s next?’ and cutting a few legs off and, at the same time, you’re laughing watching it.” Ummm…

The movie stars Nic Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong and Aaron Johnson.