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Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie

Pumped for Kick-Ass on April 16? You can get a juicy sneak peek and behind-the-scenes scoop with Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie from publisher Titan Books. The book well deserves your money. You can read the in-depth review at OneMetal.

You’ve probably read OneMetal staffer Dave Convery’s lukewarm review of the highly anticipated Kick-Ass flick, but some of us are still drooling over its upcoming, mainstream release. Surely the folks at Titan Books could sense our excitement because they’ve sent us a tightly bound companion book that documents the hot-selling story’s origins. Unlike many works of its kind, Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie honors both the printed and on-film renderings by chronicling one surreal phenomenon. With the comic’s issues hitting stands during the film’s ongoing production, this brightly colored tie-in thoroughly explores Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s innovative world of Kick-Ass. Fans rejoice, for these glossy, high-quality pages deliver not only eye-popping flash and bang, but also fascinating insight and notes.

Tags: Jane Goldman, John Romita Jr., Kick-Ass, Mark Millar, Matthew Vaughn, Titan Books
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SDCC09: Kick-Ass Panel

On Thursday of San Diego Comic-Con, Jeff Walker introduced director Matthew Vaughn, who then presented the world premiere of Kick-Ass—based on the popular Marvel comic book of the same name.

Actors Evan Peters, Aaron Johnson, and Clark Duke

The first clip rolled, scaling up a city building to a red-winged, costumed hero at the top. “At some point in our lives,” the narrator begins, “we all want to be a superhero.” The crowd below looks up and smiles a la Spider-Man, and when the man dramatically jumps off, he crashes painfully into a taxi cab far below. “That wasn’t me,” the narrator winces. “That was some Armenian guy with a history of mental health problems.”

Meet Dave Lizewski (actor Aaron Johnson), a curly-haired comic nerd who proposes an interesting idea to his two friends: with all these superhero comics, why hasn’t anyone tried to become a superhero? “Probably because they’d get their ass kicked,” his friend offers, followed by a crack about Paris Hilton.

Screenwriter Jane Goldman, creators Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., and actors Clark Duke (Marty) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist) arrived on stage shortly after Vaughn, ready to dish about the upcoming, sure-to-be-controversial film.

The second clip revealed one of my favorite scenes in the series so far: the memorable standoff between Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage)—out of costume, of course. After an unnaturally calm debate about how much being shot in the chest would hurt, Mindy Macready’s loving father finally pulls the trigger. The blast knocks Mindy to the ground, and a few seconds later she sits up, examining the bullet-proof vest underneath her jacket. By agreeing to suffer two more rounds, she cons her dad into stopping by the bowling alley with an extra promise of ice cream. Hot fudge sundae it is, baby doll.

Dave Lizewski, aka Kick-Ass (actor Aaron Johnson)

By the time the third clip plays, Dave has decided he wants to be Kick-Ass. He gets mugged early on in the film, and now attacked.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” asks one of two guys trying to steal a car. “Nothing! Get the fuck out of here!” Dave backs off, and we hear, “Like every serial killer already knew, eventually fantasizing just doesn’t do it for you anymore.” As he returns donning his green and yellow costume in full daylight, the two laugh at how ridiculous he looks. Once Dave starts to intimidate them, however, things escalate. They fight, and one of them stabs Dave in the stomach, leaving him to die in front of the Capri Pizza Spaghetti. Staggering into the street, he immediately gets run over by a car.

The fourth clip commences after Dave has recovered from the hospital. Loud rap music floods the drug dealer Rizul’s apartment from outside as he approaches, claiming to be a friend of Katie’s. “Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” asks the man at the door. “The Green Goblim?” Dave manages to get inside, where a woman in a red dress and boots playfully exclaims that she’s Rizul. The real Rizul, however, keeps his eyes glued to the screen in front of him, controller in hand.

Dave finally gets Rizul’s attention, and announces, “I’m Kick-Ass, and this is me giving you a message. Leave Katie alone!” “Or what?” Rizul demands. “Or I’ll come back and break your fucking legs!” Kick-Ass swears. He shoots a taser at Rizul’s head, and in the struggle, Dave is pushed to the ground. Just when things start to get ugly … they get uglier.

A knife plunges through Rizul’s chest, and he collapses. Hit Girl, wearing a purple wig and dressed in black, smiles, “Okay, you cunt. Let’s see what you can do now.” Cue a series of acrobatics and gruesome stabs to the head and chest. Even a thug returning obliviously from the bathroom—who proceeds to show off his skill with knives—can’t beat Hit Girl’s prowess. The scene ends with her bloody knives jutting through the door, surprising the doorman and earning young actress Chloe Moretz a standing ovation as she steps on stage.

Red Mist (actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse)

The panelists finally give the green light to premiere the trailer. Red Mist jumps down on a dumpster, hurting himself in the process. We see Hit Girl at her computer, Kick-Ass in his room, and Red Mist asking, “Wanna go fight some crime?” In between villains and thugs, Hit Girl shoves a gun in a guy’s mouth; we hear, “With no power … comes no responsibility.” Then debuts a Batman look-a-like using guns, clones dressed in red and black, a series of head shots, a driving sequence, explosions—and best of all, Hit Girl reloading her twin guns in mid-air. At the end, she teases Kick-Ass: “Just contact the mayor’s office. He has a light that shines in the sky. It’s in the shape of a giant cock.”

So what makes Kick-Ass—in which “the script was finished before the comic”—so successful, the panelists were asked? “It’s just about telling good stories,” commented Jane Goldman. The crew plans to release the movie within the first quarter of next year; one of the biggest issues remains trying to nail the music to avoid it being outdated by the time of release.

“[We] wanted it to be true to the comic,” said Romita Jr, who also admitted he tried to “act as if I’m working on the book” when inquired about the animation sequence.

Writer Mark Millar confirmed his desire for a three-arc series; when prompted, the sweet and somewhat shy Chloe Moretz briefly mentioned the three months of training with martial artists she underwent. It’s hard to imagine foul words and incredibly gruesome action scenes being born out of the talent of such a small girl, but judging by the way Moretz blew the audience away on screen, she just might steal the show.

Encouraged by the strong approval of the Hall H audience, the impressive trailer ran a second time—ending the panel with a bang.

Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl/Mindy Macready (Chloe Moretz)

Tags: Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clark Duke, Jane Goldman, John Romita Jr., Kick-Ass, Mark Millar, Matthew Vaughn, San Diego Comic-Con 2009
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