Kick Ass Review

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**sebster**

Manchu wrote:Films taking their substantive cues from stories that have had enduring appeal because of their originality as well as their depth and then throwing away the depth (originality is foregone prima facie) in favor of typical (pre)teen-movie sensibilities are indeed ripoffs. Riposte that I have not actually seen the movie all you like; I reiterate having no need to step in gak o know whether it stinks.

Dude, I haven't seen this movie either so don't worry about me saying you have to see it to have an opinion, and I agree that people should decide if a film looks rubbish before seeing it - the alternative is to feel obligated to watch every single one of the thousands of movies released every year.

My issue is with the logic you've used to decide this film isn't worth seeing. A film taking a loosely similar premise to an earlier work does not automatically lose all value, especially when it approaches that work with a totally different intent. Making such a sweeping judgements is going to result in you missing out on a lot of good movies.

**Manchu**

I think we're just arguing across purposes. Being a ripoff is not the same thing as having no value. Battlestar Galactica is a good example of this. Malfred lists other examples. The Kick-Ass trailer doesn't look good to me in addition to this movie's supposedly novel angle having already been done. I promise I'm not trying to reignite in this thread the kind of debate Avatar sparked last year. I just think that judging a movie by its trailer is not necessarily a sweeping judgment but rather, as you yourself recognize, an often accurate way to decide how you spend your money (regardless of how others spend theirs) at the cinema.

**sebster**

Manchu wrote:I think we're just arguing across purposes. Being a ripoff is not the same thing as having no value. Battlestar Galactica is a good example of this.

I think maybe you're missing the connotation that rip-off carries. It generally means it's just copying something better and not adding anything new. I didn't like Battlestar Galactica, but I can see how it approached sci-fi with a lot of new ideas.

I saw Kick Ass tonight. I think it was hilarious. A lot of people have mentioned it having a lot of other stuff going on, but I'm not so sure. There was this whole thing about going out and being manly and not just fantasising about comic books and having girls think you're gay 'coz then you'll totally smash the school hottie, but it's best not to think about that because it's ultimately a pretty nasty, childish message (thankyou Mark Millar).

But as a film about foul mouthed 11 year mass murderer and a geek who tries to be a superhero I think it worked pretty well.

This film, seriously, seriously has nothing to do with Watchmen, by the way. It's much closer to Superbad and the more recent highschool comedies than any superhero material.

**Manchu**

sebster wrote:I think maybe you're missing the connotation that rip-off carries. It generally means it's just copying something better and not adding anything new.

Almost. To me, it connotes copying something else and not adding anything significantly different. For example, if I come up with a song that is a note-for-note copy of a pre-existent song except that I add one more note, I am adding something new but it is still a rip-off. By contrast, If I come up with a song that is a note-for-note copy of a pre-existing song but change all the lyrics to comment on or parody the pre-existing song, this isn't usually a rip-off. The examples here are admittedly extreme. I would say Battlestar Galactica is a rip-off for contextual reasons. Its creators saw the phenomenal success of Star Wars and decided to cash in. They told a story of underdogs fighting against a dominant empire of faceless bad guys. Sure, they were looking for Earth--something that does not come up in Star Wars. But it's not difficult to see that the pastiche plot was incidental to putting a lot of Star Wars style space fighter planes and laser guns up on the screen. Main Point: I'm not so sure that the line between being influenced by something and merely being derivative is as stark as you are suggesting. But if it's the case that this movie has nothing to do with the Watchmen then this discussion is no longer germane to the thread.

**sebster**

Manchu wrote:Almost. To me, it connotes copying something else and not adding anything significantly different. For example, if I come up with a song that is a note-for-note copy of a pre-existent song except that I add one more note, I am adding something new but it is still a rip-off. By contrast, If I come up with a song that is a note-for-note copy of a pre-existing song but change all the lyrics to comment on or parody the pre-existing song, this isn't usually a rip-off. The examples here are admittedly extreme. I would say Battlestar Galactica is a rip-off for contextual reasons. Its creators saw the phenomenal success of Star Wars and decided to cash in. They told a story of underdogs fighting against a dominant empire of faceless bad guys. Sure, they were looking for Earth--something that does not come up in Star Wars. But it's not difficult to see that the pastiche plot was incidental to putting a lot of Star Wars style space fighter planes and laser guns up on the screen. Main Point: I'm not so sure that the line between being influenced by something and merely being derivative is as stark as you are suggesting. But if it's the case that this movie has nothing to do with the Watchmen then this discussion is no longer germane to the thread.

Oh the original Battlestar Galactica! My mistake I thought you were referring to the remake. The original could reasonably be called a rip off, being more or less a desire to cash in the space fantasy craze. It did have unique elements such as the Mormon thing and if these had been explored in greater depth then I think it could have produced a genuinely original work, but I guess that's where quality has it's effect on originality.

**Flashman**

There were mormon's in the original Battlestar?

**sebster**

Flashman wrote:There were mormon's in the original Battlestar?

There weren’t Mormons on board, the whole setting was built around Mormon mythology. The colonies came from Kobol, home of the Lords, while the Mormons believe their Lord God lives on the planet of Kolob. There were 13 colonies in Battlestar Galactica, just as there were 13 tribes of Israel scattered across the Earth – both considered the 13th tribe lost. The crew of the Battlestar and the Mormons believe Gods are more progressed and perfect forms of human. There’s a lot of shared language as well, character names and things translate directly between the two.

I wish it had been played on more heavily in the original show, as it was the most interesting thing going on.

**Colossal Donkey**

Another review would be...

Just Watch Kill Bill: Volume 1

Seriously though, Kick-Ass started well but descended into a pile of cliche BS. The romance thing was just facepalm lame.

**Ahtman**

Monster spoilers ahead so beware.

As a movie it was fun for the most part. There are certainly some interesting ideas at play and could provoke a lot of discussion. Flawed, but worth seeing.

Now, the nitpicking (and spoilers)!

Spoiler:

**malfred**

Ahtman, I take it your spoilers are posts of what happened in the book that didn't happen in the film?

Just for clarity here.

**Ahtman**

Generally, but they do give away bits of the film if you haven't seen it.

**Frazzled**

Thuis review is absolutely Kick As...er um never mind.