Re: Kick *** 2
I finally saw this today.
Background info: I adored the first film and was originally really hyped for this one back when Vaughn and writer Jane Goldman were still attached to it, read the comics and didn't like them nearly as much.
While this film had a few good moments and the actors had some strong moments when they were given the opportunity, overall I thought it was a terrible movie. My biggest problem comes from the characters themselves, and how out of sync this feels with the first movie. My second problem is with the tone, which wasn't nearly as balanced as the first in terms of humor & drama.
IMO, Mindy is the only character that makes a solid transition from movie to movie, and Chloe Moretz is still amazing. If not for her, I honestly would've walked out. While she was a highlight of the first film, it should be noted that I was just as into Kick-*** and Red Mist (who was my favorite character next to Hit Girl), and liked all of Dave's friends as well as Katie in the first movie.
I hate what they did with Katie. They could've easily written her out of the movie in a more fitting way for the character as she was in the first film. This was not movie Katie. This was comic Katie. And they were different. And then Dave acts like he doesn't even care.
Todd was a ridiculous non-entity, given what they had him do.
And it felt extremely forced and not natural for the characters the way they created the whole issue with him and Marty and Dave to set up him telling the MF'er about Dave's dad
only to totally ignore it in the end.
What was up with Marcus and Dave? In the first movie Dave says Marcus asked him to watch out for Mindy at the end, and in this movie he acts like he doesn't even know Dave.
Chris turned into a caricature - I'm sure Mintz-Plasse had fun here with the role, but in the first film Chris had some depth to him. They basically turned him into a one note character, more similar to comic Chris. The prison sequence is the only scene that really worked for me, in terms of the character progression from the first movie to this. The scene with him and his mother in the beginning was so over the top it was stupid.
Vaughn and Goldman knew how to balance character and action, drama and humor, and their movie was brutal and had plenty of shock moments but still managed to have heart with its characters. They still felt like real people. Here much of the dramatic moments fell flatter and the over the top, exaggerrated humor and antics weren't funny to me. Wadlow is no Jane Goldman.
Hit Girl/Mindy is the only reason I would give this movie a second glance. And even saying that, I hated the "Mean Girls" storyline. It was also way too overexaggerated. And the "Sick Stick" was awful.