GeekTown got the opportunity to see a very early preview screening of Matthew Vaughn’s new film Kick-Ass and we have been dying to talk about it but promised to keep schtum til now…

Kick-Ass Review

Kick-Ass

Firstly don’t get put off by what you might read in the papers about offensive language and inappropriate values or by the questionable strap line – Shut up. Kick ass. This film is awesome! And I don’t use that word lightly (because I’m English and it sounds stupid when I say it…)

Based on Mark Millar’s violent comic book story of everyday heroes, the film follows Dave, an inconspicuous school nerd who questions why no-one has ever tried to become a superhero in real life. Armed with only a baseball bat, a death wish and a green wetsuit Dave, played by Aaron Johnson, embarks on a misguided pursuit to fight crime on the streets of America, naming himself Kick-Ass. Without giving too much of the story away, his alter ego gets wrapped up in an old vendetta between a prevalent drug baron and an ex cop turned lethal vigilante and his equally lethal 12 year old child. As Kick-Ass gets way out of Dave’s control, as does his personal life, the story unveils scene after scene of incredibly choreographed action. There are hardly any special effects so the battles are raw, exciting and diverse. Matrix style shoot outs, brawls, knives, bombs, martial arts, it’s got it all. Matthew Vaughn shot this film on a small budget and independently to keep it as loyal to the book as possible, so you know the intensity and energy comes simply from good filming and acting.

Hit Girl

Some of the best bone crunching action is delivered, no holds barred, by Chloe Moretz’s character Hit Girl/Mandy Macready. She is, dare I say it, iconic. Moretz’s performance as the foul mouthed cold blooded but tiny teeny assassin is outstanding without a hint of twee. Her doting father aka Big Daddy is Nicolas Cage’s best role in years. In fact the father/daughter combo bring with them, not only no morals violence, but comedy and a touching relationship that at times is quite sad, which comes as a surprise sandwiched between the slaughters.

The really refreshing thing about Kick-Ass is that at no point does the vulnerable hero eat, fall into or step on anything radioactive which means him gaining a real super power, in his attempts at crime fighting he really does kick some ass and it is all the more enjoyable. The Nowhere Boy actor Johnson is a natural lead in the film and hides his British roots astonishingly. In fact all the performances are great, even Dave’s stereotypical school mates made me laugh. Mark Strong in particular plays another superb bad guy as drug lord Frank D’Amico, which brings me onto the final hero wannabe. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Role Models) plays Chris D’Amico who, desperate to be included in his father’s underhand dealings, joins forces with Kick-Ass as the flash Red Mist. He is not as cool, equally useless, definitely more recognisable and for me the weakest character but I guess that is the intention.

Kick-Ass

Based in a world where people don’t seem to bat an eyelid if you commit multiple murders in a wig I found the film staggeringly credible and real.  Prepare yourself not ask questions like ‘wouldn’t they get into trouble for that?’, or ‘where has that guy’s wife gone?’, and just get totally sucked into the story.  One word of warning, if you don’t get a chance to see the red band trailer, boy, it is violent… Jaw dropping is an understatement. But alongside brutal it is also original, funny and tender (and slightly controversial).

If you enjoy wincing your way through a seriously good action comedy, go and see this movie!

www.kickass-movie.co.uk

9/10 – Kick-Ass, kicks ass!

With the Oscars now gone, one of the next big events in the film season is the The Cannes Film Festival, and to open it this year, they’ve gone for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe. Cannes has a history of picking big headline grabbing movies to open the festival, even if the film in question can be a bit hit and miss (e.g. 2009 – the wonderful ‘UP‘. 2006 – the less than wonderful ‘Da Vinci Code‘…)

Still, that doesn’t stop a long line of the non opening film-makers using everything in their toybox to pull the media attention back to them. The tradition goes as far back as 1953 when Brigitte Bardot started a whole new swimwear trend by turning up to a photoshoot wearing just a bikini in 1959 to promote her latest flick. Thankfully Sacha Baron Cohen’s lime green mankini to promote ‘Borat‘ in 2007 didn’t have the same effect… Over the years there’s been a number of weird and wonderful promo’s. From actor/producer Jacques D’Azur rolling up to the premiere of ‘Les Quatre Cents Coups‘ with a group of natives from the Yamamena tribe in tow in 1959, to Disney turning Cannes into a winter wonderland to promote ‘A Christmas Carol‘ in 2009. Anything goes when your trying to grab headlines.

We’ll just have to see what Cannes 2010 brings…

Hopefully no more mankinis…

Ultramarines - Warhammer 40k movie!

Hot on the heels of the announcement that this years E3 could have some Warhammer 40k space marine action in the form of a W40k MMO, I get tweeted about Ultramarines, a Warhammer 40k CGI animated movie! (The tweet appeared to come straight from Sean Pertwee, but his account is not verified, so I won’t post a link to it, just in case it’s not him… if it is though – Hi Sean! )

Ultramarines is being written by best-selling author Dan Abnett. Although Dan is probably best know for his million+ selling Warhammer fantasy and 40k novels, he was also responsible for relaunching Legion of Super-Heroes for DC, created Sinister Dexter for 2000AD, and a bunch of work for Marvel, and has written his own original fiction.

Ultramarines Movie

The movie also has an impressive cast list, including Terence Stamp, John Hurt, and the aforementioned Sean Pertwee (who’s also starring in the awesome looking Slingers project.)

Other key roles are being played by Donald Sumpter (most recently seen as  Being Human’s nasty priest Kemp), Steven Waddington (Duke of Buckingham – The Tudors, Sleepy Hollow), Johnny Harris (Dorian Gray, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Ben Bishop, Christopher Finney, and Gary Martin.

Vanessa Chapman, managing director of the production company, Codex Pictures, is delighted to have attracted such a prestigious cast to Ultramarines. “Our goal has been to give the characters distinctive and authoritative voices, fitting to these superhuman men of war,” she says. “Coupled with the authentic and engaging facial capture provided by Image Metrics, these outstanding actors are going to do so much to bring the Warhammer 40,000 universe powerfully to life on screen.”

For more info, have a look at ultramarinesthemovie.com

New Iron Man 2 trailer is out. More Whiplash. More Sam Rockwell (which is always a good thing), and more Iron Man suits! Looking like it’s going to be a great sequel!

Just been sent a few updates on the soon to be released remake of Clash Of The Titans, based on the Greek myth of Perseus. It’ll be getting it’s World Premiere in London on 25th March, with a general release on 2nd April 2010.

“In CLASH OF THE TITANS the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods.  But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world.  Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld.  With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth.  Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds.  Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.”

Clash Of The Titans Photos

Andrew Koenig

As many of you will have heard, after having been missing for 2 week, the body of Andrew Koenig, son of Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov in Star Trek), was recently found in Stanley Park in Vancouver. Sadly, it appears that he took his own life having been suffering from depression.

When twitter first starting going into overdrive with tweets of his disappearance, the name Andrew Koenig sounded familiar, so I did a bit of googling, and realised where I’d first heard it. Sandy Collora’s brilliant 2003 fan film ‘Batman: Dead End‘, where Andrew put in a superb performance as Joker. As much as i loved Ledger and Nicholson’s versions of Joker in the movie versions, Andrew’s portrayal in Dead End is, by far, the truest to the actual comic books.

Batman: Dead End was made for $30,000, and shot in 4 days on 35mm as a director’s demonstration reel for Collora. He followed it up in 2004 with ‘World’s Finest‘, using most of the same cast and crew.

Batman: Dead End pre-dates Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’ by 2 years, and at the time, the last thing we’d seen of Batman on screen was Clooney and O’Donnell haming it up in ‘Batman & Robin’. Collora was the first person to give us a gimse of the tone the movie franchise should have been taking.

Click the clip below to see Batman: Dead End in full.