The Daily Mail Reviews Kick Ass

Yay!

The most reactionary of the British newspapers, whose editor once stated that if you didn’t hate something or someone at the end of reading one of its articles then it had failed, has finally reviewed Kick Ass. People have been asking, wondering, waiting to see just what they’d say.

And they didn’t disappoint.

The Daily Mail give the movie one star out of five. And some choice quotes. The headline is just the first of many.

Don’t be fooled by the hype: This crime against cinema is twisted, cynical, and revels in the abuse of childhood

It deliberately sells a perniciously sexualised view of children and glorifies violence, especially knife and gun crime, in a way that makes it one of the most deeply cynical, shamelessly irresponsible films ever.

The movie’s writers want us to see Hit-Girl not only as cool, but also sexy, like an even younger version of the baby- faced Oriental assassin in Tarantino’s Kill Bill 1. Paedophiles are going to adore her.

One of the film’s creepiest aspects is that she’s made to look as seductive as possible – much more so than in the Mark Millar and John Romita Jr comic book on which this is based. She’s fetishised in precisely the same way as Angelina Jolie in the Lara Croft movies, and Halle Berry in Catwoman.

As if that isn’t exploitative enough, she’s also shown in a classic schoolgirl pose, in a short plaid-skirt with her hair in bunches, but carrying a big gun.

Oh, and one of the male teenage characters acknowledges that he’s attracted to her.

Underage sex isn’t a laugh. Recent government figures revealed that in this country more than 8,000 children under the age of 16 conceive every year.

Worldwide child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry. In Africa and South America, brutalised youngsters who kill and rape are rightly feared as members of feral gangs or child soldiers.

But in Kick-Ass, childish violence of the most extreme kind – hacking off limbs, shootings in the mouth, impalings and fatal stabbings – is presented with calculated flippancy, as funny, admirable and (most perversely of all) sexually arousing.

Do we really want to live, for instance, in a culture when the torture and killing of a James Bulger or Damilola Taylor is re-enacted by child actors for laughs?

The people behind this grotesque glorification of prematurely sexualised, callously violent children know full well that they are going to make a lot of money, and they’ll get an easy ride from the vast majority of reviewers, who either don’t care about the social effects of movies or are frightened to appear ‘ moralistic’ or ‘judgmental’.

And in Hit-Girl, the film-makers have created one of the most disturbing icons and damaging role-models in the history of cinema.

And then the comments start – and the Daily Mail does what it set out to do. People have found something to hate. Just in this case, they seem to have the reviewer, Chris Tookey.

Oh get over yourself! Seriously.
My 64 year old mother went to see Kick Ass and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was, as she said, the first film in ages that she hasn’t fallen asleep in. She didn’t find the language as shocking as she expected and said that although it was violent that it was clear that it was comic book style. She found it ‘thoroughly entertaining’ and good fun. And, no, in her former life she was not a superhero, spy, criminal or film maker.

- Char, London, 2/4/2010 0:30

Best article i’ve read in years! Laugh? I almost wet myself! Dear god, if there’s ever an example of a reviewer with an agenda this is it!

I watched this last night and it was one of the most consistently thrilling and entertaining fims i’ve seen in a long time.

You might want to look at some other reviews which are almost without exception positive and consider who’s right and who’s wrong about this? A wise man once said “even in a minority of one the truth is still the truth”. In this case the reviewer appears to be in such a minority however he is also dead wrong!

- Chris, Teesside, 2/4/2010 1:49

So this reviewer thinks its fine to throw in a Jamie Bulger reference into a film review. Is the Daily Mail just trying to be as offensive as possible now after the publicity they got because of the Stephen Gately incident? Whatever, that was far more exploitative and offensive than anything in this film.

He seems to have a particularly twisted interpretation of its content to, why are tabloids filled with this kind of filth?

- Tim, Uk, 2/4/2010 2:21

Wow. Just wow.

The film has some issues, and it isn’t exactly a step forward for modern cinema, but to suggest that Moretz’ character is ‘sexually aggressive’ is not only ludicrous, but a deliberate mis-reading. There is no point in the film where there is any sexualisation of the character, and it would never have passed muster with the BBFC if there were.

While it was all too predictable that The Mail would write negative reviews about this film, in spite of your earlier positive coverage, but to effectively equate the makers of this film with child pornographers is utterly abhorent.

Also, on a point of style, it also seems bizarre to include statistics and editorial content in a review.

- Monty, London, 2/4/2010 2:26

I don’t know what version on the film the reviewer watched, but I actually saw a film (and judging by other reviewers around the world) that was funny, highly enjoyable and a wonderful balance between the real and surreal characters in the film.

Parallels drawn in this review show that the reviewer clearly not suited/made for him, he’s probably better of watching Nanny McPhee, where he’ll be joined by other simple minded people and their kids. Mentioning phedophilia and James Bulger is a cheap cheat of sensationalist journalism (if you can even call it journalism) and reveal more about the mind set of the reviewer than it does about the writes, directors and actors in this film.

- Serge, London, 2/4/2010 2:52

Your moral compass seems a bit broken Chris.
Harry Brown (which I loved) – Older man violently kills teenage thugs. In your words “One of the most important films of the year”
Kick Ass (which I also loved) – Teenagers violently kill older thugs. “Evil.”
A strange moral deviation there, and I also find it creepy that you are worried about a 14 year old character finding a 13 year old character attractive in a story. Were you never a teenager? Though judging by your attitudes towards this group maybe you weren’t.

- Rory, Bristol, 2/4/2010 10:50

My wife and I saw this film two days ago. It’s awesome. Kick-Ass successfully captures the frustration with real-life that many people feel; the acceptance that aspects of society need to change – and the willingness to bring change.

Creatively written, brilliantly directed and acted by a diverse, talented cast, Kick-Ass sets an artistic benchmark that many films will fail to achieve. The cinematography never falters and the visual package is accompanied by a truly outstanding sound-track.

Kick-Ass is a welcome respite from the over-produced, under-written rubbish that we are far too often fed.

- This Reality Podcast, Witney, UK, 2/4/2010 13:10

Mr Tookey your review is sincerely pompous and conceited. Your warped, sanctimonious words are as damaging to society as the depraved people you mention. I, for one, am very saddened to find that someone can draw such heinous comparisons between this fun film and the horrible acts you describe.

- Adam, Wymondham, Norfolk, 2/4/2010 13:48