A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

QUENTIN TARANTINO'S COMIC BOOK FILM: It's rare that a movie provokes as divergent a critical response as Kick-Ass has. Despite a 77% percent overall "fresh" rating over on Rotten Tomatoes, the negative reviews aren't just negative, but completely scathing, led by Roger Ebert's condemnation of the film as "morally reprehensible." Having seen the movie, I can see where Ebert comes from--one of the characters in particular is troubling--a young girl who's an unstoppable foul-mouthed vigilante, but I have trouble reconciling Ebert's condemnation of the film with his high praise for Kill Bill, the film's clearest spiritual forebear, with its stylized ultra-violence and candy-colored palate. Kick-Ass isn't for everyone (for certain), and it's certainly not for young children, but I think it's an interesting deconstruction of the comic mythos, and scores points for showing the impact of violence--this isn't a movie where people shrug off injuries, but we viscerally see and feel the pain, which, to me, is far less offensive than the cartoonish violence of so many action movies. If you're interested in the concept, it's worth seeing and making up your own mind.