Entertainment Review: Kick A**

Examining a movie poster can sometimes give a perceptive viewer an accurate look into what a film is all about. The colors, the image, and the text that’s included all try to sum up and give an honest and enticing look at the next big thing. Some movies go out of their way to draw in customers with a veiled message or a sense of mystery, making the viewer want to spend their money simply out of curiosity. Kick A**is not one of those movies. A bloody, cuss filled film from beginning to end, KA ‘s blunt nature is balanced out by it’s incredible pacing , witty dialogue and satirical elements.

Based off of a 2008 Marvel Comic of the same name, KA revolves around “Average Joe” Dave Lizewski, a high school teenager who couldn’t lead a more boring existence until he dons a wet suit and decides to fight crime. The first thing a comic reader will notice is that Dave lives with his widower father in a small house in new York , reminiscent of Spiderman’s Peter parker. The film goes out of it’s way to include throwbacks such as this and proceed to take them in a dark and realistic, but mostly humorous direction. For example, when Dave finally has the courage to confront a criminal he is beaten mercilessly, stabbed, and hit by a car. While many grim scenarios like this appear in the film, they are done tastefully with equal parts humor and skill, work to highlight how hard real life heroics can be. Dave’s struggle between living as his alter ego and himself make for many extremely funny scenarios throughout the film that are augmented by the equally funny cast of characters that make up his group of friends and love interest.
Outside of the well crafted plot and characters the cinematography in this film is phenomenal. KA is a visual feast for the eyes from its first to final shots. Not only are the angles creative and subtle but the pacing between scenes is some of the best I’ve seen in recent memory. There was not a single scene or plot line in the film that I felt was left unexplored. No character or scenario had any of its potential wasted leaving me as a viewer feeling like I had a sense of closure when the credits rolled (Something that happens rarely for me)

Another selling point for the movie is its action sequences. Believe me when I say that this film ranks among the biggest action blockbusters of the decade in its graphics ,choreography, and stylishness. The scenes reminded of the best moments in 2008’s The Dark Knight but with a flare that only a more grindhouse style film like KA could pull off. Not only are these scenes high quality, but they are numerous. The number of action sequences in this film will surely satiate even the most needy action fans and sets a high bar for any future movies in the genre.
KA not only works within the clichés of the comic book world but subverts them for its own purposes, turning on its head what it means to us to be a “Super Hero” and giving a refreshing look at the world through the eyes of a young man who gives us hope to be ordinary.
5/5