I get told all the time that I watch too many television shows and that my time would be much better spent paying attention to the news and today’s current events. While it may be true that the most significant influences in my life have come from Family Guy’s quiet town of Quahog and a mysterious, enchanted island that serves as the setting for Lost, the truth is that I can’t watch anything news-related on television without getting depressed. Turn on any local newscast in any major market and I can all but guarantee you that the top five stories will consist of some diabolical combination of political scandal, high unemployment rates, a local murder or robbery, the struggling economy, or a missing child. Why would anybody want to subject themselves to such morbid reports every day on end? So I continue to live in a fantasy world and just turn my attention away from the news and subscribe to the theory that “ignorance is bliss” and “if I take care of myself, it will all work out in the end.” But, a part of me always has hoped for brighter days and pined for some force to make all the miserable headlines. Maybe it was for this very reason that I became attached to Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and basically any other fictional superhero that fought off evildoers (much props to President George W. Bush for popularizing that ludicrous word). It wasn’t until recently that I realized that you don’t necessarily need to have superpowers to make society a better place – a sappy message, yes, but it would be nice to inject a little positive thinking into our world again, right?
One major motion picture has been made with this very idea in mind as Kick-Ass promises to lay the smack down on any box office competition with the hilariously uplifting story of an average teen (Aaron Johnson) who is looking for something special and in doing so teams up with some over the top personalities (Chloë Grace Moretz and Nicolas Cage) to ward off crime in his community. Read on to see what all the commotion is about and how you can get involved in The Campus Socialite’s special Kick-Ass Giveaway.
Kick-Ass is a film for the little guy who is tired of getting pushed around and decided that he is finally going to do something about it. The main character, Dave Lizewski, is about as noticeable as wallpaper in his high school as an outcast comic book fan that has only a few friends and lives alone with his dad. Although he may not be the most popular student, Dave really doesn’t have that rough of a life and is rarely stressed – but for some reason, he is seeking more. Instead of joining student government or trying out for the school baseball team, Dave takes the more extreme route and decides to become a superhero despite his lack of any special powers or even basic training. Soon he is blurring the lines between Dave and his new, badass alter ego fittingly named Kick-Ass.
Before I give away too many spoilers or go too deep into Dave’s exploits as Kick-Ass, check out the official Kick-Ass synopsis and trailer below.
“How come nobody’s ever tried to be a superhero?”
When Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson, The Illusionist) – ordinary New York teenager and rabid comic-book geek dons a green-and-yellow internet-bought wetsuit to become the no-nonsense vigilante, Kick-Ass, he soon finds an answer to his own question: because it hurts. But, overcoming all the odds, the eager yet inexperienced Dave quickly becomes a phenomenon, capturing the imagination of the public. However, he’s not the only superhero out there – the fearless and highly-trained father-daughter crime fighting duo Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage, Face/Off) and Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz, Bolt) have been slowly but surely taking down the criminal empire of local Mafioso, Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong, Sherlock Holmes). And, as Kick-Ass gets drawn into their no-holds-barred world of bullets and bloodletting with Frank’s son, Chris, now reborn as Kick-Ass’s arch-nemesis, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Superbad) – the stage is set for a final showdown between the forces of good and evil – in which the DIY hero will have to live up to his name. Or die trying…
To honor the Friday, April 16th release of Kick-Ass, The Campus Socialite is holding a special Kick-Ass Giveaway. The rules are simple – just scroll down into our comments section and list what your superhero name would be and the one superpower you would use to fight crime. The five participants with the most kick ass responses will be rewarded with free tickets to see Kick-Ass at a theater near them and at a time of their convenience. Good luck to all entrants and get ready to kick ass next Friday!
For more information on Kick-Ass check out the film’s official site at http://www.kickass-themovie.com/.
