Kiss-Ass 2 - C+

Rated R, 103 minutes

"Kick-Ass 2" is mildly fun but needs to kick more booty

Chloe Grace Moretz

It's no fun when a super-hero is not that super. Ask "The Green Lantern" or "Catwoman." With real people violently honing their superhero skills, "Kick-Ass" became a cult hit in 2010 and inspired "Kick-Ass 2," which is still fun but the profane novelty from the first film has clearly worn off. Taking place after the events of the first film, other people don masks and begin to fight crime. One of these, Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), forms a team and asks Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to join them. Meanwhile, Hit-Girl's (Chloe Grace Moretz) choice to "retire" and try to have a normal life as a schoolgirl backfires when Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is reborn as a super-villain and creates a super-villain army to exact revenge on Kick-Ass for his father's death. Based on the comic books "Kick-Ass" and "Hit Girl," Kick-Ass 2" is directed and written by Jeff Wadlow ("Never Back Down"), the fan boy set may get the most out of this lowbrow, egregiously violent take on "The Avengers"; and to sum it up without giving too much away, all of the leads have daddy issues, which somehow lead to them using their skills as superheroes and villains. The movie falters in a draggy first half when Wadlow considerably underuses the talents of Moretz, a breakout star from the first film and who is clearly the strongest one here too, as both Kick-Ass (Johnson) and super-villain (Plasse, whose super-villain name is so profane it can't be mentioned here) are both wimps - and seriously - I never really bought the puny Plasse as an evil super-villain anyway. As for Carrey, his role is unusually subdued, a supporting one and upstaged by some super bee-yatch villain named Mother Russia. The appeal of the first "Kick-Ass" was its over-the-top, profane violence and action, but that doesn't happen enough in "Kick-Ass 2" until its final act. Essentially, "Kick-Ass 2" needs to kick some more ass. Even with all extras this film adds, it's still not as fun as the first.

Wes's Grade: C+