Kick-Ass…
I love comic books. Always have always will, and I am simply amazed at how many comic book adaptations are making it to the big screen. Ten years ago I would have never dreamed that something like Kick-Ass would grace the silver screen. It’s not a Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man, a character that already has mass media appeal and a built in fan base for over 50 years. No Kick-Ass is a miniseries created less than five years ago. Not to say that it’s any less compelling than our big three but it’s certainly less far reaching.
So Kick-Ass is the story of misfit teenager and comic book lover Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who feels a higher sense of purpose and questions superheroes do not exist in real life. Why people don’t reach out and help others? So he decides to become a superhero himself, donning the moniker Kick-Ass. Starting his own adventures; quickly discovers allies, enemies, and traitors. Such is the life of a superhero.
Kick-Ass is fun movie, it kicks ass you could say. But it’s not without its flaws. It goes for a somewhat realistic take on cape crusaders, something that’s very in vogue now a day. As such Kick-Ass gets his ass handed to me more times than not, and it’s a little frustrating as your riding with him on his journey and rooting for him to succeed and the constant ass beatings get a little annoying. Although (little spoiler, but seriously who doesn’t see this coming) he gets up every time, so at least he is not a quitter, which is something I can always get behind.
The second annoyance is that Kick-Ass isn’t even the most interesting character/hero in the film. The father daughter duo of Big Daddy (Nic Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) is so much better as they are the ones who do the entire ass kicking. They have the training and the toys to strike fear into the hearts of the city’s worst, Hit-Girl specifically slices and dices bad guys like a hot knife through butter.
This is where a lot of the films controversy comes from as Hit Girl is a young girl who is cursing and slicing off body parts left and right through most of the film. Many parents and many critics who refer to their parenthood speak negatively about that fact she is a young girl doing very adult things. Well I say fuck that! It’s fun and funny when she drops a C bomb on the bad guys. I don’t have kids and I don’t care about your kids, the film is rated R for exactly that reason. Perhaps because of the films attempt at semi realism that people are so put off, but it is a film and not real life. There are tons of things portrayed in films which can offend, so I say lighten up and enjoy a 9 year old girl telling grown men that they are little bitches.
So on the whole Kick-Ass does a mighty good job at being solid entertainment. It’s exciting, funny, and emotional in the right parts. The fight choreography is tight and the little girl does a great job dispatching the baddies. I never read the original comic book series so I don’t know if there is additional canon for the film makers to sort through for an encore, but I would definitely enjoy another foray into the Kick-Ass universe.
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El Rey…
Got a chance to check out Stephan Starr's latest, El Rey, his Mexican inspired restaurant and cocktail lounge. The quick and dirty: it's just so so. Decor is kind of cool, but the place gets very loud. The prices weren't bad with decent sized portions, but the food (at least what we sampled) was nothing to come back for.
First up was Tortilla Soup which had a great presentation in a table side pour of the tortilla broth, in the background is Guacamole with Tortilla Chips. The soup was pretty bad, it had an heavy smoke flavor and too much salt. It came with all the traditional accouterments and that helped a little bit in the flavor department, but the broth was just too far gone. The Guacamole was decent but it was very simple. At least it was plentiful.
The main course was Cabrito (braised goat). This was completely over salted and sadly the best part of the dish was the grilled scallions, which were absolutely delicious. I could eat an entire plate of them (some what sad considering they are not the focal point of the meal).
Dessert were homemade Churros with a caramel dipping sauce...which were good and probably the best part of the meal. But it's a churro, sorry to all churro fans out there, but i'm not making a special trip to restaurant for Churros.
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