The actors of "Kick-Ass" shine, particularly 13-year-old Chloe Moretz.

"Kick-Ass" is based on a comic book about a regular high school kid who decides to become a superhero. He orders a dorky green wet suit, dons the matching dorky mask, tries to fight crime, and gets stabbed in the gut and beaten within an inch of his life.

After he recovers, he goes back at it again, this time fending off three gang members beating the crap out of one guy while bystanders do nothing but watch and posts the video to YouTube.

His fighting skills suck, but he's got nothing to lose. When one of the gang members asks what's wrong with him, he says, "Three assholes, laying it in to one guy while everyone else watches? And you wanna know what's wrong with me? Yeah, I'd rather die... so bring it on!"
 
They run away and he becomes an overnight Internet celebrity. It's a true depiction of what would happen if an average kid decides to become a superhero- he'd pretty much "be dead in like, a day." The main character, Dave Lizewski aka Kick-Ass (amazingly acted by Aaron Johnson), is the real-life counterpart to who was supposed to be a supporting character but is actually the star of the movie, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz).

She's the veritable superhero. She curses, kills and worships her father, Damon Macready/Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage). She's also 11 years old. They go on hunts together murdering bad guys and the screen fills up with bullets whizzing by and people's heads and bodies getting blown to pieces. One gross scene has someone in a giant microwave who literally explodes into chunks.

The ultra-violence, particularly involving a child, may turn many people off to the movie. As director Matthew Vaughn said, "I think 'Kick-Ass' is a movie that I can guarantee you will either 100 percent think is a pile of dog shit, or you're going to love it. There will be no in-between reaction to the film. It's going to be one or the other."

What I think detractors from the New York Times, the New Yorker and The Village Voice fail to realize is that people don't love Kick-Ass for the sake of it being bloodthirsty and obscene; they love it because they can somehow identify with it. Maybe I'm projecting here, but what person hasn't imagined beating up their worst enemy to a bloody pulp?

It doesn't mean I'll ever do it, but I've thought about it. I think the movie is for adults who remember what it's like to have been bullied as a kid, and fantasized about what they would do to these bullies if they were somehow granted the powers of Hit-Girl. But, at the same time showing what would really happen if they tried to do it, the example being the Kick-Ass character. And it's obvious that even if they had Hit-Girl's powers, their humanity would chip away and disappear should they ever act it out.

People who have been stepped on don't picture old school Batman/Adam West scenes where they punch someone and the screen flashes "KAPOW" in their head. To me, "Kick-Ass" didn't feel like it was being violent for violent's sake; it was playful, gleeful, and overall, a fantasy acted out in glorious detail.

"It hasn't got a serious bone in its body, to be frank. But it ain't a spoof or a comedy either. When I say it's not serious, I mean it's meant to be fun. Someone described it as 'Teenage Tarantino'. And as much as I'd love to think I could walk on that man's coattails, that's a description that made me smile," said Vaughn.

Critics think the movie perpetuates the serious issue of real life kids shooting other kids and adults in America today. It may condone and even give kids who watch the movie the impression that it's okay to treat life so cavalierly. C'mon then, don't take your kids to watch it if you know they won't understand it. It's R-rated for a reason.

It's cartoonish and ridiculous, but it's also, funny, witty, clever and even insightful at times. It's one of those movies where you feel sad when leaving the theater, because you know there's not going to be another one like it in a long time.