Threesome Art for Today - 04/20/11

Here are three of the most awesome artwork I found. Hope you like it!

Superman/Batman by Coran "Kizer" Stone

Kick-Ass by Dan LuVisi

Hellboy by Chris Stevens

Movie Review: Kick-Ass (Film)

Kick-Ass
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Stars Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Cage, Chloe Moretz,
Lyndsy Fonseca and Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Distributed by Lionsgate and Universal Pictures

When I came home last Sunday, I bought a couple of DVDs with Kick-Ass on it. I haven't watched the film before and I knew right away that I had to buy that freaking dvd once I saw the movie logo.

Since this is the film adaptation, the movie pretty much follows the plot of the graphic novel by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr - which is a story of an ordinary guy wanting to be a superhero in the real world and what happens when you mess with thugs, criminals and the Cosa 'Fucking' Nostra (also known as the Mafia)  - except for a couple of tweaks that I thought "enhanced" the whole thing. You just can't go copy the source material in these kinds of adaptations because again - there are some elements in the comic book that would not work in a film. 

So Vaughn focused on the element that the original comic book didn't care much about so his movie would be more effective and cohesive: character development.

And truth be told, I was completely blown away by this change and I thought it was better than the source material. I like the twists in the plot - like Dave's relationship with Katie Deuxma turned out to be great unlike in the comics. It provided a romantic angle that basically counter-balanced the violent and down right cynical nature of the film.  And because of that, we got a nice sex scene , and a boobie grab moment that made me go "ooohh.. that was nice... *rapes the rewind button*" Seriously.

Big Daddy's background story was changed a bit and it was serious in the film version which was fine with me, because it added a genuine tone on it. I thought Nicholas Cage was fine with his portrayal and his line delivery is something that I really enjoyed. 

Aaron Johnson (Dave/Kick-Ass) did a good job with his character as well. I think he captured everything that Dave Lizewski and Kick-Ass is - a big loser with a bigger set of balls to do what he wants for a change.  Plus he's got that sex scene with the hot Lyndsy Fonseca (Katie) I was talking about and got to touch her breasts. How much cooler can you get?

As for Lyndsy herself? She totally kicked ass in the film. Hot damn. That's all I could fucking say. (*grabs some tissue*)

Oh I forgot Christopher Mintz who plays the Red Mist. His character was also changed to being a less of a villain into something a lot more hilarious compared to his comic book counterpart. He brought a couple of good laughs in this whole flick - especially in the final scene. 

But just like in the graphic novel, the real star in the film was Hit-Girl (played by Chloe Moretz). That 11 year old (at the time of filming) kid who swears and kills everybody in the film from start to finish. Damn she was real good. I wonder what her family felt when they watched the movie with their adorable little child saying things like "cunt", "pussy", "damn" and all these words that kids shouldn't be fucking up with. Anyway she killed the it! Its one of those portrayals where you go "what the fuck have i just seen?"after seeing it, and then you crave for more.

Finally, Kick-Ass has loads of great tracks that you can feast your ears upon. Cool rock tracks bumping inside your eardrums while you see all the hacking and slashing, gun fights, torture scenes, and everything in between.

So with all of that said and after all those paragraphs written, here's what I really wanted to say: the film was a real fuckin' treat. A lot of clean-fun violence and blood. It had some laughs and sad moments. Then a lot of badassery. Then more kick-ass. I'm gonna watch it again... with a special replay-pause-replay mode on Dave's stripping MILF english teacher, the backyard sex scene, and the boobie grab. Hahaha. Awesome.

I've got the trailer below for you to check out. If you haven't watched this movie yet because you think its too offensive - please give it a shot and ... do not take it too seriously if you do. You'll like it. I fucking swear.

Comic Book Review : Kick-Ass Book #1

Kick-Ass
Issues: 8
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: John Romita Jr
Published by Marvel Comics under their Icon Imprint

My girlfriend and a co-worker of mine has been telling me that I should watch Kick-Ass - you know the movie starring Nic Cage. Well, I figured that I should read the source material first before watching the flick, so after 2 hours of reading eight comic book issues with about 30 pages in each, I am finally going to review it for ya'.

Written by Mark Millar and one of my favorite comic book artists in John Romita Jr, Kick -Ass  is a simple story of what could have been if a guy like me decides to go on vigilante/superhero mode just because I'm bored as hell and because I wanted to satisfy my inner fanboy. Admit it, we all have dreamed of becoming a superhero at one point in our lives (I still want to become one actually. No kidding), and thought of doing all these crazy stuff that comic book characters do. This book manifests that.

Is being a superhero cool? Yes maybe, but definitely not easy.

A 16-year old high school student named Dave Lizewski decides to become a superhero without any formal training in martial arts or whatever. He's just your ordinary guy. A nobody who just wants to live life to the fullest while satisfying his comic book nerdasm. After his first attempt at crime-fighting fell completely out of place, he continues his saga and for the 2nd time he succeeds. He becomes a Youtube and national sensation, inspiring a legion of wannabe-superheroes wearing masks and spandex costumes, all the while being christened as.... you guessed it: Kick-Ass. The new guy in town ready to uphold his own brand of justice.

"Pow!"

But then the quickly finds out that trying to be a hero, saving people's (and a cat's) ass(es ) and helping them resolves their issues/beef with others is not that easy. To add to the pressure, he also realizes that he is not alone. Oh no, absolutely not. He meets father/daughter tandem of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, who is planning on to take out the big mob syndicate, and they recruit him. These guys are sooooo bad-ass, especially the latter - only 10 and 1/4 years old (according to Millar), a martial arts and weapons expert, and kills bad guys like she was the freaking Punisher. She puts bullets in the skulls of thugs, and chops their limbs and heads off like she was just playing with plastic knives and vegetables.  How many little girls get to do that in their lives? Sick.

The lovable purple wearing Hit-Girl

Were they able to defeat the mob? I won't tell you the answer to that because that is definitely spoiling the whole thing for you. You've got to read the book to see all the happenings in between those things that I mentioned because there are so much - and I repeat - so much to discover as our "superheroes" go on their crusade. Putting them all here would be a complete waste of my and your time. But for sure, there are plot twists, 'aw-shucks' moments, and 'holy crap' stuff  that you would never thought would see in a comic book that features a sixteen year old teen and a ten year old Barbie chugging along with his Dad. Its absolutely crazy-insane.

"Big Daddy". Sounds like a wrestling moniker. Cool.

Millar is at his best again with this book, he shows off his simplistic story telling that captures the imagination with that fast-paced writing style. He gets to deliver everything in his arsenal in a span of 8 issues, which is remarkable because he was able to give almost anything you want from entertainment, violence, gore, drama, action, profanity, a lot of witty humor and an all original story in just -  more or less - 250 pages. His characters are easy to like, which makes the death of one character (yes someone dies towards the end) very very dark and sad. If you don't feel yourself feeling gloomy after you read that panel, then something's vert wrong with you. 

On the other hand, Romita's excellence in illustrating the gory details of Millar's story is nothing new, but I still can't help but be amazed with his very cartoonish-yet-powerful art. I have seen his work on Daredevil before with Frank Miller and I have to say that he totally upped his game in this book, giving it a more modern feel for the new generation of readers. I loved the way he told the story with his pencils, as he totally captured Millar's script and gave the original characters true justice. It is a nice thing to see.

If this is disturbing to you, wait till you get your hands on the book.

Kick-Ass is a fun, easy and a very enjoyable read, and one comic book that should include in your collection because it is that good.  By the way, go check out the tagline on the cover page above:

The greatest superhero comic book of all time is finally here!

You know what? For a minute I actually believed that line. And in all fairness... Kick-Ass almost lived up to that.