Full disclosure: I love comic book movies. “Iron Man” is my all time favorite, closely followed by “Spiderman 2” and of course the original “Superman” and “The Dark Knight.” So when I heard that the underground legend “Kick-Ass” was being made into a movie, I nearly peed my pants. Now, “Kick-Ass,” much like “Watchmen,” isn’t for everyone. It’s an unlikely but darkly humorous story about regular people who decide to wear costumes and become superheroes, even though they don’t have any super powers. It’s violent, it’s bloody, it uses foul language. That’s why the movie is rated R. But revered movie critic Roger Ebert has a big problem with the film: he hates the fact that an 11-year-old girl is both killing and nearly killed in the film and has no remorse or emotions about it.
Shall I have feelings, or should I pretend to be cool? Will I seem hopelessly square if I find “Kick-Ass” morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point? Let’s say you’re a big fan of the original comic book, and you think the movie does it justice. You know what? You inhabit a world I am so very not interested in. A movie camera makes a record of whatever is placed in front of it, and in this case, it shows deadly carnage dished out by an 11-year-old girl, after which an adult man brutally hammers her to within an inch of her life. Blood everywhere. Now tell me all about the context.
The movie’s premise is that ordinary people, including a high school kid, the 11-year-old and her father, try to become superheroes in order to punish evil men. The flaw in this premise is that the little girl does become a superhero. In one scene, she faces a hallway jammed with heavily armed gangsters and shoots, stabs and kicks them all to death, while flying through the air with such power, it’s enough to make Jackie Chan take out an AARP membership.
This isn’t comic violence. These men, and many others in the film, are really stone-cold dead. And the 11-year-old apparently experiences no emotions about this. Many children that age would be, I dunno, affected somehow, don’t you think, after killing eight or 12 men who were trying to kill her?
I know, I know. This is a satire. But a satire of what? The movie’s rated R, which means in this case that it’s doubly attractive to anyone under 17. I’m not too worried about 16-year-olds here. I’m thinking of 6-year-olds. There are characters here with walls covered in carefully mounted firearms, ranging from handguns through automatic weapons to bazookas. At the end, when the villain deliciously anticipates blowing a bullet hole in the child’s head, he is prevented only because her friend, in the nick of time, shoots him with bazooka shell at 10-foot range and blows him through a skyscraper window and across several city blocks of sky in a projectile of blood, flame and smoke. As I often read on the Internet: Hahahahaha.
I definitely see where Ebert is coming from. I have a lot of respect for the guy. But I also think that if he is going to single out this movie for its lack of emotion or remorse about gratuitious violence and killing, he’s leaving out an awful lot of other movies that did it first. How about “The Matrix” or “Wanted” or “Sin City” or “300” or even “Inglorious Basterds?” All of those films were blood baths. I think the only movie in recent memory where a character showed remorse about killing people was one of the “Bourne Identity” sequels. Other than that, I don’t see any characters, superhero or otherwise, have any problems with taking the badguys out. So to single out this one movie because there’s a kid in it doesn’t make much sense to me.
As for his concern about 6 year olds seeing the film, I do agree that this is NOT made for young children. I haven’t even let my kids read the comic book yet, and I certainly won’t be taking my 10 year old to see it and maybe not my 15 year old either. But there are plenty of parents out there who do take their little kids to R-rated movies. I don’t get it, but they do. I remember toddlers in the theater when we saw “Sin City,” and I just wanted to walk up to those parents and say, “What the hell is wrong with you?” Still, I don’t think it’s fair to censor or ban a movie because there are stupid parents out there who don’t care what their kids see. I guess that’s where Roger and I will disagree. Personally, I haven’t seen “Kick-Ass” yet but I can’t wait to go. I’ll probably check it out this weekend.
photos via AllMoviePhoto
I think Ebert didn’t go far enough in calling this movie “morally reprehensible”, and then detailing the critique with the lack of emotion shown over killing. This is an eleven year old girl portrayed as a sexually aware lolita who wears leather and air-kisses full-grown men. My bf and I walked out on the movie, both of us feeling it went WAY too far. And you cannot compare this to Watchmen and the Matrix, because the wrongness of this movie comes from playing a young girl off in a very sexualized manner in front of a society that increasingly seems to have a problem with pedophilia. You cannot say people are bad parents for letting their children wear “jail-bait t-shirts and the like if you are going to give this movie and any others like it a pass.
yep. the film’s not for everybody. i enjoyed it a lot, and i pretty much loved hit girl. however, i did have to shake my head at the mother (seated some rows in front of me) who brought her two very young sons to watch the movie.
There’s “foul” language and then there are (misogynistic) slurs. No one would call racist or antisemitic slurs mere profanity.
I don’t think he said that it should be banned or censored I think he just has a problem with the little girl in it and what her role is.
I have to say I agree with him. The idea of a little girl being beaten in a movie really makes me uneasy to say the least. I know nothing of the comic books and the way this movie is being marketed makes it seem like a kids movie.
Also The Matrix and Sin City all had grown ups in them not children so it’s unfair to make the comparison.
My man and I saw it a few days ago, and overall, we liked it. Some parts were pretty funny, like when Kick-Ass meet BD and HG for the first time and asked ‘How do I find you guys?’ And she says ‘At the police station there’s a searchlight on the roof in the shape of a cock’. We were sitting in the theater snorting in our sleeves! Which brings me to the point we had with the movie, did she really say those words with her parents on set, or did they dub them in later? And was she on hand for her stunt sequence? We just couldn’t believe the graphic nature of violence being dished out by a kid. In a schoolgirl uniform. You can call me old fashioned, but I grew up cursing my mouth off IN FRONT OF MY SISTERS AND CLOSE FRIENDS, but NEVER in the presence of an adult.Even if it was a drunk or homeless bum, so to me its just….unsettling.
I think you missed Roger’s point, just a bit. The violence in the movies you mentioned (“The Matrix”, “Wanted”, “Sin City”,“300″,“Inglorious Basterds?”) was inflicted by adult, soldiers, spies, etc. Not kids who seem to show no remorse, and have no emotional impact from the violence they instill.
okay, i saw this movie and i thought it was great. i had my eyes closed when people were getting killed and stuff because im not into the gore and blood, but i still thought it was great. at the end, my bf thought that the little girl was too much but i pointed out to him(spoilerish)that the father kind of made the girl that way to “seek revenge” or whatever. i think robert ebert is wrong, but when it comes down it, its just a movie. a really good movie.
Now, see, MSat, that’s difference between you and me: I have (and will continue to) walked up to parents with small children in age-inappropriate movies and said “What are you doing in an R-rated movie with a toddler/pre-schooler/child that age? Can’t afford a baby-sitter? Then wait until it comes out on DVD.” I refuse to pay $15 to see a movie in a theatre with children (who aren’t old enough to see it & who’s parents are too selfish to care) crying. I have 3 kids, 10 months to 19 years, and I haven’t taken one of them (except maybe my oldest when he was almost 17) to see a movie for which they weren’t age-appropriate.
I don’t think his problem is with a kid being in a violent movie, but with the kid committing the violence in the movie (and being the victim of it as well). I can totally see his point, and it’s not something I’m interested in or would let young kids watch, but to each their own.
I also don’t see that he’s calling for a censorship or ban on the movie, just stating his opinion of it. If he were asking it to be banned, I’d have an issue with that, but I don’t think he is.
I hate when parents irresponsibly bring very young kids to inappropriate films, because they either don’t care, or are too lazy and/or stupid to read up a little on it first.
that movie was a lot of fun!
I don’t get why it’s so difficult to understand that movies are pure fiction and designed first and foremost to entertain as opposed to teaching any lessons (in any science or moral ones) and showing some behavioral models to emulate and so on. It reminds me of that Galaxy Quest movie, where aliens mistook earth tv shows for “historical chronicles”.
Best movie I have seen all year.. I wonder if he feels the same about those slasher movies.. Really people need to get a freakin grip. It was not real. just a movie.
Like I said. It was a fun ride. And I want to be Hit Girl.. No this is not for everyone. That is why everyone can go and find a movie they like. Let people make up their own minds. Everyone I know who has seen it.. LOVES IT> as a matter of fact I am going to see it again..
yep, redeyejedi. i agree. it is just a movie. i think some people went into the the theatre and took it for what it is: a movie and just mere entertainment. it is after all based on a comic book. some were a bit more surprised. my friends didn’t expect the film was going to be the way it was, but they still enjoyed it. however, it’s understandable as to why some would be bothered. it’s just one of those things that not everybody’s going to have the same opinion.
@fancyamazor
Hit girl is not sexualized in ANY way in this movie, which is what makes her even more awesome!
She’s fully clothed and covered up, there’s no sexual tension AT ALL.
If you compare her to other female superheroes, she is pretty tame–look at Wonder Woman, CatWoman or the both girls from Watchmen (can’t remember their names). They’re dressed suggestively, skin showing, boobs hanging out, with sexual tension with male superheroes in almost every scene.
What makes Hit girl great is that she is NONE of these things–Hell, she is even BETTER than the male superheroes the movie is about.
Obviously, it is a comic and movie (ie. Fantasy) and NOT real life! But she is one female superhero who kicks ass and we should be proud to support her character.
I agree with the first poster, fancyamazon, and a few other posters. I wish they would stop sexualizing young girls, etc. I am sad for our so-called culture.
Entertainment is fine, but sometimes shit goes too far, like KIDS (not adults, soldiers and historic warriors IN WARTIME) killing supposed bad guys and being overly sexualized at a time when pedophilia is a HUGE topic of international discussion. That’s what Ebert was trying to say. And he’s lovely, by the way. One of my really good friends is a writer/editor for the Sun-Times, and always gets cutesy love emails from Ebert. Not harassment-like, promise, but stuff about how he loves her writing. Really cute, sweet, mentor-like stuff that she treasures because, let’s face it, the guy’s an icon in his own right, in that industry.
why is it that the movies that have a good effect or a good message are hailed as “moving” or something like that, but the ones that people object to (like Ebert does to this one) are justified by saying they are “just movies” and people “need to get a grip”? Where should the lines be?
I liked the movie as well as my husband. It’s not for kids though. Several times I jumped and my heart pounded, but that makes for a good movie. Can’t wait for the sequel.
I agree with Ebert.
To N.D., while I agree that movies are fiction and often meant to entertain why would I ever fill my head with something like this? Watching a young girl be brutalized to within an inch of her life? Awful. Even if it’s fake I can’t see how that would be entertaining.
What upsets me most is that people are making money from this movie; people are making a profit by over-sexing a young woman and glorifying violence with CHILDREN.
Don’t get me wrong – I love shows like Alias and spy movies that have violence and sex. But the actors are adults, not children.
My opinion is just my opinion but I will not watch this movie.
Ebert’s sort of lost touch with reality since his battle with cancer left him unable to speak, eat, drink, and mutilated.
His issue isn’t with the violence, the gore, or etc. Its the fact that its an 11 year old girl doing it, an age that will appeal to a younger audience. I can say I agree completely. I know, not the popular route to take in this situation. I made a huge mistake early on in my daughters life by watching ONE, ONE episode of Dexter with her in the room. She was not really paying attention, or so I thought. Over a year later, she still talks about knives, people dying, blood…after one episode of a show she barely saw much of. I know for a fact that these things effect kids, and as a parent its my job to shield her from this stuff until she is at an age where its appropriate…(if its ever appropriate) But I know that if I showed my daughter a video of a “kid” (which is what my daughter calls all children who are younger than the grown ups she knows) killing people, she would think its acceptable, probably start pretend playing that she is doing it, etc. Its just a dangerous line to walk. So I can understand where he is coming from with the review. The issue is not the movie though, its the parents who will undoubtedly let their extremely young children watch this movie without giving it a second thought. I know most of the world is desensitized to violence, but there is an age of innocence where a child hasn’t reached that point yet. Blah blah, I know.
During a hangover this weekend I ended up rewatching Prince Caspian. Now, that’s a movie that is actually marketed towards young children and you have kids killing their enemy, etc. I was actually surprised by the level of darkness out of it.
It’s preposterous to call out an 11 year-old character in an R rated movie, obviously aimed at adults.
Did he ever see the movie “the Orphan” the little girl in that commits violence and makes out with her adopted dad. It’s kinda disturbing, but it’s really nothing new
Again, she is not sexualized in ANY way in this movie–she is fully clothed and covered-up.
And yeah, she talks about killing people, but there is NO suggestive dialogue from her AT ALL.
I’m wondering if this really comes down to gender. Instead of Hit Girl, if it were Hit boy–would people still say it was inappropriate?
Is is because she’s not acting “like a lady’ and wearing pink and saying “sorry for killing you”?
Gimme a break-or better yet, watch the movie before forming your opinion.
I was more appauled at a young girl playing a r.pe victim in a movie. Not sure who it was but I was really shocked that a parent would let a child do that.
If you can’t see the sexualization of the girl in this movie, then I don’t know what bits you were watching. There are so many aspects of her character that are just simply terrible to be associated with a young girl, but how about “big daddy” for one. Please don’t try to tell me you don’t think she was sexualized just because you couldn’t see her actual thigh skin beneath the leather and the wig.
Spy Kids wasn’t any different really. Just add many creatures and less cuss words.
Kids swear. Walk past an elementary school at 3:30 and listen to them. I think people accept this of boys but are uncomfortable at the thought of foul mouthed girls. To these people I say: get over it. Women are changing for the better.
As for the violence. It’s hollywood. Agent Cody Banks knocked a few heads together too.
Thanks for the spoiler warning about the ending… PFFFFFTTTT =P
I find it hilarious that people are freaking out and calling Hit Girl — a character in a rated R film that children are NOT, by law, allowed to see without their parents’ permission — overly sexualized, and meanwhile we sell sh-t like “The Cheetah Girls” to our teens and say that it’s NOT teaching them to dress like hookers? I mean, come on — Hit Girl never shows ANY skin in the movie, and the “air kiss” is obviously a snarky move in the movie, not meant to be sexual in the slightest. This movie is not meant for people who want to whine about anything that’s not a bland Nicholas Sparks movie — it’s hard-hitting, sardonic, and has a lot to say if you have the BRAIN to think about it.
@snarf-ouch! Hope you don’t ever get cancer. Love Ebert-his marbles are still intact-remember when he blasted John Mayer recently?
I’m surprised this is rated R as I remember the previews and it feeling like it was PG and kid focused. I won’t see it as I can’t watch seeing kids hurt onscreen. It appears the previews were misleading as it sure sounds from what people R are saying that it’s rated and adult audience focused.
@bellaluna-good for you for telling those parents off. Remind me to not mess with you 🙂
I think he’s completely lost touch and has missed the entire point of the movie. He’s my grandparents’ age, for pete’s sake.
Just because I have a problem with this movie, and others which showcase young girls as sexual objects doesn’t mean I have “vanilla” tastes. People often say things like this because the title of “edgy” sounds cooler or “artsier” than admitting that sometimes film makers (and fashion designer, and ads, and mothers taking their tarted-up 6 yr olds to he mall) go too far. Sometimes they do. It’s that simple. I saw a padded bikini in sizes that girls K- grade 3 or so could fit into nicely. What is the purpose of that? It isn’t just sexualization that is the issue either, but the wider problem of making kids grow up way too fast. But here I was originally just trying to comment on the wrongness in this movie.
@lisa we are gonna have thumb wrestle to see who becomes Hit Girl! lol
I think Natalie Portman’s character in The Professional was a more provocative than Hit Girl.
yeah i don’t know, on one hand the idea of an 11 yr old girl assassin who says cunt and kicks ass is pretty cool, on the other hand seeing a picture of her looking like a lolita from some jap school girl porn is kind of unsettling. ooooh sexy pouty school girl with a gun in a mini skirt…wait she is HOW OLD?
I can’t wait to see this movie. I also would love to know some of the freaky shit that all the whiners do at home behind closed doors. They’re always the worst ones.
I wonder if a lot of people complaining about this movie have actually seen it… if not, that’s not really a well-formed opinion. Hit Girl is NOT a sexualized Lolita in this movie, she does not seduce or tease in any way. She wears a private-school uniform to sneak into the mob compound, but does not flirt in it. When one character professes his attraction to her, his friends are quick to point out it’s inappropriate because of her age (he agrees with this, and states he’ll remain chaste until it’s appropriate). If this was a boy, there would be no outcry over it. Hit Girl is a strong, powerful, cunning and loving character who shares a deep bond with her father. She’s no delicate little flower. She’s also FICTIONAL, in case people forget that.
If you think your kid is stupid enough to be affected by this movie, then you raised them wrong. Quit blaming others for corrupting your babies when you let them see R rated movies.
2 everyone claiming “over sexualization” of the Hit Girl
Have you even seen the movie?! She is not sexualized there at all, let alone “over sexualized”. Honestly, you’re projecting your fears into the scenes and the characters.
“why is it that the movies that have a good effect or a good message are hailed as “moving”, but the ones that people object to are justified by saying they are “just movies” and people “need to get a grip”? Where should the lines be?”
Here is a simple clue: when the movie is based on comic book – there is a 99,99% probability that it’s made to entertain, not to teach you an important moral lesson or make you think of world issues.
What I didn’t agree with isn’t the fact that the comic book used a small girl.
It’s that a movie producer ACTUALLY hired an 11 year old GIRL- not young woman, not lady- GIRL to do these things. Maybe I’m not ha-ha funny enough to understand why late night shows and comedians think that endorsing small CHILDREN to use curse words and act with such vulgarity is funny on a national/international platform.
I personally have a very vulgar mind and mouth and use it very badly in the company of like minded friends and family.
It is one thing to laugh when your little 10 yr old cousin says “Mommy, I fell on the slide and my cock hurts” in your backyard. It might be a laugh when a toddler first repeats “Oh shit” after an your husband stubs his toe in the living room. But in my house, that shit is funny without the public and gets you slapped the second time around for being rude.
Fancyamazor, may I co-sign all of your comments on this thread? You have perfectly articulated my feelings on the topic. That so many commenters disagree that Hit Girl is oversexualized, to me, says a lot about the pervasiveness of sexualization in our culture.
I wonder if anybody here has watched the “Feast” trilogy. I think those movies would give Kick-Ass a run for its money, in terms of child-related violence. (You can easily find clips of it on Youtube.)
I agree with Ebert’s point, but Kick-Ass is defintely not the worst movie out there. I think the reason he calls this one out is because #1, it features a young girl dishing out violence. And #2, it’s a high-profile movie that’s gonna get a lot of press. Those “Feast” movies I mentioned? They have really disturbing child-death scenes, but few people are aware of them. So, I can’t imagine that a critic would call them out for it when so few will watch those movies anyway. That’s just my take on it.
I saw this movie twice this weekend, and no, it is not for children. The language is beyond your normal curse word or two in a movie and the violence is extreme. However, I like that in a movie, so I was very pleased. If you aren’t into action movies filled with violence and cursing, then don’t watch this. And please oh please oh please don’t bring your children!! They have no place in this audience.
That being said, Hit Girl was not overly-sexualized at all. The school girl outfit that everybody’s having fits about was a long skirt and baggy shirt that was in no way attractive. It made her look like a normal kid. Her costume was more than concealing, and I’m glad that they had her in a skirt on top of the pants so that we wouldn’t hear even more comments about how they tried to “overly-sexualize” an eleven-year-old. I am curious as to what kind of parent would allow their daughter to play this role, but she carried it off beautifully!
The Professional’s Natalie Portman was much, much more lolita in style and Dakota Fanning was the actress that played a child rape victim. And Dakota Fanning is about to have an on-screen lesbian kiss in her upcoming movie–and she filled it when she was 15. So if you want to gripe about the state of children in Hollywood, I would go there. This movie was funny, very entertaining, and absolutely not for everybody–especially anybody under the age of about 16!! The name of the movie is Kick Ass, for goodness sake. Don’t take your kids!
Also, don’t take your kids to a movie with the word “Exorcism” in the name. Such as the family that brought their 2, 5 and 7 year old to the Exorcism of Emily Rose. I can still hear that child crying and screaming. Just saying–Parents, show a little common sense!
Green Ginger, thank you, I’m glad someone understands my point.
I erased a huge post just now because it says way too much for a gossip blog, but basically: children are not small adults and do not have the ability to filter “entertainment” and “appropriate context” as an adult, and we should not expect them to. The fact is that this actress was given lines to say in which she addresses her father with the same term that prostitutes and strippers use for pimps and customers, and yet you say there is no sexualization? You say that a man comes on to her during the movie and then say that sexual tension is not there? Just because the girl doesn’t make out with him doesn’t mean that she doesn’t understand her sexualization. In fact, she uses it in the movie, for shock effect against the villains, and to comedic effect in her zingers.
Also, telling me that my tastes are bland because I have a problem with this movie says more about you than it does about me.
Basically, I have no problem with movies being simply entertainment…..most of the time they are. This was not one of those times. The very fact that the lines where she man was told he shouldn’t come on to her were included show that there was an awareness of the nature of her character, and an attempt was made to downplay it.
@fancyamazor and others who agree with Hit girl being “sexualized”
What exactly is sexual about Hit girl?
I didn’t hear or see anything sexually suggestive about her in the movie.
Now hand your kid a Bratz doll or even a Barbie, or as someone else said, let them watch the Cheetah girls and then compare that to Hit girl.
BTW-she calls her DAD “Big daddy’ as his superhero name–because he is her DAD!!!
I saw KICK-ASS over the weekend and enjoyed the hell out of it. It was a wild comic book adventure brought to the big screen and made for adults. And for the record, “Hit girl” is not sexualized during this film. Her character is very violent and I can understand how some would be disturbed by this. I also believe that during the early previews for this movie it was being marketed to a “PG” versus “R” demographic. However, the recent publicity leading up to its release was very clear that this was NOT a film for children or young teenagers.
To say that “Hit Girl” shows no remorse is not accurate. If she were without remorse, I believe we would have had a far different ending, one in which she maintained her vigilante lifestyle without her adult guardian. In the final fight scene to which people are referring I saw a scared little girl who knew she was in way over her head and who, after the final carnage came to on end, was emotionally devastated by the events of the day.
In the end, she freely embarks on her new life as “Mindy” leaving “Hit Girl” behind her, as a thing of her past…unless of course, there’s a sequel!
Does anyone recall what Mr. Ebert thought of Natalie Portman’s performance in THE PROFESSIONAL, or for that matter how he felt at the time about Jodie Foster in TAXI DRIVER or Brooke Shields in PRETTY BABY? And finally, if this were an 11 year old boy playing the vigilante super-hero how controversial would it be then?
Why are so many people insisting that comics are just meant to be “fantasy” and therefore have no real meaning or lesson to impart – most comic books take fantastical elements to make a comment on current society and politics. Just look at anything penned by Alan Moore – (V for Vendetta, Watchmen) they were very topical looks at the nature of man and political intrigue. I’m not saying Ebert is right or wrong, as I have not seen this film, but virtually no piece of literature (comics included) can be said to have “no point” or is not meant to teach you some sort of lesson (moral or otherwise)
An R rating is a joke if kids are allowed to be taken in. There should be a restriction of at least 13 or 14 and still accompanied by an adult. The NC17 rating should be used more often. Seriously why should anyone under 17 get to watch a movie like Kick-Ass or even stuff like The Hangover? Kids get to do everything now, is there nothing they get made to wait for?
Ebert’s right and Celebitchy missed his point: if the movie is not appropriate for kids to go see, how is it appropriate to put a young girl in the title role? Me thinks it’s not.
And, isn’t it likely that kids seeing ads will want to go see the movie? Yikes!
For everyone going on about sex, that’s not the point. It’s the violence. Kids do not always know where fiction ends and fact begins. That’s why the grownups should act like, well, grownups. I’d have a stroke if my kids talked that way or acted out such violence, pretend or not.
I think when a teenager is coquetishly sexualized like in Taxi Driver, Pretty Baby and The Professional movie reviewers eat it up Hit-Girl is tough and taking care of buisness like anybody else she rocks so why not let this be an R rated movie for adults and leave it at that
I haven’t seen “Kick Ass” yet but I could tell from watching the trailers that it isn’t for kids and I would never take my younger kids (7 and 9) to see it. BUT the trailer does catch their attention!
“You say that a man comes on to her during the movie and then say that sexual tension is not there? Just because the girl doesn’t make out with him doesn’t mean that she doesn’t understand her sexualization.”
I have no idea what you’re saying here, other than obviously you haven’t seen the movie… which speaks volumes about how much you are jumping to conclusions about this film. No one comes on to her and she is never confronted with anyone sexualizing her.
This is all just a bunch of “Will someone please think of the children!” crap going on here.
I liked the movie. I do think it’s hilarious that everyone is spazzing out like this is the first time any movie has portrayed anything bad happening to kids.
How many times has Harry Potter had the living crap beaten out of him? Edmund from Narnia was backed up against a tree and nearly sacrificed with a stone knife. Percy Jackson in the Lightning Thief has the crap kicked out of him numerous times, and so do the other kids.
This one is suddenly a drastic departure from things that were already going on how, exactly? Because there are guns in this one, and guns are real? It’s totally cool to punch someone in the face if afterward you’re like, “AND ALSO I’M THE GOD OF WAR?”
What and ever.
“How many times has Harry Potter had the living crap beaten out of him? Edmund from Narnia was backed up against a tree and nearly sacrificed with a stone knife. Percy Jackson in the Lightning Thief has the crap kicked out of him numerous times, and so do the other kids.”
THIS! And those were kids movies! Aimed at kids and not R-rated.
Rockin the purple wig though!
The movie is not for kids. And it has not been marketed to kids. If an adult is stupid enough to take their child to this film then don’t blame the film makers. I talk to my nieces and nephews and their friends. I am shocked at the stuff they see..Chuckie, Saw, Final Destination and on and one. They are under the age of 8. So who is taking them to see these movies.. Their parents. and Parents get to decide. this film is a live comic book.. Excellent and great fun for adults.. not kids. So really all the whining about Kick As*.. Chloe’s parents read the script and approved. so if Roger and such are upset. then don’t go see it. .I get more offended by the films that portray women as needy and needing a man. Rom Coms anyone.. That to me is way more damaging to a young girl. Women who can’t live without a man, and will do anything to get and keep him. Talk about bad examples.
Yeah I would rather a girl be like Hit Girl then these over sexual women on mag covers or the superficial catty girls of The Hills and those other fake reality shows.
I’m really trying to wrap my head around the “sexualization”, which isn’t the focus of Eberts review and I couldn’t find anywhere in the movie. Hit girl had no sexuality whatsoever, in fact the whole point was that she was completely separated from society in pursuit of training. She blows a kiss at a bad guy before she kills him, and that’s sexual? She’s psyching him out.
The issue ebert had was the violence, and I wonder how he would have felt if the 11 year old were a boy. Violence against children by evil adults is the focus of a movie franchise someone of you may have heard of called Harry Potter. Kids getting tortured? Murdered?
Before the days of the internet, so I didn’t have access to a lot of info like you do now, I took my oldest son to see a movie where I thought the review I had seen made it sound like a great movie. As we were watching it, I saw that it was totally inappropriate, getting to the point where I wanted to get the heck out of there with him, but I didn’t want to disrupt the whole theater by making a big exit right at that point, so I cringed till we could leave at a better moment. I was pretty horrified, and afterward, I’m sure I talked over my mistake with my son. What I’m saying is, as far as Bellaluna’s response, walking up and confronting some parent with small kids at a movie you might think is inappropriate and giving them a bunch of grief, might not be such a great idea either. If you feel some need to warn a parent, you might consider being a little bit diplomatic about it at least, and ask them if they really know what was going on with the movie. They might honestly think it looked like a good movie and had no clue. If somebody had given me the head’s up prior to the movie, that would have been fine, but to righteously call me out in front of my kids . . . I’m just glad somebody didn’t do that to me. I felt bad enough. And I’m sure that would have horrified my son, to have his Mother ripped into by some stranger, without really understanding why. JMO.
The difference between all the movies you mentioned as morally reprehensible and Kick-Ass is that this movie involves children. I think that was his larger point, that it was children engaged in violence as perpetrators and victims. It’s different if you see burly Spartan men in ‘300’, historically the Spartans were bloodthirsty and among the best warriors in history. I don’t think you can sugar-coat that story…
Roger Ebert, I admire you, but movies that you deem significant, like Luis Bunuel’s surrealist masterpiece, “Un Chien Andalou” had a man caress a woman’s face, then slit her eyeball with a razor IN THE FIRST MINUTE OF THE MOVIE! If that isn’t violent, in a movie made as art, then, what is movie violence? Is it art or is it a movie? Really, it’s just a movie. Roger? Your move.
Wait. A few years back, I remember Roger Ebert pronouncing the blood soaked “Kill Bill Vol. 1” as “brilliant”. Hit Girl is morally reprehensible but schoolgirl assassin Gogo Yubari is high art? I prefer Hit Girl. At least she fights crime.
I would never take my kids to Kick-Ass, but I found it to be very entertaining.
Pet Sematary – 3yo brutally kills several people.
Children of the Corn – children ritualistically kill lost travelers.
The Good Son – Young Boy tries to kill his little sister and his cousin
Village of the Damned – kids kill
Omen – kid kills
Them – kids kill
I mean, the list is long and gory, but the truth of the matter is, this is the only movie where the kid that’s killing isn’t doing it because she’s sadistically and psychologically evil. We praise the vigilantism from male characters that are young (Red Dawn), but the very idea that a girl is doing it is *gasp* worthy?
And please, she wasn’t sexualized in any way. To say so, and then link it with the current situation plaguing the Catholic church is not only intellectually dishonest, but it also does a disservice to women and girls in general.
Everyone knows QT likes violence and twisted comic book characters/narratives. That’s what made him famous in the first place.
That’s his schtick-he’s not making movies for Disney afterall, so nobody should expect super duper ‘nice’ family friendly fluff.
Just saw it last night. Cannot imagine how anyone could construe a sexual context from this movie unless they were already disturbed.
Trillion-you kind of illustrated the point I was going to make. Movies are art and art is subjective. If a person is seeing a fictional character being played by a young girl as “sexualized” then that’s that particular person’s interpretation. I mean come on, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. That being said, I think Ebert expressed his opinion in a very articulate way and I don’t think it’s terrible to question things.
“If an adult is stupid enough to take their child to this film then don’t blame the film makers. ”
thank you, #54! i am so tired of people taking their children to movies that are obviously for adults and then bitching about the content. these are the same people who bring their kids to bars and then ask the adults there to watch their language. here’s an idea: get a damn babysitter.
people have already said what I think…if people are so worried about their kids seeing this…don’t let them see it. Just because a child is the lead in a movie does not make it a children’s movie for example the firm, poltergiest, law and order SVU with a child as a rape victim, sixth sense…there are so many more. But with a tagline like “I can’t read your mind. But I can kick your ass…..leave your children at home and let us watch the damn movie.
Look at who directed the film, you think he cares? Nicholas Cage, satanist, ex wife kristina I think, mother of his son, satanic witch, check out the son weston, a copy of marilyn manson.
traditional family?
think again.
don’t roll your eyes, the info. is there google it, then comment, once you educate yourself.
as for the rest, an 11 year old girl saying, the f word, the c word, throughout the film, then the bloodshed?
wrong on every level.
this is aimed at kids, just like junk food. i have 12 and 14 year old children, they will not see this.
they have seen rambo, matrix etc, but this is different.
you wonder why we have columbine shootings, school shootings?
let’s make all of that attractive hey, with a piece of shit, they call a film like this.
you have entertainers, open members of the church of satan, like marilyn manson, telling the kids at his concerts to go home, commit suicide, kill your folks, hell is a cool place, where you’ll party forever, don’t be afraid of death.
wish he’d lead by example, we could all do without him and his satanic whores like von teese etc.
when we allow this sort of thing, we are allowing an unforgivable influence over our children.
i am sure they’ll bring out the fake uzis for xmas that the kiddies will want, with kickass written all over them.
baaaad!
very bloody bad.
interesting that people say Ebert should relax and realise that it’s just a movie for entertainment. I think in a way that’s the point, he’s looking at the movie as ‘just a movie’ as only entertainment rather than as a critic (critic and one who reviews movies are, in my mind, totally separate things.)
I think that if he were looking into the deeper meaning, the message and content below the entertainment that he probably wouldn’t find it so reprehensible. It’s that for “entertainment” we’re watching a child who knows too much about sexuality, killing without affect and being beaten. That should be troubling to us.
Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster and Natalie Portman were not adversely affected by playing controversial young female characters….
It’s just acting for pete’s sake, they aren’t being prostituted or forced to commit murder FOR REAL!!
What kind of ass-backwards thinking is it to worry about the affect of pretend violence in a fictional movie when ACTUAL children are forced into being soldiers and prostitutes in countries throughout the world every damn day….
Movie violence acts as a distraction to the apathetic, check your priorities…
All Ive seen is one trailer and that was enough to make me feel dirty and weird and not in a good way. Its not that Im squeamish or god knows, conservative about flicks and books, but this just seems like scraping the bottom of a crusty, crappy, low down barrel.
If it was trying to be a parody or comment on the whole culture of violence and exploitation as entertainment thing, maybe it would have a point, but I just thought it was icky. Not funny or smart enough to get a pass from me.
Violence on the screen is for grown ups. You cant jazz up a tired genre by wheeling in jailbait to pop the arseholes instead of a Jolie or whoever.
Ultimately it doesnt matter because its just a dumb movie, but I like my violence R18 thanks, and I dont want to see a 12 year old brat shooting people and parroting lines she doesnt understand the implications of. I can get that at home ho ho!
I didn’t hear anyone complain about City of God when it came out. People call it a masterpiece and it has young children murdering and showing no remorse.
City of God is worse because it is showing what is very much a real situation, but fantasy.
No-one made the argument that because kids are murdering in the film it is appealing to children to watch.
The only reason people are shocked by this film is because it is happening in a genre people can’t help but not separate from children and innocent fun (the comic book genre). The rating and the content of the film indicate is isn’t not that kind of film.
Hit-girl is not sexualized either. If you find her sexualized it is due to your own problems. That speaks poorly of YOU, not the film or filmmaker.
I was gonna say the same thing TS – but about 11 year old O-Ren Ishii….Yes, her part is animated, but it is still featuring a young girl who is to put it mildly, HELLA VIOLENT. Not to mention overly sexual.
Haven’t seen Kickass yet, but I’m going to- Soon.
Fancyamazor, I have not seen this movie, but when I was 11 I was sexually aware, had a foul mouth, and could easily distinguish between fantasy/entertainment and reality.
Kids are smarter than we often think.
I won’t see it because it’s not my style, but it is clearly rated R so parents who bring their children are too foolish for children anyways.
Anyone remember when Pan’s Labyrinth came out and there was an uproar because so many parents thought they could bring their children to it because it was a fairy tale?
Ben, that’s a very good point. I have almost forgotten about City of God. I had a much harder time sitting through that film than Kick-Ass, possibly because as you said, the former touches more on reality.
is this a movie about the Britney Spears before-the-meds period?
“why is it that the movies that have a good effect or a good message are hailed as “moving”, but the ones that people object to are justified by saying they are “just movies” and people “need to get a grip”? Where should the lines be?”
Why is it that in “Oscar-worthy” films directed by Scorceses, Spielbergs, Polanskis, and Lees etc violence is seen as “integral to the plot” and high art, and when it is used in a “lowbrow” form of entertainment (based on comic books, say) it’s a disgusting societal cancer and “ohplease won’t someone think of the children?!”
Where should the censorship lines be?
Aussie Mama, I am by no means a fan of Marilyn Manson, however, I find your suggestion that he and his satanic whores commit suicide, troubling, since it seems to me that having a parent who openly expresses murderous hatred is a far more negative and direct influence on their own children than all the outside influence the entertainment world has to offer…
It’s not up to any musical artist, movie director, athlete, actor, politician, church leader or ANY celebrity to teach our kids proper values. I prefer to teach mine to THINK for themselves and make good choices and when they don’t, hope they learn lesson from their mistake.
That being said, my 18 yr old daughter has infected me with “Bieber Fever” and I hear it’s spreading fast on CNN!! 😉
I haven’t seen Kick-Ass yet, although it’s generally received great reviews. But look, people, exercise some common sense: if a movie is rated R, IT IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. Get a baby-sitter and keep them home.
No offense, but my husband I took my 15 year old to see the movie on Saturday…we had a hoot and holla. My daughter knows it was just a movie and she in now way indulges in violence, video games, but was mature enough to know that it was a movie and not to go out and act out violence.
As parents, as your children get older, you cannot watch each and everything they see and do at a friends house (playing Grand Theft Auto), or on the Internet. The important thing is that you do not hide movies like this from your child (providing that they are old enough-I would not recommend under 15), without spending time with them as oppose to leaving them to watch violent movies, video games and inappropriate things on their own.
Bottom line, because I cautiously watch and monitor things with my daughter, she knows that is expected of her, and what “my mother and father” would not allow me or want me to watch…..It’s really not that serious Roger..there are far worse things on Adult Swim at night that children are exposed to than this movie.
“That so many commenters disagree that Hit Girl is oversexualized, to me, says a lot about the pervasiveness of sexualization in our culture.”
That so many commenters think she’s a Jezebel tells me that we’re still heavily mired in Puritan mores. Ugh.
I can openly admit that I haven’t seen the movie. But, from the trailers, I had a completely different idea about what the movie would be about than what it seems to reflect.
I have to say that I agree with Ebert. He gave several cogent reasons for his dislike of the film, the child killing people without remorse, the fact that a child is brutally beaten and almost killed by an adult, the suggestive nature of the 11-year-old’s character.
Even though I haven’t seen the film, I feel that the detailed write-up that Ebert provided along with the pictures above give me a feeling of why I would not like the content.
I can say this knowing that i do like movies with a certain level of violence (not of the horror genre, but as a part of a larger story), I really liked Watchmen, for example. for certain movies, i have laughed out loud at some of the ridiculously violent scenes. But, I can say that when I saw the movie Ninja Assassin, I was cringing at all of the scenes in which the children were beat until bloodied and hunted down and killed. As a mother of two young sons, I can tell you that I wouldn’t want to see that type of violence shown in graphic detail against a child. As Ebert states, the more disturbing fact is that the child commits violence without emotion, that’s one of the tell-tell signs of a sociopath. This combined with the fact that an 11-year-old appears in a schoolgirl uniform in some scenes and refers to her father as ‘Big Daddy’ speaks to the suggestive nature that Ebert touched on. There’s a reason that skin mags have photo spreads with women in Catholic school uniforms and I think this is what Ebert was referring to.
For the references to other movies where children are harmed: in the Harry Potter flicks, you can clearly see how the violence that is committed against Harry has a devastating effect on him and his friends, you see the consequences of the deaths and torture and its emotional toll. The main point and entertainment of the stories isn’t the violence that is committed by and against the kids. In the Kill Bill movie, the O’Ren and sidekick assassins mainly came to be because of the horrors they faced at the hands of pedophiles and tormentors. These characters aren’t shown to be good or normal or something to aspire to.
In this movie, this protagonist is portrayed as the good guy, a kid killing the bad guys without emotion or effect until she is almost beaten to death and then she decides to take a different path.
We’re all adults on this board, so everyone gets to decide what is entertaining for them, I just happen to agree with Ebert and the eloquence of fancyamazon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/30/brooke-shields-naked-tate-modern
Brooke Shields ok you think? Maybe there’s a deeper reason why she despises her mother. Maybe post natal depression had a lot to do with her own childhood abuse/memories coming back to her. Maybe there’s a reason why Jodie Foster wants no man to come anywhere near her. Natalie Portman, most super models. Google Satanic Hollywood, google MK Ultra Hollywood. Look at what the Dina Lohans, Lyn Spears’s allow their kids to endure for fame. They literally sacrifice their kids for cash. Maybe there’s a reason for so many child stars that have gone awall, crazy. Educate yourself. Go deeper, all is not as it seems people.
I just want to point out that although there was killing in The Matrix, there was no blood! Just thought you should know…
I am just saying, if we keep pushing boundaries, there will no longer be boundaries and that is the issue. Right now we have all kinds of people justifying an 11 year old girl swearing like a foul mouth sailor, brutally beating characters, and we say its okay because they do it anyway, or they see it elsewhere, etc. Next thing we know we will be seeing naked kids running around in movies and when someone cries foul the mob will say, “Its not the movies fault, you must have issues pervert!” Its just, where is the line anymore? So kids swear on the playground..that makes it okay? Matrix, The Good Son, The Village etc, these movies were not made to market toward kids. Kick-Ass is absolutely, rated R or not. I think the best message we can send is just not to see it. Anything else puts the complainers on a witch trial. If not wanting my daughter to see another little girl bash and curse throughout a movie makes me “vanilla”, then so be it.
“The Matrix”, “Wanted”, “Sin City”, “300″ or “Inglorious Basterds, none of those films had kids killing people (unless you count the boy killing a wolf as “inappropriate violence”.
Face it kids are stupid and it wouldn’t amaze me if some of them see this film and then think they can go after evil people. This isn’t Superman or Spiderman, these are normal people, without superpowers who are shooting “bad people”. These “normal” people are exactly the kind of people kids can imitate.
i have yet to see this flick, but being a raised on 70s/80s female revenge flicks, i.e.: lipstick, ms. 45, foxy brown, angel, savage streets & sudden impact…hit girl is my new hero!
now, i love the ebster, but i think he’s being a little old fashioned on this on.
i HAVE a kid, and kids today ARE becoming more and more desensitized to violence AND it was 80 degrees in february…whaddya gonna do!?
i have no problem with girls that kick ass…the younger, the better.
my kid was raised on xena warrior princess & buffy, and i can proudly say, she kicked a lil’ boy right in his raisins when he felt her butt up… & so what if it was in kindergarten! *giggle*
girls shouldn’t be afraid to ‘kick ass’, i think that the older generation isn’t used to it, is all.
so, bring on more flicks like kill bill, sin city, and wanted with chicks gettin’ there revenge on and p.s.- ship the dvds to the middle east and africa, stat.
chiks that kick ass rule!
eiyiyiyiyiyi 🙂
Well, I feel compelled to leave a comment since most of the others here seem to be thoughtless reactionary BS. This movie is fantastic, just like the graphic novel, and the gritty realistic feel of the movie relies on the dirty words and violence. Honestly it’s a little more “feel good” than the books. Moral duality must end; sex and violence are facts of life. Movies are not real, they are pretend, mmmkay. By the time a young lady reaches prepubescence she probably has heard/seen/said quite a bit of awfulness. Our children live in this world too. Art is just something to take your mind off of the bullshit. If you find art offensive, you probably don’t have enough real problems to deal with.
So you wouldn’t take your 15 year old to see the movie but yet the 11 year old in it swearing and saying “c-nt” is fine? It’s a movie I’ll pass on thanks. I don’t need to see another movie that’s just gratitous violence with young kids in it as the main violence makers. Please. *rolls eyes*
Movies today suck.