"Kick Ass 2"

Our young super heroes from the first film find themselves adjusting to life once more, especially for 'Mindy' as she learns to cope with the loss of her Father.
Both still endeavouring to fight crime in their own unique way, but the pressures of school and having 'Marcus' as her guardian starts to take its toll. And she finds that it may be best for all concerned to just try and be an ordinary schoolgirl. Unfortunately this then allows the film to head off on the strand of her trying to fit in with the in-crowd at school. It is a rather tedious plotline, that has been done so many times before, but for me it felt like it did not belong in this film, and was being used as padding to fill out the time, as if the writers were struggling to fill the movies running time.

Dave AKA Kick Ass in the meanwhile is weary of being on his own, and so sets out to find a Robin to his Batman. This is where he encounters 'Justice Forever', a group of heroes headed by the dentistry challenged 'Colonel Stars & Stripes'.
The flip side to Kick Ass, the villain formerly known as Red Mist, is keen to avenge the death of his Father. So he reinvents himself as the first Super-villain, calling himself something that I could not possibly type on here. He starts to assemble a group of rather unsavoury characters, and looks to go to war against Kick Ass and Co.

And for me this is one of the biggest problems with the film. With Mark Strong, who played Frank, you had a credible and detestable villain. Yet all we have in this sequel is a young child who is having a tantrum, and throwing his dummy out of the pram. All he needs is a good slap. He seems to pose very little threat. His gang however are another matter, but for me Mintz-Plasse brings very little to the role, and should have been sidelined for a far more worthy villain.

There is the inevitable showdown, but by this time one does not particularly care who wins. All those great elements that made the first film so fresh, vibrant and original have been completely overlooked. There is little to commend about it. A great shame as I loved the original film so much. I would be very surprised if Kick Ass gets to don the mask again.........4 out 10