Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey, Clark Duke, Olga Kurkulina, Lindy Booth, John Leguizamo, Iain Glen, Morris Chestnut, Garrett M. Brown, Claudia Lee, Augustus Prew, Donald Faison, Danial Kaluuya, Tom Wu, Andy Nyman, Steven Mackintosh, Monica Dolan, Benedict Wong.

Sequels are almost inevitable, especially when the first film outing was seen as something new and exciting to grab the attention of those pleasantly surprised by what they see on the big screen. Sometimes though it may be better to leave the story where it ended, with the credits rolling and the audience giving plaudits. The news that Star Wars is to have yet another follow-on and with no conclusion in sight is one such film franchise, the other unfortunately is perhaps Kick-Ass 2.

With David Lizewski reprising his role as perhaps the most beaten up superhero on screen, the film drifts along between a couple of very well observed moments and the miserable feeling of deja vu. High octane, a damning indictment of the praiseworthiness of violence that has been prevalent in cinema for so long now, the counter culture making a superb return, all can be added to any label you care to wish to place on the film but in the end it just seems to something less than what it could have been.

There are a few saving graces to the film and perhaps with sequels in mind, the introduction of a couple of interesting characters that weren’t given the room to grow and give their personalities time to develop, Jim Carrey’s presence as Sal Bertolinni/Colonel Stars and Stripes, the outstanding Iain Glen, who was given woeful time on screen as Chris D’Amico’s imprisoned Uncle Ralph and Donald Faison as Doctor Gravity all seem half done, not fully formed as you might expect in a film that makes such a big deal of the idea of teamwork. These characters/actors should have been used more effectively but instead felt like they were given small nods in which to suggest that whilst friendship and teamwork were at the heart of the film, they were there as convoluted devices in which te re-affirm that the film is just about pseudo violence amongst certain sections of society.

In a film with a few highs in what is a fairly average instalment, the appearance of Chloe Grace Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit Girl and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are once again the focus of what makes the film watchable and just a little enjoyable. Where the film descended into the realms of abject cheerlessness is the moment where Mindy Macready deals with rejection and embarrassment by those he thought were her friends with a scene that wouldn’t have looked out of place in films such as Animal House, American Pie or Police Academy, a cheap laugh which wasn’t needed and makes the film, which has to be said was shot with great care, seem to lack the gravitas of what could have been a sensitively and well-handled piece of teenage angst.

If one sequel is inevitable then as sure as the sun rises and sets, there will be a third, it remains to be seen if it can be more thrilling than its predecessor.

Ian D. Hall