Kick-Ass 2 began to open around the world this week, and as many expected, the law of diminishing returns is in full swing. Kick-Ass 2 presently sits at a disappointing 28% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 4.6 average score, compared to the 77% / 7.1 average of the original. Though hardly a
terrible film, Kick-Ass 2 is certainly not a patch on the original, and as many had feared, it feels like an oddly mild, warmed-up rehash of the original film, but with more cooks trying to spoil the broth. Does it set out a path for Kick-Ass 3? Absolutely, and given the film's low $28 million budget, both a profit and a sequel are likely, though given how negatively this one has come out of the gate, perhaps they might want to think on these 10 problems first...
BEWARE: SPOILERS DO FOLLOW.
10. Pedestrian Direction
Strike one for Kick-Ass 2 was the announcement that director Matthew Vaughn would not be returning, and strike two was when he appointed Jeff Wadlow, whose most high-profile film to date is the rather unsavoury fighting flick Never Back Down. Strike three is the proof in the pudding, that Kick-Ass 2 is directed as though a relative amateur made it, and that's precisely because one did. As well as writing the flick solo, Wadlow attempted to ape Vaughn's visually flamboyant direction, though couldn't muster the same manic energy and fresh, cutting tone. Instead, Kick-Ass 2 often feels like a straight-to-video sequel to the original - albeit with most of the principals returning - in terms of how it underwhelms stylistically. Wadlow's direction has very little flair to it, and most of the iconic images conjured up from the words "Kick Ass" will originate from both Mark Millar's comic and Vaughn's movie, but not this one.