8. The Satire Is Gone (Mostly)
The first Kick-Ass positively reveled in the fact that it wasn't just a teenage comic book wet dream fantasy - it also satirised the comic book obsession in a way that lightly poked fun at fans of the medium. Kick-Ass 2, however, likely as a result of Wadlow's writing, almost completely forgets the satire and simply opts for a garden variety teenage fantasy with a little coming-of-age drama thrown in. Aside from a few clever moments (such as Mindy visualising a dance routine as a fight), it largely is a straight-up conflation of teen angst cliches and superhero violence. Try as the film might to drop in comic book references here and there, rarely do they pick up a comical head of steam, and more often feel like a writer desperately trying to lend his project cultural currency. The references to Batman especially become tiresome rather quickly.