Can Nicolas Cage still KICK-ASS?

There was a time when I thought Nicolas Cage was Kick-Ass, when I thought he was one of the coolest guys in Hollywood. Somewhere around the turn of the Millennium, it might have been after The Family Man that all changed and gradually he has become a Hollywood joke. I'm dumbfounded that after the his performances in The Wicker Man, World Trade Center, Ghost Rider and Next all in quick succession that in the last 12 months he has managed to convince well respected directors Alex Proyas, Werner Herzog, John Carpenter and Roman Polanksi to use him in their upcoming films. I can't understand how he still keeps getting cast by when he has done NOTHING in the last five or six years to warrant this. It's happened again this week. The Hollywood Reporter say he will have a supporting role in Kick-Ass, the third movie from Matthew Vaughn which will begin filming in the Autumn.

Cage will play an ex-cop who has trained his young daughter (Chloe Mortez) to become a lethal weapon. The movie revolves around Dave Lizewski, a high school dweeb who puts on a costume to fight crime at night. The trade have also announced that the "unknown in America" actor we heard yesterday would lead the film is Aaron Johnson, the 18 year old Brit from Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging who you may remember as either Young Eisenhiem in The Illusionist or Young Charlie Chaplin in Shanghai Knights. 21 year old American actress Lyndsy Fonseca from Desperate Housewives has also been cast as the love interest for the young Dave. We already know that Christopher Mintz-Plasse is the villain Red Mist. Vaughn is financing the movie himself at his Marv Films after every studio turned him down for the film because of it's violent and bloody nature, especially with young characters. Shooting will begin in London in the fall, once Vaughn has cast some more of the supporting roles.