Kick-Ass 2 (4¾ Stars)

Who's Stan Lee?

This film takes place three years after the events of the first film. Dave Lizewski has given up his super-hero identity as Kick-Ass, whereas Mindy Macready is still training as Hit-Girl, but she's trying to keep a low profile. As expected, things don't remain peaceful. The emergence of new super-heroes, as well as a new super-villain called the Motherfucker, leads Dave to don his mask again and ask Mindy for help.

The film features a lot more of Mindy than the first film. We see her attempting, unsuccessfully, to join a high school clique and date boys. In both films Hit-Girl is the real hero, while Kick-Ass is just tagging along and getting his ass kicked.

It's difficult to say which of the two films is better. The action is better in the second film, but there are weaknesses, such as the over-abundance of costumed characters and the brief but disgusting faecal humour. It's bad enough that we hardly get to know the new heroes in the first half of the film, but in the second half we see costumed characters without even being told their names.

A third and final film has already been promised. Let's see if that's the perfect film that we're waiting for.