Wednesday, July 3, 2024

NEAR-MYTHS: KICK ASS 2 (2012)




 In my review of Mark Millar's first KICK ASS collection, I commented that I didn't think it registered very strongly as either null-myth or near-myth. However, the sequel, while it has a lot of the same schematic feel as the first series (and the movie adapted from it), Millar and his artistic collaborator John Romita Jr do a better job of developing their basic idea.

After the end of KICK ASS, the titular hero briefly retires and leaves the job of superheroing to other vigilantes following his example (the exception being Hit-Girl, a grade-school kid trained to be the ultimate costumed crusader by her obsessed father). But he quickly gets bored and drifts back to vigilante activity. Initially Hit-Girl gives Kick-Ass some training, but her guardian finds out and grounds her. Kick-Ass then contacts other amateur superheroes, and though initially they perform a lot of community service, inevitably they get on the bad side of the underworld once more. Even without their more adventurous activities, Chris, the son of the mob-boss that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl originally took down, vows to eradicate all superheroes, and assembles a group of ruthless killers to become his "Legion of Doom."

Most of the ultraviolence in KICK ASS 2 is as predictable as what appeared in the first series. But there's a much better development of the two central characters' mundane identities of Dave and Mindy, and Millar devotes more time to understanding the motives as to why numerous amateurs risk their lives to dress up as superheroes. This sociological myth is the only thing that gives the sequel a little more gravitas than the first entry. 

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