KICK ASS 2As a postmodern film

OVERVIEW  Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski, a comic book fanboy

who decides to become a real superhero.

As Kick-Ass, Dave starts out less than successful, but eventually, he gets famous from social networking sites and the Internet, and his presence raises awareness of superheroes around New York City.

However, as crime fighting becomes a more serious profession, Kick-Ass gains the attention of a local kingpin, and becomes a target for the criminal underworld. Only his association with other members of the vigilante community he's inspired can save him from their vengeance.

What makes this postmodern is that it mimics typical superhero films, but does this is a slightly parody way as Dave first proves to be a weak and unsuccessful superhero, but soon learns the ways.

Following the consistent themes in which super hero comic book genres portray the film has taken an ordinary, geeky teenager who comes from a normal background living at home with his dad who seeks revenge and puts them self into danger and crime with the whole good vs evil in a true super hero costume.

Like a bat man and robin style setup, Dave (kick ass) could be considered to be the batman and Mindy (Hit girl) could be considered to be an image of robin as they both work together and have a strong friendship.

WHY IS IT POSTMODERN?  What lends itself to being po-mo is that it looks at what would

happen if regular people tried to become superheroes in a world where superheroes don’t physically exist, they are only a myth.

Kick-Ass functions as a deliberate, overt subversion of the genre by incorporating signs familiar to it (the caped costume, the origin story, the iconic villain) and tweaking our expectations (giving the protagonists guns instead of superpowers, making the superheroes hardly super or heroic)

The superhero is a cooler, more youthful hero, who is on TV, and therefore as he is partially realistic he is a very different character to the myth of a superhero.

This sets a sense of hyper real as it does reflect a real incite to a teenagers mind and what they are going though, I’m sure many geeky teenagers have wanted or even tried to be superhero's and within kick ass it shows this true incite and what really happens when we try to make our imagination reality.

it draws attention to the way you suspend disbelief about comic book hero's, and exposes how they can be unbelievable.

Three quarters the way through, it basically mirrors the classic superhero tale.

Showing more hyper real scenes like Mindy who has now lost her father and is trying to fit in a normal teenaged girls life at high school, it shows a true stereotypical form to how live is like at American schools, taking a parody of the “mean girls” in the scene where Mindy teaches them a lesson, using a tool a dad gave her, this then connects with her finding her real self and who she is, a super hero.

Parody (ironic mickey taking humour) when superheroes try to fly from buildings and crash.

Young girl involved in bad language, adult humour and her being violent and involved with violence. Its not po-mo as it still has these features: costume, good and evil story, geek to athlete. BUT the post modern hero has no super powers nor any motive.

Its plays around with the core aspect that says that all superheroes have special powers. In this film he doesn’t and it shows how that heroes aren’t invincible. In this respect its post modern and playful and more enjoyable.

Metatextuality - film about comic books in general and Inter textually - references to Spiderman, Superman, Batman • Self referential - scenes set in a comic book shop, dialogue about comic books with the girl, and the drawings of comic books • Self referential when he refers to himself as a child after his mum dies and says “by the way that's not me”

Because what does Kick-Ass ultimately become, except the classic comic book fantasy cliché, with superhuman feats of strength and righteousness.

I would say unlike many super hero films it makes fun of the villain a lot, producing him to powerful an weak which is not normal, even with this humour name of “Mother fucker” we can not take him seriously.

This film is more of a parody of all the super hero films taking little elements from each and making them modern and realistic.

WHAT ELEMENTS DOES IT INCLUDE?

PARODY

PASTICHE

HYPER REAL

INTERTEXUTAL