I like dragons as much as the next dude. They have been in mythos as long as mythos has existed. They breathe fire. They fly. They horde gold. And they are freaking dragons. So, movies about dragons should, by default, be awesome. Dragon movies should be this:
If that was a scene from a dragon movie, it would probably be an instant top 10 movie. It would double the gross of Titanic on its opening weekend. It would easily win every Academy Award, including best adapted and best original screenplay. The Dragon would win best actor, actress and best kiss.
But no, HtTYD is just some Dreamworks flick trying to ride those Pixar coattails with a story about Dragons and Vikings (another group that gets the raw end of the stick. Seriously, how do these Hollywood types mess up Vikings and Dragons?) that is probably charming, predictable and fun. That's great. I'm sure I'll love it when it is on HBO and I see it 15 times because I'm too lazy to change the channel. Or, maybe I'll be too busy watching superior Pixar flicks on Starz. Who knows?
But Kick Ass is a movie that caught me off guard. Even if I knew where it was going, I was surprised when it got there. It is insanely violent. It made Ninja Assassin look like Bambi. It made Saw look like Gremlins. It made me laugh, squirm and it even was touching. It reinforced the Nic Cage rule (one film out of 10 is going to be amazing if he's in it). It is garnering pretty good reviews, especially considering the graphic nature. And it is already being considered an industry failure.
This set two separate thoughts into motion. One, how ridiculous is it that a movie can be considered a success or failure off one weekend? This is definitely a word of mouth hit waiting to happen. Everything about it screams potential breakthrough, but I think industry experts were expecting that from the first weekend. Industry experts suck and are stupid. Two, word of mouth needs to get out about this movie. Everyone I know who has seen it (which is pretty much just the people I saw it with), walked out slack jawed. No one else is talking about it. I would be very upset if this movie fails.
I think the biggest problem is the marketing. I saw the trailers and thought comedy. I do not envy the team that had to put together a trailer for this movie. And I think they did a fantastic job. It creates an expectation for a movie and this movie is not what I expected. It had aspects of that movie (satirical superhero flick), but I wasn't expecting the greatest action scenes in comic book movie history. That's right, I said it. I never thought anything would ever top my excitement in seeing Nightcrawler's attack on the White House. Then I met Hit Girl. Her first action scene reshaped what I expected from comic book movies and the rest of the movie continued to raise the bar.
This is easily one of the best comic book movies of all time. It is like Tarantino directed Watchmen. That is a lot coming from me. Comic book flicks are probably my favorite genre. X-2 ranks in my top 5 films of all time. It is rare that a film manages to be truly immersive and I imagine that enjoyment depends on how well you are immersed. There were scenes that truly clinched my stomach (the microwave scene was difficult to watch) and it was a stark contrast from the over the top action when the heroes attacked. Watching the film in theaters was like riding a rollercoaster. And it was a wild ride.
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