Sep 20, 2008 10:00 AM
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San Francisco, 5:01 AM
Wed Feb 10
25 posts in the last 24 hours
It's not just Wanted and Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar's ego that's excited about the Kick-Ass movie being made anymore, it seems. Copies of the script are leaking out, and the first review is so enthusiastic, you just might find yourself more eager to see a foul-mouthed pre-pubescent girl chopping limbs off of mobsters with a giant sword than you'd have previously imagined. And said pre-pubescent girl is having the time of her (admittedly short) life, as well, if you believe her blog. It's a Kick-Ass internet, people. We're just renting space.
Ain't It Cool's Moriarty managed to get a copy of the Matthew Vaughan/Jane Goldman script for the in-production movie (The two had previously worked together adapting Neil Gaiman's Stardust into an underrated but fun flick), and was blown away by it:
I’m excited. I think this is exactly the sort of new take on the genre that audiences are going to enjoy because, finally, they’ve reached that tipping point. They’ve seen enough traditional takes on superhero fare over the last decade, and I think the pump is primed. They’re ready for the conventions of the genre to be twisted, inverted, destroyed outright... The reason this really works isn’t because it’s a clever deconstruction of a genre. It’s because of the intensity of feeling that each of these characters has been brought to life with, the heightened emotion of the piece. It works because you feel the impact of every choice, every scene. And the kids in the film talk like real kids. It's savvy writing precisely because it's not more clever than reality in every single scene. People make bad choices. There are awkward moments that strike me as very close to how things would really play out. It's just grounded, solid character writing at every turn.
It's not just Moriarty who's impressed with the script; 11-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays the character Hit Girl in the movie, is equally wowed:
This film is going to ROCK! The writer (Jane Goldman) is the COOLEST lady I’ve ever met. She wears the coolest clothes and her hair is bright PINK! I love it! She just keeps making the script better and better. The cool part is that so many people are working on this script, Matthew, Jane and Mark and it is sooooooooooooo good. The comic books have almost all sold out (I’ve been told) but I have all 4!
I'm the only one who's worried that reading Mark Millar comics is going to completely ruin this poor girl's life, aren't I...? Millar himself is too busy being stunned by seeing his imagination cross over into the real world:
Just back from another London trip, this time getting a look at the Kick-Ass sets being built up at Elstree Studios. Yes, the place they filmed Star Wars... But the most exciting part for me, even more than treading the boards 3PO himself minced across, was the costume department. Kick-Ass, Red Mist and Hit-Girl's costumes are all completely done and ready to be flown to Canada at the weekend. Also standing right in front of me was the mentally-ill Armenian guy's costume from the opening three pages of issue one. The problems the tech people had with the wings has been fucking mental, but all resumed now and it's worked out great. I sort of couldn't believe it when I was looking at it. Johnny [Romita Jr.] is going to flip when he hits Canada next week and sees all this stuff that popped out of his pencils standing in three dimensions.
It's somewhat surreal to see so much excitement and buzz about a movie that's only just started shooting, based upon a comic that isn't even six months old yet; this is either a sign that comic book culture is now firmly in the center of mainstream culture, or proof that the echo chamber of the internet can get anyone excited about anything. This much is certain, though; the fight is on between this and Watchmen for the most fan-anticipated movie next year, and Mark Millar knows how to get fans into a frenzy like no-one else. Zack Snyder, the ball's in your court.
Moriarty Looks Into The Future Of Superhero Films With A KICK-ASS Script Review! [Ain't It Cool], S’up Peeps? [Chloe Grace Moretz], Kick-Ass Set Report #2 [Millarworld]
Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
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