Can a 'Butler' knock out 'Kick-Ass'?

Greetings movie lovers, it's time to take a look at what the cinema has to offer us this weekend.

     Kick-Ass 2

After Kick-Ass' (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) - reborn as The Mother F***** - only the blade-wielding Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) can prevent their annihilation. When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl and young vigilante Kick-Ass, they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do, Dave decides to start the world's first superhero team with Mindy. Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit-Girl, she's forced to retire - leaving her to navigate the terrifying world of high-school mean girls on her own. With no one left to turn to, Dave joins forces with Justice Forever, run by a born-again ex-mobster named Colonel Stars and Stripes. Just as they start to make a real difference on the streets, the world's first super villain, The Mother F*****, assembles his own evil league and puts a plan in motion to make Kick-Ass and Hit Girl pay for what they did to his dad. But there's only one problem with his scheme: If you mess with one member of Justice Forever, you mess with them all.

     My Take

I was a pretty big fan of Kick-Ass, so I've been looking forward to this sequel for quite a while now. Kick-Ass is based on a super popular and ultra violent comic book series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The first film became a massive hit when it was released three years ago, grossing nearly $100 million, and it garnered a huge cult following. The film also sparked a lot of controversy as well, as many people criticized the level of violence on display and the fact that much of it was being perpetrated by an 11-year-old girl. The funny thing is though that it was the profane language that young Chloë Grace Moretz utters throughout the film that seemed to outrage people even more than the fact that she kills many people. Weird huh?

Not to be outdone by its predecessor, Kick-Ass 2 has already had to deal with its own share of controversy as star Jim Carrey recently decided to withdraw his support to promote the film. He cited the Sandy Hook massacre as a reason why he couldn't "in good conscience" support the level of violence depicted in the film. I suppose everyone is entitled to a change of heart no matter how hypocritical it may be perceived as.

Look, just because someone really enjoyed Kick-Ass certainly doesn't mean that they condone the type of morally reprehensible behaviour on screen, but you have to look at it in the context in which it's intended. It was essentially an irreverent parody of the superhero genre where the characters were more or less inversions of the typical superhero archetypes - ie. Kick-Ass = Spider-Man and Big Daddy and Hit-Girl = Batman & Robin. Of course, you definitely wouldn't want your kids to watch this movie as the content is strictly for adults only. Whatever your viewpoint on the whole matter is, the fact remains that Kick-Ass was a success primarily due to the fact that director Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) created a pulse pounding, viscerally engaging action film full of interesting characters with plenty of humour.

The question remains whether the sequel will work as well. Taking over for Vaughn behind the camera is unproven filmmaker Jeff Wadlow (Cry_Wolf, Never Back Down). Based on some of the early reports, Kick-Ass 2 fails to live up to the first movie in terms of its tone and the level of humour is far more juvenile this time around. That's unfortunate. I'm still looking forward to seeing it, but I suppose I'll have to temper my expectations somewhat.

Regardless of advanced reviews, I would expect that fans of the first film will come out in droves to see the sequel, thus propelling Kick-Ass 2 to the top of the box office heap this weekend. I just hope that this film does what its title says and kicks ass.

     Lee Daniels' The Butler

In this true story, Forest Whitaker stars as Cecil Gaines, a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man's life and family.

     My Take

There has been considerable critical buzz surrounding this film already, including some early Oscar talk for its main star Whitaker. It probably doesn't hurt that this film also stars Oprah Winfrey as Whitaker's wife. Director Lee Daniels also has a bit of a track record as well, having produced the Oscar winning Monster's Ball and he directed the highly acclaimed and Oscar winning Precious. The Butler might just be a dark horse to rule the box office this weekend, you never know.

This looks like it will be a very good, strong drama that will offer a unique behind the scenes perspective of what goes on in the White House. Anyone interested in this time period of history will likely want to give this film a look.

The supporting cast that's been assembled is quite impressive and it includes the likes of Terrence Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber, John Cusack, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz.

You can check out Lee Daniels' The Butler playing exclusively at the Paramount Theatre.

     Paranoia

In this high-stakes thriller, Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth) is a regular guy trying to get ahead in his entry-level job at Wyatt Corporation. But after one costly mistake, Adam's ruthless CEO, Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman), forces him to spy on corporate rival, Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford), Wyatt's old mentor. Adam soon finds himself occupying the corner office and living the life of his dreams. However, behind the scenes, he is simply a pawn in Wyatt's corporate game and realizes he must ultimately find a way out from under his boss who will stop at nothing, even murder, to win a multi-billion dollar advantage.

     My Take

This generic looking thriller just sort of showed up out of nowhere with little to no marketing or promotion. Seems kind of strange given the star power within. In addition to Ford, Oldman and Hemsworth, Paranoia also features Richard Dreyfus, Amber Heard, Embeth Davidtz and Josh Holloway.

Despite the cast, however, there's nothing about this film that is compelling me to see it. I've seen plenty of these types of corporate espionage movies where everyone is playing everyone and you don't know who to trust. Who cares. I'm also a little leery about the director and his poor track record. Paranoia is directed by Robert Luketic who is responsible for such monumental stink bombs like The Ugly Truth, Killers and Monster-in-Law. He also made the card counting film 21, which some people really enjoyed - me... not so much.

I highly doubt that this film will make any sort of splash at the box office this weekend and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it disappeared from theaters faster than Indiana Jones can crack his whip and grab his fedora from underneath a closing trap door. Just sayin'

     Jobs

It only takes one person to start a revolution. The extraordinary story of Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher), the original innovator and ground-breaking entrepreneur who let nothing stand in the way of greatness. The film tells the epic and turbulent story of Jobs as he blazed a trail that changed technology - and the world - forever.

For anyone that is interested in seeing this bio-pic of one of the most creative geniuses of our time, you can check it out playing exclusively at the Paramount Theatre.

Have a great weekend everyone, see you at the movies.

 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.