I see you baby, shakin that ass

Here I am coming to you with the latest comic book to movie adaptation that has attracted my interest. It’s called Kick-Ass and frankly, the film sounds like it will do just that. After seeing the very interesting still (below) in UK Empire magazine I sought out a bit more info on this project and when it will be hitting our screens.

Kick-Ass was released as a comic early last year and is the brainchild of Mark Millar (with artwork done by John Romita Jr). I know what you’re thinking, that’s a super quick transition to film! And it is, but you can understand the appeal to audiences who are desperate for a different take on the whole super-hero thing.

The story centres on ordinary New York high school student Dave Lizewski, who transfers his love of comic books to real-life and decides to become a masked vigilante. After basic training, he sets off to fight crime and ends up getting beaten, stabbed and eventually hit by a car. Telling his father he was mugged and hiding his costume before paramedics arrive, Dave undergoes four operations. Upon hospital release he’s back fighting crime.

This time, he doesn’t get completely owned and becomes an overnight sensation when an onlooker catches him saving a man and posts the video on YouTube. He’s dubbed with the name Kick-Ass and sets up a MySpace account so people can contact him for help. Anyway, without spoiling the remainder of the plot, a bunch of other stuff happens and he runs into a range of unusual characters during his crime fighting efforts. In particular, an 11-year-old assassin named Hit Girl who is trained and guided by a man named Big Daddy. Creepily enough, they’re a father and daughter team and no doubt the creep factor will be taken up a notch (or seven) in the film with Nicholas Cage playing the father character. Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin also has a role as Kick-Ass’s crime fighting pal Red Mist and the lead is being handled by Aaron Johnson aka the teen eye candy in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

The film is being directed by Scottish fella Mark Vaughn and his company Marv Films and Plan B Entertainment privately financed the production when Hollywood studios found the material too risky. In a ballsy move, Vaughn took footage of the film to Comic-Con recently to try and interest buyers. After an enthusiastic response from fans, Universal, Paramount and Fox Searchlight are among the companies chasing the international rights for the movie but Lionsgate have secured Canadian and American distribution rights.

Kick-Ass is likely to have a mid-2010 release.