That look on Chris Mintz-Plasse’s face pretty much says it all.
It is slightly miraculous that there is a “Kick-Ass” sequel. I really like the first film, but while it did decent business, I wasn’t convinced it did enough business for them to move forward with a follow-up. Even when Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. published the sequel as a comic, it didn’t seem like any sort of guarantee.
Over the last few months, the film’s been coming into focus as they’ve started casting and as the returning cast has started talking about getting back to the characters they played in the first film. I’ve interviewed Chris as well as Aaron Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz this summer, and they all said they were looking forward to a return to the world of the movie, but I also got a sense of caution from them, as if they were aware just how tenuous the whole idea was.
About a month ago, I finally read Jeff Wadlow’s script for the film, and as far as I’m concerned, this thing can’t get to theaters fast enough. If you didn’t like the first one, I’m not sure the sequel will change your mind, but if you did, they’re turning everything up this time. And if the new cast they’re adding is any indication, it’s going to be a much crazier movie.
Considering the first one featured Nic Cage in a “Phantom Of The Paradise” mask fighting crime and talking like Adam West, that’s saying something.
One of the major roles in the film is Mother Russia, a huge deadly bodybuilder woman who becomes the sidekick/bodyguard to the character who used to be known as Red Mist. He’s changed his name this time, though, and it’s going to be hard to write about this film without swearing nonstop. As much of a potty mouth as Millar has typically been, it feels like Wadlow ran with it and he’s tuned in to the material in the same way that Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman did the first time. If anything, Wadlow’s going to be able to build off the foundation of the first film and push things to some really weird and dangerous places.
One of the pieces I posted during my vacation dealt with the notion of filmmakers signing social media contracts these days, and Wadlow has take that as permission to share some very cool teases with the audience. He’s using Twitter to not only talk about his actors, but also to them. For example, earlier in the week, Chloe Moretz was in Toronto to rehearse a bit, and when she left, he sent her a photo of a Ducati motorcycle and said, “Guess what color we’re going to paint it?” He’s shown rehearsals for gunshot stunts, he’s shown some of the locations and hinted at things that might happen on them, and he’s even talked about the table read as it was going on.
The real winner, though, is the photo he just posted of Chris Mintz-Plasse looking at Mother Russia, who we can’t see completely. That look on his face is exactly the look I’d expect from someone meeting the character as written, and based on Millar’s giddy response to her screen test, whoever she is, I’m going to bet she’s one of the highlights of the film.
Principal photography on the film begins this weekend, and even though I’m in town for the Toronto Film Festival, I may see if I can sneak by just to see The MotherF**ker in action.
“Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall” should be in theaters sometime in 2013.