Today I was watching Kick-Ass 2 when it dawned on me, this movie is how people expected Iron Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man to be.
Before Iron Man 3 came out, people expected a darker, more personal journey for Tony Stark based on the trailers. To some who walked out of the movie feeling pissed (not me, I [frick]in' love IM3) they might say that the Fortune Cookie story Trevor told was how the entire movie felt for them; "Hollow, full of lies, and leaves a bad taste in the mouth." The majority of us expected Tony facing off against the Ben Kingsley Mandarin, but instead through a highly controversial twist, it was revealed that Killian was the true Mandarin. People also expected a darker Iron Man movie which we saw but it was diluted by a lot of humor. How does Kick-Ass 2 do it better? Kick-Ass 2 told a darker story than its predecessor with a reasonable amount of humor thrown in (although there is something missing in Kick-Ass 2 I can't put my finger on.) The audience also got what was promised, an actual fight between Kick-Ass and the Mother[frick]er. No smoke, no mirrors, no "theatre", and more personal to boot, Kick-Ass 2 delivered in the ways Iron Man 3 could've, but didn't.
Another movie that gets heat for being a fortune cookie is The Amazing Spider-Man. We were expecting the "Untold Story", instead we got a bullied hipster with a big brain hidden under Twilight/One Direction hair and his too-hot-to-be-that-damn-smart girlfriend. In The Amazing Spider-Man every death that happened was Peter's fault, did he learn? No. Did he respect his girlfriend's dad last wish? No. Did he attend said girlfriend's dad's funeral? No. Is he a douchebag? Yes. Do I hope they kill that bitch (I'm talking about Peter, not Gwen)? Yes. Did little kids who idolize Spider-Man learn anything? Yes. What did they learn? It's ok to renege on promises you made.
In Kick-Ass 2, the only idiotic thing Dave did was tell Todd about Justice Forever. (I would say kissing Mindy, but I would do the same thing in that situation.) The whole film was about making things right and correcting your mistakes. It also taught children (yes, someone brought three VERY young children into the theater to watch this film) to be yourself or you'll never truly be happy in life. Kick-Ass also never made a promise he didn't keep.
In conclusion, if a Kick-Ass movie has more of a moral compass than a damn Spider-Man movie, then clearly the director is [frick]ing up somehow.
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