"Hereafter" and "Kickass"

Let's talk about two movies that were not what I thought they would be. Neither of them - go figure.

Hereafter starring Matt Damon. I wasn't sure what exactly I expected, maybe a little action, a little thriller, a little drama - about dead people. The premise that you get from the trailers is that Matt Damon is a psychic who really can commune with the dead in the hereafter but doesn't want to. That's it. Yes, that's exactly what he is and what it's about. But it's also about a French woman and a British boy who have some hereafter stuff of their own to deal with and how these three lives eventually intersect. It's not fast paced, it methodical. It introduces these three characters, shows you their lives, lets it all simmer and eventually meld. It's character driven and by the end, I cared. I cared about these three people and their lives and their problems and solutions. I thought it was a good movie, well acted and a nice escape for two hours.

On to Kickass which I watched on DVD last night. I remember the trailers for this because I wanted to see it when it first came out but didn't get to. I remember it seemed like a wanna-be superhero sort of comedy not exactly spoof but not without some spoofy elements. That was my impression. There are one or two character actors you'll recognize, but aside from that the only people you'll really know are Nicholas Cage and that kid who played McLovin in Superbad (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) - both are good. The ones you need to watch out for are the kid who plays Kickass (Aaron Johnson) and the little girl who plays Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz). They did a great job, especially this little girl - she was amazing. As for the story. I thought it was going to be a comedy (it's not), although there are a few funny moments. IMDB lists it as an action/adventure/crime/thriller. I'm not sure I see it as any one of those but it is a combination of all of them including comedy of a dark nature. If you know that going in, you may enjoy it more. I did enjoy it. I would have enjoyed it more had I not been expecting dumb comedy. I love the relationship between Nick Cage's Big Daddy character and his daughter Hit Girl - both in and out of costume. Love the girl across the board - when she goes in to kick ass and take names, she leaves no one standing. It's pretty awesome. The complete dorkiness of Kickass and his lack of abilities full of good intentions are endearing. And poor Red Mist, aka the villain's son, aka McLovin is so naive - you feel bad for him. It's good (not great, maybe more okay than good), just be aware - lots of violence (mostly by the little girl - seriously awesome to my sick sense of humor) and not a dumb comedy. I did like it and as I sit here after having returned the movie already - I kind of want to watch it again.