Concerning Kick Ass

Ok, I'll start this with honesty. I'd never read or even heard of Kick Ass until the movie trailer premiered. I didnt even know it was based on a comic book at first, I just thought it'd be a parody of superhero movies. Now, had I not gone on Wikipedia, and not done my homework, I probably would've enjoyed the hell out of that movie. I'd have laughed, had some stupid fun, and enjoyed mocking Nicholas Cage's Shatner-esque method of talking (Ok, I'm still gonna do that). But, like a good nerd, I looked up what this movie was about before I dropped $10 to go see it. And I discovered it was based on a well reviewed comic book. So, I decided I'd read the book before I saw the movie. Man, I'm an idiot.

Lets interlude here. Years ago, I'd have instantly known that any movie based on a book was terrible. Then, along came a man named Peter Jackson, and he showed me that movies based on books, even if they made some changes, could still be amazing. Then Chris Nolan made his Batman movies, and Sam Raimi made Spiderman 1 & 2, and Jon Favreau made Iron man, and there was 300, and V for Vendetta, and finally Watchmen, and I was convinced that movies from books and comic books, could in fact, be AWESOME.

I read Kick Ass and was impressed by the depth of the story, the severe emotional twists, the dark nature of the story. The surprise twist in Red Mist and Big Daddy's stories, Dave's final rejection by Katie, these were true "Holy Shit" moments. This was a fantastic book. I was hooked. I had high expectations, having seen the trailers showing Hit-Girl's total bad-assitude, and the scene where she trains getting shot in the chest.
Oh man, was I wrong. They fucked this movie up ROYALLY.
It wasn't that they left out the twist in Big Daddy's story. It wasn't that they decided to make Kick Ass and Hit Girl's assault on Genovese the next night, it wasn't the change of it being Katie's ex-boyfriend instead of the other ladies. Hell, I'm even willing to almost, and I stress almost, forgive the jet-pack scene. Nope, it wasn't that.
It was the total un-needed fucking up of two main characters stories, Katie and Red Mist.
First, it was the total and complete change in Katie's personality, the fact that much like Michael Bay, they felt a need to insert a happy love-story into this bad-ass action film. Katie wasn't supposed to fall for him, she was supposed to freak the fuck out on him when he revealed he wasn't gay.
Secondly, it was also the total ruination of the surprise betrayal of Red Mist. The actor who played him was great, but very, very distinctive. There was no reason to show him so much prior to his assuming the costume, or his whining to let his father allow him part of the business. Just show him briefly, like the comic, and let it be a total and complete shock when he pulls his pistol and shoots Hit Girl. Not to mention they totally failed to establish his position as well as his partnership with Kick Ass.

So, that said, IT SUCKED.
Thats my rant, thats my rave, and thats my opinion.