It Really Does Look Kick-Ass.

Well, I did it. I finally saw the leaked Comic-Con footage from the upcoming film version of Kick-Ass. And I can see why it earned a standing ovation. If you’re not familiar with the source material, a creator-owned ongoing comic by Mark Millar, run out and find the first six issues… it should be easy to catch up because the thing only comes out every four months or so. Simply put, it’s the kind of book that makes fans nervous when they hear talk of a movie version. It’s brilliantly sardonic and horrifically violent, and it manages to put itself in the real world and still be way, waaaaay over-the-top. So the immediate question with a film version is how close it will stick to the source material. After all, the last Millar project that got the movie treatment was Wanted, which only bore a passing resemblance to the original miniseries. Luckily, if the footage shown at Comic-Con was any indicator, Kick-Ass sticks very close to the comic indeed. Besides a trailer that could be released right now as a red-band (and I don’t know why they’re not), Matt Vaughn showed four scenes at the convention, all of which were ripped directly from the book. I won’t link to them, because the more links go up the faster they’ll end up getting taken down, and I fully plan on watching this footage over and over. But it’s not too hard to find. In any case, they break down as follows:

* First, the “Krypton” theme from Superman plays as we see a man in a red, winged superhero costume standing on a building. The main character, Dave Lizewski, narrates in voiceover about how with all the interest people take in superheroes, someone had to make a costume and actually be one eventually. The man in the red suit spreads his wings and leaps from the building. Below, passersby point in awe and begin to clap… and then the costumed figure crashes straight down into a taxicab and dies. Dave’s voiceover adds that this isn’t him – it’s “some Armenian guy with a history of mental health problems”. Smash-cut to Dave talking to his geeky friends in a coffee shop about why nobody’s ever tried to become a superhero. They mock him. One is played by Clark Duke, which makes the whole thing hilarious.

* Next we see Damon Macready, played by a mustachioed Nicholas Cage, training his young daughter by shooting her with a large handgun (she’s wearing Kevlar). He assures her it doesn’t hurt more than being punched in the chest – “Be a big girl, now…” – the two negotiate about going out for bowling and ice cream afterward. He agrees to bring her: “OK. Two more rounds. No wincing, no whining, and you got yourself a deal, young lady.”

* In the third clip, Dave sees some thugs trying to break into a PT Cruiser. He intones in voiceover about, like a serial killer, only being able to fantasize about something for so long before you have to actually do it. He pulls open his shirt to reveal his blue-and-yellow costume underneath, then confronts the thugs with his nightstick. It ends badly, as Dave is stabbed in the stomach, then staggers into the road, where he’s hit full-on by a car.

* The last clip involves Dave going to a gangbanger’s apartment, in full Kick-Ass gear, and threatening to break both of the guy’s legs if he doesn’t leave a certain girl alone. He tazes the main gangster in the face, which only serves to anger him. Just as Dave is being held down by two men while a third prepares to gut him with a very big knife – a sword pokes through the main thug’s chest from behind. He slumps over, revealing Nick Cage’s daughter, now in her costume as “Hit Girl”, which includes a purple wig, black eyemask and pleather jacket, holding two katanas. “Okay, you c*nts,” she says, a huge grin on her face, “Let’s see what you can do now.” The rest of the clip is Hit Girl killing everyone in the room with her katanas, fists, feet, a butterfly knife, and no mercy. It’s well choreographed and really holds no punches on the violence – and she’s, like, maybe ten years old. Just awesome, awesome stuff.

And that’s that. The movie’s apparently pretty much in the can already, just waiting on a little bit more soundtrack and looking for a distributor. It shouldn’t be too hard to find one. People apparently went nuts for this at Comic-Con, and it just looks fantastic. The tentative release date is next April, and frankly, I can’t wait. Nick Cage is one actor I from whom I never know what to expect. He takes shameless paycheck movies like Gone In 60 Seconds and TWO different National Treasure movies (plus another sequal planned for 2011), and then makes gems like Adaptation and, hopefully, Kick-Ass. I’m left not knowing whether to hate him or not, and it’s quite confusing. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is in it as well, and just might have finally found a way to leave that “McLovin” name behind him once and for all. Other than that it’s mostly unknowns, which is a good sign as well. The less budget goes into actors’ salaries, the more is available for actually making a good film.

I’m super happy with what I’ve seen of the movie so far – and the seventh issue of the series finally comes out this Thursday. It’s a good week, folks. Hell- it’s a Kick-Ass week.