Kick-Ass

“Daddy, you taught me how to blind a man with my thumbs, build a bomb with the contents of a kitchen cabinet,” says the 12-year-old girl. “I’ve shot people, choked people, even drowned a motherfucker.”

This quote gives you a good idea of the life of Hit-Girl, the tween vigilante star of veteran graphic novelist Mark Millar’s new book, Kick-Ass 2 Prelude: Hit-Girl. 

Kick-Ass, the new R-rated movie based on the R-rated comic book, follows a few masked-and-caped citizens whose paths cross over mob dealings and misunderstandings. The Watchmen it's not, but the introduction of a pint-sized heroine who plays with butterfly knives instead of Barbies sets it apart from other superhero flicks. Watching the movie, I found that when I wasn't wincing at the violence, I was cringing at the gaping disparity of both skill and storyline between the title character--the green-wet-suit wearing Dave, aka Kick-Ass--and the foul-mouthed, truly ass-kicking, Mindy MacCready, aka Hit Girl.