Oh it happened again. Marshall Fine did a review of the movie Kick Ass. He kind of liked the film but he had some problems with it. He thought the main character, Kick Ass, was kind of a wimp. He thought Hit Girl stole the movie and he didn’t like some of the subplots, like the girl in the class who becomes friends with Kick Ass but thinks he’s gay.

Here’s something I would suggest reviewers do, especially in the realm of comic books. Just admit you’re not familiar with the material. Please don’t try and be hip and let loose that the material is based on a comic and talk to a comic friend to get some of the flavor right. I’m not sure if Marshall Fine is a comic book fan, and being a fan may or may not help you in viewing the movie, but the things he said he had problems with in the film kind of were the points in the comic.

Kiss Ass was supposed to be wimpy because the whole point of the comic was it would be crazy for someone to dress up in a suit and think they could fight crime. Now I’m not a die-hard fan of the comic but I have them and have read them up to a point. When I saw the movie was coming out I decided to wait until the film came out and then compare the two, but from what I’ve seen in his review the movie seems to closely follow the comic book.

If the movie really is closely tied to the comic, and if the review Marshall Fine gave will be the reaction of most moviegoers, I think the future of comic book films may be in question. WATCHMEN closely followed the plot of the comic, even with its massive size, and people who knew the book sort of got it but the general audience didn’t. Comic book fans are fans and they’re going to fill in the blanks that might be left off screen. A general audience doesn’t have that POV and are going to be lost. Studios are going to demand changes to make the characters accessible to ‘the civilians.’ Some people I know have had a raging debate over some of the information coming out about the Captain America movie. The rumored USO subplot as well as Chris Evans being cast in the title role hasn’t left them confident in the movie. It’s a big departure from the mythos but I’m sure studio people believe the changes are important.

Do I agree with the changes? No but I’m not putting my reputation and over $100 million on the line. I understand not catering to the fan base on some issues to get to a wider audience, but I have to respect a filmmaker who does take the base material, warts and all, and puts it out there to give a real look at what the initial enjoyment was all about. It may not work every time. I haven’t seen Kick Ass so I don’t know if having all the elements from the book in the movie is good or not. Then again, I’m not a professional reviewer. I would hope reviewers would take a closer look at comic book material before saying they hate elements that are integral to the source material.