What if people tried being superheroes in real life? That was the question posed by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. when they sat down to write their eight-issue graphic (in every sense of the word) novel series entitled “Kick-Ass”. Due to their no-holds-barred approach to superheroes, the rights for a film adaptation were bought up before the first issue was even published and immediately put into development. The end result was this: an audaciously entertaining, outrageously violent, profanity-laden comic book movie unlike anything that had come before.

Released mere weeks after the comic’s initial run and matching its storyline nearly blow-for-blow, Kick-Ass the film follows ordinary New York teenager Dave Lizewski (Johnson) as he sets out to become a real-life superhero. Suiting up in a green-and-yellow wetsuit and calling himself ‘Kick-Ass’, he joins forces with fellow costumed vigilantes Big Daddy (self-professed comic book super-fan Cage, in a show-stealing performance) and his sidekick/young daughter Hit-Girl (Moretz) in their quest to take down a drug lord (Mark Strong).

Though not massively successful, the film was still well received albeit criticised by some for its offensive content, particularly in relation to Hit-Girl, who does her fair share of foul-mouthed killing (Moretz was eleven at the time of filming). Nonetheless, the film found its audience, gaining enough of a following to warrant a sequel, which – surprise! – is conveniently screening right after this. So mark your calendars and catch both Kick-Ass films back-to-back at the Film Group for a night of ultra-violent, spandex-clad action!

In 2010 the original Kick-Ass served up a slice of hyper-violence pie with a scoop of foul language on top, which soundly upset some of the people who saw it and earned it plenty of free publicity along the way. Underneath all the offensive content though was a surprisingly sweet story about a teenager (Johnson) who decides to become a costumed hero named Kick-Ass, and winds up in deep trouble.

Now, in Kick-Ass 2, the inevitable has happened: other people, inspired by the news reports about the exploits of Kick-Ass and badass eleven-year-old Hit-Girl (Moretz), have decided to suit up as well. Meanwhile Red Mist (Mintz-Plasse) has reinvented himself as villain The Motherf*cker and intends to make Kick-Ass pay for the death of his mobster father. With Hit-Girl grounded, Kick Ass is going to have to team up if he wants to survive.

Following the graphic novels by Mark Millar, Kick-Ass 2 brings in the old concept of costumed heroes teaming up, and gives it the same cynically realistic treatment as the first film did with crime fighters in general. With almost the entire original cast returning, and screenwriter Jeff Wadlow taking over as director, the sequel looks set to be just as offensive – and just as fantastically entertaining – as its predecessor.