12 Alternative Superhero Films To Consider

5) Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass is the quintessential “real-life superhero” film, despite the fact that it sports some pretty outlandish concepts (the young and incredibly badass Hit-Girl only being one of them). The film sparked a not-so-stellar sequel, but stands well enough on its own without it.

Based on the Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. comic of the same name, Kick-Ass was directed by Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kingsman: The Secret Service) and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron) as ordinary teenager Dave Lizewski, who sets out to become a superhero after pondering why they don’t exist outside of fiction.

What follows is a sometimes brutal interpretation of how that situation might play out in the real world. Eventually, Kick-Ass catches the attention of vigilantes Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her father Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and aids them in their fight against crime boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and his son, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Kick-Ass is an excellent interpretation of the source material, a ton of fun to watch, and is packed with some emotional that depth one wouldn’t expect from a film like this. It also manages to play around with superhero staples, delivers one of Nicolas Cage’s best performances in years, and lives up to its name and truly does kick ass.