Why is it that if a child kills 25 bad guys, as in Kick-Ass, the movie gets rated R and arouses moral indignation, whereas if (SPOILER!) a bad guy kills 25 children, as in Sylvain White’s adaptation of the Andy Diggle graphic novel, the film gets a PG-13 and no one seems to care? Maybe the tedium level is a factor — and comic-book movies don’t get much more tiresome than this one.
The slaughter of the innocents takes place during an abortive mission by the title group of special forces (Chris Evans, Idris Elba, etc.), and it ticks them off. Dissension breaks out when boss Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) agrees to work with Aisha (Zoe Saldana), a dragon lady with access to Max (Jason Patric), the least charismatic villain ever.
Awful music (if only one could believe that the presence of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” is ironic), obnoxious editing, overwrought camera work, and strained comedy can’t hide the hackneyed, smarmy pointlessness of it all.
