I had heard some conflicted thoughts about this, but it sounded like it was fun. The trailer was a little hit-and-miss. I’m glad that I watched it though. This is some really serious fun.
First, the story simultaneously embraces and avoids cliche story beats. We know that the main character is going to get into the service. But it doesn’t come together the way you expect it to, and the movie does a great job of adjusting expectations as things develop.
Second, there’s a very tricky thing to explain about the balance that the movie has. It has a campy, almost Spy Kids-like atmosphere to things, which is occasionally obliterated by some very extreme violence. That violence treads a line between laughable and shocking. And it switches back and forth. This can be confusing to some people, making people feel uncomfortable about how the movie makes them feel. This is a signature of Mark Millar’s work. Some people love it, some people hate it. Personally, I lean toward liking it, but I always feel like Millar tends to shy away from making concrete decisions about morality or messages.
About halfway through the movie, I was sold on it. I’m adding it to my wish list. I looked up to see if a sequel is being made.
The one choice that I didn’t care for was the lisp that Samuel L. Jackson used. I understand why it was used, but somehow it just didn’t work for me.
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