Kick-Ass

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is an ordinary teenager who lives in New York. Dave, an avid comic book fan, is bitter that people do not intervene when a crime is being committed. He purchases a bodysuit and, after making modifications, embarks on a campaign to become a real-life superhero, despite having no superpowers or skills. After his first crime-fighting encounter leads to his getting stabbed and getting run over in a hit and run, leaving him with permanent nerve damage, he gains an enhanced capacity to endure pain, and surgical implants required to repair multiple skeletal fractures give him resistance to further bone-crushing injuries. His effort to conceal the truth, claiming he had had his clothes thrown off after being mugged, leads to rumors that he is gay. His longtime crush, Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca) immediately attempts to become his friend, having always wanted a "gay BFF"; Dave hesitantly goes along with it. After intervening in a gang attack, Dave's actions are recorded by a bystander and put on the internet, turning him into a celebrity. Calling himself "Kick-Ass", he sets up a MySpace account so he can be contacted for help. After responding to a request from Katie, he deals with a drug dealer, Rasul, who has been harassing her. Rasul and his thugs quickly overpower him, but he is rescued by eleven-year-old vigilante Hit-Girl (Chloë Moretz), who kills Rasul first, and then kills all of Rasul's thugs and leaves with her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage). They believe he has potential, but warn him to be more careful, and give him a way to contact them if needed. Big Daddy is Damon Macready, a former cop who has a long-standing grudge against crime boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) for framing him as a drug dealer, leading to the suicide of his wife. His former partner at the New York Police Department, Marcus Williams (Omari Hardwick), became guardian to his daughter, Mindy. Big Daddy, however, has reclaimed Mindy and is training her to be a skilled crime-fighter, against Marcus' wishes, hoping to take down D'Amico, sabotaging his organization. However, Big Daddy's actions inadvertently made D'Amico target Kick-Ass instead, believing that it was the latter that killed his men. D'Amico's son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), suggests a different approach. He assumes the role of the vigilante "Red Mist" in order to befriend Kick-Ass and lure him into a trap. The attempted ambush is undone by Big Daddy, who independently kills D'Amico's men and sets the building on fire. Following his escape from the warehouse fire, Dave quits being Kick-Ass. He confesses the truth to Katie, and she forgives him and becomes his girlfriend. A week later, after finding a number of messages from Red Mist urgently requesting they meet, he tells Katie that he must do one last thing as Kick-Ass. At the meeting, Red Mist creates a ruse that both he and Kick-Ass have a bounty placed on both of their heads. Believing the story, Kick-Ass calls his allies, unwittingly leading Big Daddy and Hit-Girl into an ambush. Upon arriving at one of Big Daddy's safe houses, Red Mist shoots Hit-Girl out of a window and D'Amico's men storm the place. They capture Big Daddy, taking Kick-Ass with them. D'Amico intends to have his thugs torture and execute his captives in a live Internet broadcast viewed by millions, including Katie and Marcus, who can only watch helplessly. Hit-Girl survived the shooting and storms the hideout, killing all of the gangsters; during the struggle, one thug sets Big Daddy on fire. He and Hit-Girl say a tearful farewell before he dies. Kick-Ass tries to convince Hit-Girl to quit her dangerous lifestyle, but she plans to finish what her father started, and Kick-Ass agrees to help...