In a comic book film heavy summer, ‘Kick Ass 2’ is the next to have a go. It lacks all the seriousness of ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘The Wolverine’ but a comic book film with a strong focus on comedy seems a refreshing idea. The first Kick Ass movie finished with the 11 year old Mindy ‘Hit-Girl’ Macready (Chloe Grace Moretz) reluctantly hanging up her spandex-suit after the death of her Father. ‘Kick Ass 2’ is the continuation of her story, alongside the revenge story of Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) whose Father was also killed in the first film. Alongside that, David Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who is the eponymous Kick Ass continues his journey into becoming a ‘real’ superhero. There are a lot of different stories here.

What could be said about ‘Kick Ass 2’ is that each of these individual stories is interesting. Some more than others, but they keep the film ticking over and with enough laughs and gags, albeit more lowbrow than the first film, to keep people happy. However, it was hard to tell which one of the narratives was the main plotline and which were the subplots. Nothing seemed to take precedence and it all seemed a bit jumbled up and each of the stories just slipped into one another and then back out again.

Chloe Grace Moretz is easily the star of the show. Each moment of screen time given to her is well spent as her character goes from strength to strength from scene to scene. Her story as a troubled teen that is reluctantly trying to adapt to a normal life but is unable to fit in is the one that has the most resonance in the film. For a film whose emphasis is that all of the characters are ‘normal’ people being superheroes, Hit-Girl is the most human character out of the lot.

Jim Carrey’s screen time, or lack thereof was a disappointment. For a trailer that focused heavily on Jim Carrey’s role in the film, he was only actually in the film for around three scenes. Carrey plays Colonel Stars and Stripes, a reformed Mob Enforcer turned vigilante that is the head of a small group of superheros. Whilst Carrey was comic gold as always, seeing his character killed off before the end of the first act was frustrating as up until then, both in trailer and in film, it was implied that his presence will hold more importance than it did.

‘Kick Ass 2’ does not reach the lofty heights that its predecessor reached. The first was zany, witty and fun and whilst ‘Kick Ass 2’ does have moments like these, they are few and far between. The focus of the humour has now shifted towards jokes about bodily functions. But if that’s your bag, then give it a watch. It’s just difficult to see the sequel to a film as great as ‘Kick Ass’ not reach its full potential. Staying until after the credits have rolled will land you with an extra scene, foreshadowing an inevitable third film. It is hoped that this third film that will hopefully bring back some of the glory from the first.