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Is The 'Kick-Ass' Film Franchise On The Road To Cult Classic Status?

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 21, 2013 8:45PM

2013_08_kick-ass_2.jpg When a movie flops at the box office it can only hope to find a second life as a cult classic, but the factors that determine cult classic status is so difficult to define. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Reefer Madness, The Big Lebowski, and This is Spinal Tap have all gained niche followings of fans that participate in a subculture that includes midnight showings, audience interaction with the film, and cosplay.

Most of those films opened to disappointing reviews and/or box office numbers, so while the first Kick-Ass film was called a cult classic by some, it didn’t really fit that criteria. The reviews were positive and the box office numbers were impressive. The popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave Kick-Ass a 77 percent rating on its Tomatometer and the film grossed over $96 million at the box office. Yet some still claimed it to be a cult classic in the making.

Recently Kick-Ass 2 was released to both disappointing reviews and numbers, bringing in a little over $13 million its first weekend—not quite up to par with its predecessor—with a Tomatometer score of only 29 percent, despite the fact that 79 percent of the audience said they enjoyed the film. The exact reason for such a drastic difference in opinion is not quite clear, but the Kick-Ass franchise still seems destined for cult classic status.

Similar to other cult classics, Kick-Ass 2 is extremely violent, causing controversy and garnering ridicule from critics. Other cult films like The Boondock Saints and The Warriors had disappointing reviews and box office numbers that were attributed to their excessive violence. Censorship by mainstream society has often been a catalyst for cult status. Extreme violence, gore, and sexual perversity can be pushed far behind the norm when dealing with films that become cult classics, and often it is this disapproval from the mainstream that creates a subculture of fans that flock to theaters to see the films in spite of controversy.

The first Kick-Ass was gory, funny, and extremely violent, so why the vastly different reception of the two films? It could have something to do with Kick-Ass 2 star Jim Carrey publicly speaking out against his own movie. Carrey plays masked vigilante Colonel Stars and Stripes, leader of the group Justice Forever.

Carrey tweeted in June:

Did critics follow suit and have a sudden change of heart? Did they not see the first film? Or even read the title of the film?

No matter what the reason for critics’ disdain for the film, it doesn’t change the fact that Kick-Ass 2 pushed the franchise and fandom even closer to cult classic status. In the comic book world there is a Kick-Ass 3 and hopefully the studios agree with its creator Mark Millar and fans and finish out this soon-to-be cult trilogy.

Author Bio: Blake Meredith is freelance arts and entertainment blogger. She covers new releases and popular television series including The Wolverine and Breaking Bad. She is a longtime fan of cult film classics science fiction. Her favorites include Doctor Who, The Boondock Saints, and The Big Lebowski. You can keep up with her on twitter at @bmeredithw.