Samuel TuckerBA DESIGN: FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Essay – Comparative analysis of Kick Ass and Ant-Man

For my comparative analysis, I have chosen to compare two films, which are Kick Ass and Ant-Man. The reason that I chose these films is because they are very similar in a fashion that they are both about superheroes. In the upcoming paragraphs, I will analyse both films, including the similarities and possible differences between them.

One of the first differences between Kick Ass and Ant-Man is the genre and type of film that I think they are categorised into. For example, Kick Ass is an Action comedy genre and a superhero film, that includes swearing, violent scenes, and throughout the film the genre conventions of a typical superhero film are subverted. However, Ant-Man falls into the genre of Science-Fiction, Action and Thriller, and in the same as Kick Ass, it is also a superhero movie. Like Kick Ass, Ant-Man includes some comedy but the difference is that there is less swearing, as well as less violence and gore.

When it comes to the target audience for each of these films, this is where there is clear contrast. For example, because of the strong language and gory violence in Kick Ass, the film has been certified as a 15. This is shown when we see a 12-year-old female character swearing, and fighting the ‘bad guys’ by stabbing them and slicing their legs off. Because of scenes like this, it shows us that the film is intended for older teenagers and adults, unlike most superhero films, who are aimed at a younger audience. In comparison, in the film Ant-Man, we see less swearing, and funny, as well as thrilling action scenes. We see this being represented at the beginning of the film, where Scott, who is just about to leave prison, is saying goodbye to his other inmates. The scene shows him having a fight with another inmate, Peachy, who says ‘I’m going to miss you’ after punching him. Scott replies, ‘I’m going to miss you too Peachy, following with ‘You guys have the weirdest goodbye rituals. This funny opening scene shows us that the film is going to have some comedy included. Because the film is rated a 12, it suggests that this film is intended for early teenagers, as well as Adults who find the film funny and exciting to watch. Adults can relate to the film with personal identity. This is shown in a scene where there are family struggles, when Scott is told by his ex-girlfriend, who is living with a new man, that he can’t attend his daughter’s birthday party.

Samuel TuckerBA DESIGN: FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

When it comes to similarities in different films, Ant-Man and Kick Ass are perfect examples of this. For instance, one example is the fact that each of these films feature a superhero suit. In Ant-Man, there is the yellow suit, who is created by the male antagonist in the film, and there is also the red ‘Ant-Man’ superhero suit that belongs to a scientist called Hank, until we see Scott steal the suit. Hank then lets Scott keep the suit, and he proceeds to teach him about how to use it to defend villains.

In the scene where Scott tries on the suit for the first time, we see him look at himself in the mirror; this is like the scene shown in Kick Ass of Dave trying on his suit for the first time, and when trying the suit on, Dave strikes a pose in the mirror. However, there is also a difference. For example, in Kick Ass, we see Dave buying his suit from the internet, and this signifies that Dave is keen to be a superhero, he is also fantasised about becoming one and is willing to spend his own savings on a superhero suit. In comparison to Marvel’s Ant-Man, we see Scott stealing the suit from a scientist, with no intention of using it as a superhero costume, but rather just for its value. Scott had no idea what he was stealing beforehand, thinking it would be something more valuable like money or jewellery, so he looked a bit surprised when he first broke into the safe. At the beginning of Ant-Man, we see Scott just about to leave prison, and this indicates that he has had a history with crime.

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second similarity that we can see in both films, is when both male protagonists go on a training course. In Ant-Man, we see Scott being taught martial arts, and in Kick Ass there’s a scene which shows Dave conducting his own training montage so that he feels stronger and more brave about tackling the villains. Nevertheless, in the second film, Kick Ass 2, there is a more realistic training scene, in which HitGirl trains Dave how to fight, and Dave himself does a workout to make his body stronger. Unlike the first Kick Ass movie, in Ant-Man, Scott learns proper martial arts from Hank’s daughter, Hope. Despite the fact of us seeing this scene in the film, we already know Scott knows how to fight a little bit, because we see him punching one of his prison inmates in the opening scene of the film.

One of the main differences that can be identified from looking at these two films, is that there is a greater use of special effects and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) in the film Ant-Man, than there is in the film Kick Ass. For example, in Ant-Man, they need to use CGI to make Ant-Man shrink, which is one of his superpowers, but the film also uses special effects for showing the yellow suit. Shown below are 2 images and a quote taken from www.screenrant.com (Obias, 2015).

Samuel TuckerBA DESIGN: FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

“One of the most challenging shots involved the creation of a fully CG Yellow Jacket emerging from the water”

Due to the amount of CGI and special effects in this film, this is one of the reasons for the film being classified as a science fiction. Shown here is the list of companies that helped to make the CGI and VFX in Ant-Man, possible: www.artofvfx.xom (Frei, 2010).

- Industrial Light & Magic (VFX Supervisor: Russell Earl)- Double Negative (VFX Supervisor: Alex Wuttke)- Luma Pictures (VFX Supervisor: Vincent Cirelli)- Method Studios (VFX Supervisor: Greg Steele)- Cinesite (VFX Supervisor: Simon Stanley-Clamp)- Trixter (VFX Supervisor: Dominik Zimmerle)- Lola VFX (VFX Supervisor: Trent Claus)- capital T (VFX Supervisor: Jamie Hallett)

On the other hand, in the film Kick Ass, there are still special effects used for props and backgrounds, but there is no CGI for creating characters. Shown here is a quote from www.senatevfx.xom. (Lindahl, 2010)

“the Senate pockets delivered 246 shots for Kick-Ass, ranging from green screen composites, matte painting set extensions and fight enhancements such as muzzle flashes, blood splats and CG sword all the way to compositing fire into a burning warehouse to turn of flame into a raging inferno”.

These special effects shown below are just some that were made by the company Double Negative, for the film Kick Ass. www.awn.com (Desowitz, 2010)

Samuel TuckerBA DESIGN: FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

“The challenge was creating nearly 850 shots for an independent film on a tight budget. We had to always come up with cost effective solutions”. www.artofvfx.xom (Frei, 2010)

The companies that helped with making the VFX in Kick Ass: www.wiki-fx.net (Levique, 2010)

Cube Effects Double Negative Fido LipSync Post The Senate Wyld Stallyons

The film Ant-Man was released on July 17th 2015, and from looking on movieweb.com, I have found out that there were many other action films released in this month. For example, some of these included, Terminator Genisys, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and Pixels. From looking at theguardian.com, I have found out that the film Ant-Man had a successful opening weekend, making over £4 million in the UK. Alternatively, from looking on IMDb.com, in the US the film had made $57,225,526 on its opening weekend, and had 3,856

Samuel TuckerBA DESIGN: FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

screenings. However, if we look at the less successful Terminator Genisys on IMDb.com, we can see that it made £3,793,617 on the film’s opening weekend in the UK, along with having 536 screenings.

www.movieweb.com

www.theguardian.com

www.imdb.com

However, if we look at Kick Ass, which was released on March 26th 2010, from movieweb.com I found out that the other Action and/or comedy films being released near this time included Iron Man 2, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Karate Kid, and She’s out of my league. Because Iron Man 2 was made around the same time as Kick Ass, some people might prefer to save their money for going to see Iron Man 2 instead. The first Iron Man film was quite popular, and had a success at the box office, making £5,465,103 on the opening weekend. More importantly, if we look at Iron Man 2, from IMDb.com, we can see that the film made £7,664,732 in the UK from the opening weekend, and had a total of 521 screens in the UK. In comparison to this, on it’s opening weekend Kick Ass only managed to make £3,881,704 at the box office and had less screenings, at just 402, on the opening weekend of the film.

How long did each of the two films take to produce?

Ant-Man: From my research, I have found out that the development of Ant-Man started in the month of April 2006, and this was when they hired Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright to co-write the screenplay for the film. By 2011, they had managed to write a total of three drafts for the film script, and during 2012 they shot some test footage for the film. In the following year, they started the pre-production process and the casting for the film towards the end of the year. In May 2014 Edgar Wright decided to leave the film’s project, so instead, Peyton Reed replaced him and directed the film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant-Man_(film) Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Peyton Reed, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish

Samuel TuckerBA DESIGN: FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Kick Ass: In comparison to Ant-Man, the development stages of the film Kick Ass were quite rushed. From looking at my research, I have found out that the comic book and the script for the film were in fact written at the same time, by Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar, which made the process a lot more collaborative, and therefore easier. Vaughn met Millar whilst filming ‘Stardust’, and they got on well, so when producing Kick Ass, Millar pitched his idea for the film to Vaughn, and then went on to write the films synopsis. Vaughn said “That’s great, let’s go do it now!”, along with saying to him “You write the comic, I’ll write the script”. From my research, I also found out that the film was out just six weeks after the comic book had been released. This was different to the film Ant-Man, because although there was also a comic book for Ant-Man, the film wasn’t made at the same time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick-Ass_(film)#Production Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Kick Ass comic, Ant-Man comic and Mark Millar

Conclusion

In conclusion, from completing a comparative analysis of Ant-Man and Kick

Ass, we can see that in some ways the films have similar genre conventions and stereotypes of superhero movies. However, there were also some differences that could be made between the two films, some of which subverted the typical genre conventions that an audience would expect to see in a superhero film. For example, we found that both films have produced comic books, and like many superhero films, there is the element of a superhero costume in both Ant-Man and Kick Ass.

One obvious comparison we found from looking at these two films is that Kick Ass is aimed at an older audience, and this was represented with the use of strong language, and gory violence throughout the film. Unlike Kick Ass, Ant-Man has less violence and language, but includes tense action scenes and some comedy, therefore aiming the film at an audience of young teenagers, who are into films that are like Spiderman and Iron Man.

Overall, the genre conventions and theming of the character are what makes an effective superhero film, with some choosing to follow the typical conventions, and some choosing to subvert the character’s stereotypes and genre conventions throughout the film.