KICK-ASS 2: Jim Carrey Condemns Film’s Violence, Mark Millar Responds

Jim Carrey Condemns Kick-Ass 2’s Violence. Kick-Ass 2 (2013) co-star Jim Carrey, who plays Colonel Stars and Stripes / Sal Bertolinni in the Jeff Wadlow directed film, has publicly come out against the bloodshed in the sequel film. This was a very surprising announcement since Jim Carrey was such an avid fan of the first Kick-Ass movie. The upsurge in school violence is the culprit and Jim Carrey took to Twitter to voice his new view point.

Jim Carrey’s tweets about Kick-Ass 2, violence, and his involvement:

I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to e

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013

I meant to say my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013

I do not know if school shootings correlates with violent movies but Carrey is a brave man, especially with the film premiering soon and the fact that he was paid to be in it. With any argument there are two sides. After Jim Carrey made his tweets yesterday, Kick-Ass 1-2 writer and executive producer Mark Millar, responded to Jim Carrey’s new stance on Kick-Ass 2:

Colonel Stars and Stripes is so charismatic and all his scenes are up there with Nic Cage’s amazing turn as Big Daddy in the original… which made it all the more surprising when Jim announced tonight that the gun-violence in Kick-Ass 2 has made him withdraw his support from the picture.

As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I’m baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn’t in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us HIT-GIRL was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much. My books are very hardcore, but the movies are adapted for a more mainstream audience and if you loved the tone of the first picture you’re going to eat this up with a big, giant spoon. Like Jim, I’m horrified by real-life violence (even though I’m Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn’t a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production! This is fiction and like Tarantino and Peckinpah, Scorcese and Eastwood, John Boorman, Oliver Stone and Chan-Wook Park, Kick-Ass avoids the usual bloodless body-count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence, whether it’s the ramifications for friends and family or, as we saw in the first movie, Kick-Ass spending six months in hospital after his first street altercation. Ironically, Jim’s character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place.

Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real-life. Our job as storytellers is to entertain and our toolbox can’t be sabotaged by curtailing the use of guns in an action-movie.

The issue comes down to point-of-view and both Jim Carrey and Mark Millar certainly have their own. What is your opinion of Jim Carrey’s recent announcement about Kick-Ass 2?

Kick-Ass 2‘s plot synopsis: “Kick-Ass, Hit Girl and Red Mist return for the follow-up to 2010’s irreverent global hit: Kick-Ass 2. After Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)—reborn as The Mother F%&*^r—only the blade-wielding Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) can prevent their annihilation. When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl and young vigilante Kick-Ass, they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do, Dave decides to start the world’s first superhero team with Mindy.

Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit Girl, she’s forced to retire—leaving her to navigate the terrifying world of high-school mean girls on her own. With no one left to turn to, Dave joins forces with Justice Forever, run by a born-again ex-mobster named Colonel Stars and Stripes. Just as they start to make a real difference on the streets, the world’s first super villain, The Mother F%&*^r, assembles his own evil league and puts a plan in motion to make Kick-Ass and Hit Girl pay for what they did to his dad. But there’s only one problem with his scheme: If you mess with one member of Justice Forever, you mess with them all.”

We previously published these Kick-Ass 2 articles:

Kick-Ass 2 (2013): Night Bitch, MF, Hit-Girl Set Photos, Video Preview
Kick-Ass 2 (2013): Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) Set Photos
Kick-Ass 2 (2013): Colonel Stars (Jim Carrey) First Set Photos
Kick-Ass 2 (2013): Jim Carrey, Aaron Johnson First Official Photo
Kick-Ass 2 (2013) Movie Poster, 6 characters Movie Posters
Kick-Ass 2 (2013) International Movie Trailer: Hit-Girl in High School
Kick-Ass 2 (2013) Red Band Movie Trailer
Kick-Ass 2 (2013) Red Band International Movie Trailer

Kick-Ass 2 also stars Chloe Mortez, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lyndsy Fonseca,Tom Benedict Knight, Steven Mackintosh, Ella Purnell, Clark Duke, Lindy Booth, Robert Emms, Morris Chestnut, Yancy Butler, Andy Nyman, Garrett M. Brown, Daniel Kaluuya, Donald Faison, John Leguizamo, and Nicolas Cage.

For more Kick-Ass 2 news, photos, videos, and information, visit our Kick-Ass Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, or “like” on Facebook. Kick-Ass 2 will be released in US theaters through Lionsgate on August 16, 2013.

Source: Deadline, Twitter, Millarworld