Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie by Mark Millar

Once again, Titan Books does an outstanding job of presenting a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of a film by providing fans access to the participants and their creative process. This time out rather than using a freelance writer to cover the project, Mark Millar, co-creator of the comic book and co-producer of the film, serves as the reader's guide and removes a degree of separation from the process. The precedent may spoil future books or at least get Millar future work at a later date because he thoroughly engages the reader.

With art by the legendary John Romita, Jr., whose work has been on display at Marvel Comics since the late '70s, Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave Lizewski. He's a regular NYC high schooler with no superhero powers — just a teenager who loves comic books, which inspire him act like his heroes. Unfortunately, he quickly learns that the life of a vigilante sometimes has disastrous results.

Millar provides background on the creation of the comics and how director/co-screenwriter Matthew Vaughn got involved. Vaughn read the comic scripts and decided he was going to make a film before the book launched. That created interesting challenges as the creation of the book and film ran parallel. They worked together on the visual look and plotting but the mediums ultimately dictated the end results. Since they had "a bunch of like-minded people on the same page," neither strays too far from the other. Big Daddy looks different as Romita's deadlines didn't allow him to wait for the film's production designer. In the film version, the character looks more like Batman.

This book is filled with great, colorful visuals. There are numerous photos from the set, during the shoot and between takes, and also preliminary drawings and designs from both projects. On hand as well are email exchanges, notes and doodles from Millar, entries from the blog of Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl), and bits of screenplay by Vaughn and Jane Goldman.

The only criticism I have is there's a revelation of a big plot twist about a certain character, which is understandable in the long run, but will be disappointing to those that haven't seen or read Kick-Ass. Regardless, this book is a must-own for fans.

Millar is bold, claiming that Kick-Ass "is going to redefine superhero movies in the same way Pulp Fiction redefined crime movies," but since Vaughn and others talk about a sequel, they obviously think pretty highly of it and how well it will do at the box office. After seeing clips at last year's Comic Con, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and hope this book gets a sequel as well.

STARDUST (2007) (HD DVD)

Writer/director Matthew Vaughn and co-screenwriter Jane Goldman have created a fun fairy tale based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Charles Vess. Fans of the novel will notice changes in the adaptation, but if they are acceptable to Gaiman (“those places where they changed things to make it work as a movie, work just fine.”), they shouldn’t cause too much of a fuss.

The story is set 150 years ago and takes place in the English village of Wall and the magical land of Stormhold. A chance meeting and passionate evening between Dunstan, a young Wall lad, and Una, a young Stormhold lass, produces the infant boy Tristan who is left on Dunstan’s doorstep.

Eighteen years later, The King of Stormhold is on his deathbed. He gathers his remaining sons and tells them the new King will be determined by whoever recovers a ruby necklace. When the king takes it off, the necklace flies off into the night sky, dislodging a star, and both plummet to the ground.

That same evening in Wall, Tristan, who has grown into an awkward young man, is attempting to woo the hand of Victoria, who is only interested in the gifts he has to offer. They notice the falling star, and in attempt to prove his love Tristan proclaims that he will retrieve the star for her. When he finds the star, he discovers she is a young woman named Yvaine, who put on the King’s necklace before Tristan arrived, but he doesn’t let that sway his plans to present the star to Victoria. Yet, things don’t go as he planned. Yvaine has no desire to follow him, and as he will soon discover Lamia the witch is in pursuit of the star because a star’s heart grants immortality.

Being a fairy tale, the “happily ever after” ending isn’t surprising, but the journey is engaging and well worth taking. Stardust is filled with action, adventure, and good humor, and the plot takes interesting and believably motivated turns. The only thing that keeps it from being recommended to all families is the slightly risqué nature of the character Captain Shakespeare.

The Special Features include “Good Omens,” an informative, 30-minute feature that examines the making of the film from different departments and the theatrical trailer presented in HD, and available in SD are understandably deleted scenes that are uncorrected and a blooper reel.

The DVD is presented in 1080p High Definition. The production team made great use of color and the UK countryside. The transfer looks very good but not great, in part because of the director’s choice to shoot with a soft focus at times. This accentuates the film’s fairy tale look, but at times causes the lines to lose their clear, sharp distinction. The audio is Dolby Digital Plus 5.1. The loudness of the music and actions scenes can be a little too much in comparison to the quieter moments, but appears to be the current norm for most Hollywood productions.