'Kick-Ass,' Hit Girl and Big Daddy take no prisoners in poster debut

Kick-Ass, Hit Girl, Red Mist, and Big Daddy are all featured on the new final one-sheet for Matthew Vaughn's film version of Mark Millar's 'Kick-Ass'

Credit: Lionsgate/MARV

I am flat-out impressed by the way they brought the entire campaign together in a catchy, colorful, comic-inspired one-sheet that is both simple and evocative.

"Kick-Ass" is, in many ways, a challenge for a marketing team.  You can't really sell it to the typical comic crowd, because it's not a kid-friendly film. And although the comic has been a hit during its run, it isn't at the same sort of cultural awareness as even a d-lister from the major companies like "Ghost Rider" or "The Punisher."  These are new characters, a new property, and you're basically selling it without any giant movie stars to help out.

Sure, there's Nic Cage, but you can't sell it as his movie, because it's not.  And Mark Strong may be a guy that savvy moviegoers are starting to recognize, but he doesn't sell tickets.  And even if you're a fan of "Superbad," there's no proof that audiences are clamoring to line up for the next Chris Mintz-Plasse film yet.

Nope.  You've got concept on your side, and that's about it.  "What if you could really dress up as a superhero and go fight crime?  What would that be like?"

Oh, and of course, it helps that the film is totally f'ing awesome.

Over the last few months, we've seen a slew of character-based posters for the film, including a great idea where several of the early teaser posters all linked together into one image of the main characters standing over the city, looking down at it.  Now, thanks to Lionsgate, HitFix is pleased to premiere the final one-sheet, and I think they did a great job of creating something that would stop me in a theater lobby to check it out.  You've got to cut through the barrage of white noise somehow, and I think this is a really clever way to do it:

See what I mean?

The film will open this year's SXSW film festival in Austin, and it's already scared at least one movie off its opening weekend.  I think "Kick-Ass" is going to leave a Tunguska-sized crater in pop culture when it arrives, and I'm really pleased to see how Lionsgate is handling it so far.

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You can e-mail me at drew@hitfix.com or follow me on Twitter, where I'm DrewAtHitFix.