I had the benefit of having seen Kick-Ass in December at BNAT, and the moment that the announcement that it was opening SXSW 2010 got out, I started telling people to get there extra early. My advice turned out to be solid indeed, as from many observers' standpoint, it was the longest badge line for opening night they'd seen in the festival's history.

The Paramount Theater, where all the big premieres happen, seats 1200, and last night, they turned away people in the badge line. I don't recall that happening to as much of an extent as it did this opening night as it did for previous ones. Blame it on higher attendance or huge demand or both, but the place was packed. People got there an average of a couple of hours early, and they blew the roof off the place. This wasn't an audience of just geeks, as the BNAT audience was accused of three months ago.

To cut right to the chase, the movie isn't just for comic book geeks, nor is it only "festival-friendly". It's based on a comic, but it fits the ultra-vioolent R-rated action film mold more accurately. The shock factor of a ten-year-old cutting off heads, firing automatic weapons, and calling people "cunts" is going to drive wildfire word-of-mouth and carry Kick-Ass to huge return business. It's going to be the buzz machine movie of the pre-summer pack.

The movie's main character played by Aaron Johnson is only the focus of the film for the first chunk of the runtime, as he shares the narrative with arch-nemesis "Red Mist" (Christopher Mintz-Plasse leaving McLovin far behind) and daddy-daughter duo "Big Daddy and "Hit Girl" (Nic Cage and Chloe Moretz, respectively). Cage and Moretz own the movie, and you should expect to see plenty of father-daughter teams dressed up as the two of them for Halloween. More on this one later.