Millar baffled by Carrey movie snub
Actor said he could no longer back Kick-Ass following Sandy Hook shootings
SCOTS comic creator Mark Millar has hit back at actor Jim Carrey, who stars in forthcoming movie Kick-Ass 2 and has withdrawn support for the film after the massacre at Sandy Hook school in the US.
The American claimed he could no longer support the “level of violence” in the film based on the Coatbridge-born writer’s books.
But Millar said he was baffled by Carrey’s decision.
IT IS a riposte worthy of any of the characters in his smash-hit Kick-Ass stories.
Scots comic creator Mark Millar has hit back strongly against claims there is too much violence in his latest movie, Kick-Ass 2, on which he is executive producer.
The claims are all the more surprising as they come from one of the stars of the film, Jim Carrey, who plays Colonel Stars and Stripes, the leader of a group of superheroes.
Carrey claimed he could no longer support the “level of violence” in the film which is based on the comic books devised by the Coatbridge-born writer, implying he would not be doing any promotional work for the picture.
The actor, known for both comedic and serious roles, said he filmed the sequel a month before the massacre at Sandy Hook Elemntary School in Connecticut and had since had a change of heart.
Millar, in response yesterday, said he was baffled by Carrey’s decision and asked him to reconsider.
Carrey said: “I did Kickass a month [before] Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence.
“My apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it, but recent events have caused a change in my heart.”
Twenty pupils and six staff were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut in December last year by Adam Lanza, who had earlier murdered his mother.
Kick-Ass 2 follows the 2010 movie and sees Chloe Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson reprise their roles as Hit Girl and Kick-Ass.
In his response, Millar says he thinks Carrey delivers one of his best ever performances in the movie, which is released in the UK and the US on August 16.
Millar says he “couldn’t be happier with the picture” and adds on his blog: “Carrey in particular is magnificent. He’s never done anything like this before … 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.
“It made it all the more surprising when Jim announced the gun-violence in Kick-Ass 2 has made him withdraw his support from the picture.
“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 18 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.”
Millar added that a sequel to Kick-Ass “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”. He added: “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.”
Millar said Kick Ass avoids the “bloodless body count” of other action movies and focusses instead on the consequences of violence.
He adds: “Ultimately, this is his decision, but I have 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.”
Carrey has won two Golden Globe awards, for The Truman Show and Man on the Moon.