UPDATE: According to THR, Kick-Ass did take the top rank at the box office, despite early Sunday estimates stating otherwise.
Matthew Vaughn’s film adaptation of Kick-Ass contains plenty of good, geeky fun: nerds loving comics; Nicolas Cage channeling Adam West; and an adorable 12 year-old girl slicing and dicing grown men four times her size. Why did How to Train Your Dragon seriously beat this comic book movie down to second place at the box office?

Initially, I was ready to leave (without even finishing my popcorn, mind you!) the theater when I had seen how far the film strayed from the comic; however, I decided to give it a chance and left the theater quite pleased with my final decision. Despite all the alterations, the adaptation was a good time packed with Easter eggs that filled my nerdish heart’s desire. Besides, everyone went nuts over this at last year’s Comic-Con, right?

Perhaps it was the controversy that clouded Chloe Moretz‘s character, Hit Girl. Not only did the pint-sized assassin off dozens of targets, but she, too, fell victim to a gruesome bludgeoning (not to mention the fact that we’re introduced to her character as she’s being shot in the chest of her own volition). Famed film critic Roger Ebert had quite the bone to pick with this issue: “Shall I have feelings, or should I pretend to be cool? Will I seem hopelessly square if I find Kick-Ass morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point?”

If anything, I thought that the buzz about the carnage (let’s face it—we Americans adore our violence and gore) would help the Lionsgate film more than harm it. Considering that an animated film about befriending dragons took the box office in its second weekend, I was quite off the mark there… I suppose I failed to see the serious business in this 3D stuff.

Others point to the R-rating, convinced that the target fanbase was too young to fill the seats needed to make it number one at the box office, but I’m hardly convinced of this, as I can’t say that I’m bumping into a ton of fifteen and sixteen year-olds at the comic book stores every Wednesday.

Whatever it may have been, have a good time and support Hit Girl this weekend if you haven’t caught the film yet!