Jim Carrey tweeted on Sunday to his 10,863,000 followers: “I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence.”
Twenty pupils and six staff were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last December by 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza, after shooting his mother dead in their home.
“My apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart,” the actor-comedian added.
Kick-Ass 2 and its predecessor are based on Mark Millar’s ultra-violent comic book series about teen superheroes named Kick-Ass (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Hit Girl (played by Chloe Moretz). Jim Carrey plays Colonel Stars and Stripes, who allows his attack dog to bite the genitals of an enemy.
Four months ago, Carrey told UK screen in an interview that he was troubled by the violent nature of Kick-Ass 2, but he was relieved that his character doesn’t use bullets in his gun. “I think that we’ve become addicted and entitled to violence in a way that I’d like to check in myself,” he said. “I don’t have a tremendous appetite for it especially lately and I don’t want to see somebody’s head get blown against the wall. I don’t want to judge others, but I think that does have an effect on people.”
Creator of the original comic book and Kick-Ass executive producer Mark Millar said on his website that he was “baffled” by Carrey’s decision and asked him to reconsider. “As you may know, 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 eighteen 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.
“A sequel to the picture that gave us Hit-Girl 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… like Jim, I’m horrified by real-life violence (even though I’m Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn’t a documentary.”
He concludes: “Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve 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.,, Jim, I love ya and I hope you reconsider for all the above points.”
The film is due to be released on August 16th and 14th in the UK and US respectively.