KICK-ASS 2 (Rated R)

Just in case it wasn’t obvious in the original, the R rating achieved by the comical superhero franchise “Kick-Ass” has been attached for a purpose.

Notwithstanding the lead characters being teens, this is not a family film.

Arguably, the thrust of “Kick-Ass 2” appears even more intense and over-the-top than the first, though there was something completely shocking about a foul-mouthed pre-teen vigilante superhero in Hit Girl the first time around.

Chloe Grace Moretz’s Hit Girl is now in high school, watched over by her guardian, a police officer (Morris Chestnut), who insists that she hang up her uniform to be a normal teenager, known only by her given name of Mindy Macready. Of course, that’s not part of her plan.

Meanwhile, Hit Girl’s partner in crime-fighting, Kick- Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), now a high school senior, has also put away his green and yellow spandex uniform. But Kick-Ass inspired a motley crew of masked vigilantes to continue the efforts to battle the bad guys.

Mindy tries to fit in with the school’s clique of popular girls, even trying out for the cheerleader squad. Her acrobatic moves, inspired by Hit Girl’s martial arts skills, make the other contestants look inferior.

Of course, the cool kids are, in fact, the mean girls, and they are just like the obnoxious students in Lindsay Lohan’s “Mean Girls,” and to a lesser extent, “Clueless.”

At school, Kick-Ass is Dave Lizewski, a rather nerdy fellow who’s bored by his mundane life, so he starts patrolling the streets with Justice Forever, a fearless group of urban watchdogs fronted by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey).

Members of the colonel’s squad of masked crime-fighters include Dr. Gravity (Donald Faison) and Night Bitch (Lindy Booth), an ordinary girl by day and a Catwoman-like sexy figure by night.

For a movie that contains some very graphic violence and brutality, the comic element springs, in part, from the transition of Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Red Mist character of the first film into a full-blown super villain who goes by a moniker not printable in a family newspaper.

For the sake of clean language, we’ll go with Red Mist’s given name of Chris D’Amico, who still nurses a desire for revenge for the death of his father at the hands of Kick-Ass. After the accidental death of his mother, Chris inherits a fortune.

With seemingly limitless funds, Chris acts like a spoiled rich kid as he hatches an evil scheme to recruit the scum of the earth into a super villain’s army. His best conscript is Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina), a truly frightening psychopath.

As to be expected, there is climactic showdown between the Justice Forever good guys and the villains. The best thing about “Kick-Ass 2” remains the sweet yet tough appeal of Hit Girl.

TV UPDATE – STARZ ORIGINAL PROGRAMS GROW AS LOSSES MOUNT

During the recent national TV press tour, Chris Albrecht, CEO of the Starz cable channel, announced a goal for 2014 to air more than 50 hours of original programs.

Starz has had critical, if not financial, success with several original series, including “Boss,” starring Kelsey Grammar as a ruthless Chicago mayor, and “Magic City,” starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the owner of a ritzy Miami Beach hotel during the early 1960’s.

At a press conference on July 26, Albrecht answered a question about a possible third season for “Magic City” only by saying that there many “surprises left in the last three episodes” and that Starz is “evaluating all the options” with “Magic City.”

Little more than a week later, Starz announced that they would not order a third season of “Magic City.” Listening to TV executives is a lot like trying to figure out what politicians are really saying.

Albrecht dropped another clue on the TV critics when he said in his answer about the fate of “Magic City” that they had a couple of surprises in store “so I can’t reveal too much other than you’ll have the answer to your question soon.”

OK, he was at least right about the last part, knowing soon, that is. So while we may never be able to check into the Miramar Playa again, there will be other new programs.

Interestingly, Albrecht also revealed a second season pick up for “Black Sails,” based in part on fan reaction at Comic-Con to a viewing of the first episode. And in 2014 there will be a second season of “Da Vinci’s Demons.”

Palace intrigue is always good for TV programs. Just ask Showtime about “The Tudors.” Launched this month, “The White Queen” is a limited ten-hour series based on Philippa Gregory’s best-selling novel “The Cousins’ War.”

“The White Queen” is set against the backdrop of England’s War of the Roses, but it is told through the eyes of three main female characters as they manipulate behind the scenes for the throne of England.

The year is 1464, before the Tudor dynasty, and war has been ravaging throughout England over who is the rightful King. It is a bitter dispute between two sides of the same family, the House of York and the House of Lancaster.

There may not be a sequel to “The White Queen,” but Philippa Gregory continues to be a prolific writer about medieval British royal history, so the source material will be available for several new series.

I know little about the finances of cable networks, but it is obvious that programs like “Magic City” and “The White Queen” have tremendous production costs, which must be recouped.

If the audience for a Starz original series does not grow over time, the financial losses continue to mount, which has factored into whether series stay or go. Starz is committed to keep searching for the right balance.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.