Generally speaking, you want a sequel to expand on what was built in the first film. When it comes to superheroes -- or heroes of any kind, really -- sequels present the opportunity to pave new ground, now that the origin story has been handled. Not so with Kick-Ass 2. Instead of building on what the first film provides as a foundation, it elects to jump all over the proverbial map.

The main story lacks focus, and while the theme is a noble one (being true to yourself instead of denying or suppressing it), the film doesn't devote time to developing it. Instead, it wants to be a meta-commentary on how ordinary citizens become vigilante superheroes with the goal to protect their home at all costs, but often switches haphazardly into a goofy slapstick comedy interspersed with excessive profanity and violence. A unifying thematic center is missing, similar to what Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy brought to the first film.

Kick-Ass 2 takes place in an unspecified time years after the first Kick-Ass and still follows the adventures of Dave Lisewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). He has returned to civilian life and done away with the vigilante superhero identity for some time (to the point where his friends and ex-girlfriend seemed to have forgotten). This is also true of Mindy Macready (Chloe Grace Moretz), though she's itching to throw on her costume and resume her life as Hit Girl.

They team up to train and take on criminals who threaten the citizens of New York City. That is, until Marcus (Morris Chestnut), Mindy's adopted father, bars her from the superhero life. School, Marcus believes, is much more important. So Kick-Ass joins a team of superheroes led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), Dr. Gravity (Donald Faison), and Night Bitch (Lindy Booth) to fight crime. The main threat to this new band of crimefighters comes in the form of The Motherf***** (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).  His true identity is one of the better connections to the first film.

Colonel Stars and Stripes was surprisingly the best part of the film. Jim Carrey, despite his public (and somewhat hypocritical) admonition of the film's depiction of violence, is magnetic as the leader of this new Justice Forever band of heroes. His character could carry a film alone, from wielding a baseball bat with an American flag stuck at the barrel end to having his own personal attack dog. The Colonel's backstory is a good one, too, and there is depth to the portrayal of his born-again Christian values. He lights up the screen whenever he appears on it.

Chloe Grace Moretz takes a solid second place.  There are times when her character is sidelined, during a stupid (and repetitive) subplot involving Mindy getting bullied by the popular kids at school, but she gets many of the best action set pieces. Moretz has really grown into the role in the passing years and it shows up here. I didn't think it was ridiculous when Hit Girl took on the giant Mother Russia character at the end because of what Moretz brought to the role.

Despite the fact that he is the title character, Lisewski and the Kick-Ass character is problematic. It still doesn't make sense to me that only Mindy knows that he is Kick-Ass, even if that’s a bald commentary on the Clark Kent/Superman mythos. The film attempts to give him some semblance of an arc, when his dad is being threatened by The Motherf*****'s crew, but it's mired in some odd plot turns. The main issue is that Kick-Ass isn't as developed a character as Hit Girl, which is a shame, because he was able to carry the first film.  It’s as if Wardlow saw that Hit Girl was more popular overall, and chose to focus on her more as a result.

The character of The Motherf***** is just about the worst part of the film, as well. He isn't threatening in any way because of the whining, over-the-top performance by Mintz-Plasse. He goes around for much of the movie declaring himself to be The Motherf***** to anyone who will listen, and his leather S&M outfit, while intentionally ridiculous, only underscores how the characterization doesn’t work. On the other hand, Mother Russia is the more imposing villain, because she's only intent on causing mayhem and seems indestructible. The other parts of the crew don't make much of an impression.