While not exactly a blockbuster, 2010's Kick-Ass came with a modest budget so it turned a profit on its $96 million worldwide gross. It also got a good cult audience on video, and that became enough to spawn a sequel via 2013's logically titled Kick-Ass 2.

Under the moniker "Kick-Ass", teen Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) turned himself into a real-life superhero. This inspires other ordinary folks to join the crime-fighting ranks and unite in a group.

Dave’s prior foe Chris “Red Mist” D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) goes full-on supervillain and he forms his own league of baddies. Inevitably this leads to conflict between the two sides.

I liked the premise of the first Kick-Ass enough to view the movie as a moderate success. Still, it didn't quite hit the mark, so it left room for improvement.

I hoped that Kick-Ass 2 would offer that step up in quality. Alas, it falls short of those aspirations.

Possibly the most memorable element related to the film came from the fact that Jim Carrey – a new character here as “Colonel Stars and Stripes” – refused to promote the movie. After the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012 – a month after production wrapped – Carrey felt he couldn’t actively support such a violent film.

This probably gave the movie more publicity than would’ve occurred if Carrey participated in the usual junkets – not that it helped at the box office. In the US, the film debuted at a poor number five and pulled in a weak $60 million total worldwide.

It appears those behind the sequel figured that if they upped the ante in terms of heroes on display, that’d make this a worthwhile movie. Unfortunately, even with the addition of Carrey, John Leguizamo, Donald Faison, Benedict Wong, Morris Chestnut and Daniel Kaluuya, the infusion of new talent fails to add to the film.

At its core, Kick-Ass 2 wants to focus on Dave and Mindy “Hit Girl” Macready (Chloë Grace Moretz), Kick-Ass’s more talented pal from the first movie. It comes up with contrived methods to separate the two, a choice that seems to exist just so Mindy can go all Mean Girls on us.

The Dave/Mindy theme seems underbaked, as do the remaining choices. The development of the opposing heroes vs. villains teams comes across as filler intended solely to give the film some variety.

It doesn’t succeed, as none of the new characters stick, and the returning ones feel underbaked. In theory, Mindy goes through an arc but it comes across as superficial, and the paths taken by both Dave and Chris also fail to evolve in a satisfying way.

Kick-Ass 2 doesn’t even excel in terms of action. Director Jeff Wadlow brings a wholly mediocre filmography and he can’t figure out how to make this flick’s set pieces sizzle.

It didn’t live up to its goals, but at least the first Kick-Ass attempted something different. Kick-Ass 2 feels like cinematic product.

Footnote: after the end credits, we find a tag scene that hinted at a Kick-Ass 3 that never came.

Kick-Ass 2 appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a terrific presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed positive. Virtually no softness emerged, so the film boasted solid accuracy and definition.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects emerged. I also saw no edge haloes or source flaws.

Unsurprisingly, colors generally mixed teal and amber/orange, with a lean toward the former. The tones came across as planned and looked fine given production choices.

Blacks felt dark and rich, while shadows appeared good, with largely smooth low-light shots. The flick brought the expected positive picture quality.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio of Kick-Ass 2 also satisfied. With plenty of action on display, the soundscape boasted a nice array of information from all the channels, and the information moved well.

This left us with a broad, immersive soundfield. It used the different speakers to create a good sense of the fights and mayhem.

Speech came across as natural and concise, while music showed rich, full tones. Effects appeared accurate and dynamic, with good low-end and impact. I felt pleased with the soundtrack found here.

As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from writer/director Jeff Wadlow and actors Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, costumes, stunts and action, effects and connected domains.

Despite a lot of joking around, the track comes with a reasonable amount of informational value. The participants can veer off into banter and praise too often but we still get a generally useful view of the production.

11 Extended Scenes occupy a total of 14 minutes, four seconds. While I can't claim anything crucial appears, some of the additions bring interesting moments.

We can view these with or without commentary from Wadlow. He digs into the shots and gives us solid thoughts about them and why they didn't make the cut.

An Alternate Opening spans three minutes, 14 seconds and shows Dave's anxieties related to his role as Kick-Ass. It offers some intriguing notions.

The “Opening” also come with optional Wadlow commentary. He summarizes the rationale behind its omission well.

For the last look at unused concepts, we go to Big Daddy Returns: The Unshot Scene (2:07), a storyboard compilation that provides a callback to a major character from the first film. A dream sequence, it doesn't add a lot.

Unsurprisingly, “Returns” also offers optional Wadlow commentary. He continues to offer good notes.

The Making of Kick-Ass 2 splits into five segments with a total running time of 49 minutes, 42 seconds. We find “Upping the Game” (7:05), “An Ass-Kicking Cast” (12:05), “Going Ballistic” (6:47), “Creating a Badass World” (7:56), and “Street Rules” (15:49).

We hear from Wadlow, Taylor-Johnson, Grace Moretz, Mintz-Plasse, producer Matthew Vaughn, comic co-creators/executive producers John S. Romita Jr. and Mark Millar, producer Tarquin Pack, supervising armourer Damian Mitchell, special effects coordinator Sam Conway, stunt coordinator James O'Dee, production designer Russell De Rozario, dressing props Christian Short, costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ, hair and makeup designer Fae Hammond, and actors Clark Duke, John Leguizamo, Donald Faison, Lindy Booth, and Olga Kurkulina.

These segments examine the source's adaptation and the pursuit of the sequel, how Wadlow got the gig, screenplay, story and characters, cast and performances, weapons and stunts, sets, locations, costumes, and general notes. Despite some of the usual happy talk, "Making" adds up to a fairly solid view of the production.

Up next, Hit Girl Attacks lets us see that particular scene in three forms: “Storyboard Animatic” (1:49), “Stunt Previz” (1:49) and “Final Film Comparison” (1:48). That last one lets us view storyboards, stunts and completed movie all at the same time. This offers an appealing look at the stages involved.

The disc opens with ads for RIPD, The World’s End, Despicable Me 2, Grimm, Fast & Furious 6 and 2 Guns. Previews also includes promos for “Jurassic Park Trilogy”, Scarface, Jaws, Fast Five, The Bourne Legacy, Contraband and Safe House. No trailer for Kick-Ass 2 appears here.

Although I thought the first Kick-Ass didn’t live up to expectations, it looks like a superhero classic compared to the subpar Kick-Ass 2. Nothing about it connects so it winds up as a tepid mess. The Blu-ray comes with strong picture and audio as well as a collection of supplements. I wanted to like Kick-Ass 2 but the end product lacks entertainment value.