Jim Carrey gleefully puts down baddies with a baseball bat and an attack dog in Universal‘s Kick-Ass 2 as a vigilante named Colonel Stars and Stripes. (“Try to have fun – otherwise what’s the point?” he smirks in the film’s trailer.) But in light of December’s Sandy Hook mass shooting, the comic star has publicly denounced the film’s violent content – much of which involves the film’s two teenage protagonists.
@JimCarrey: I did Kick-Ass 2 a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence,” he Tweeted Sunday. “My apologies to others involve[d] with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.“
The superhero sequel starring returning leads Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass and Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit Girl based on Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s comic books earned an R rating for strong violence, pervasive language, crude and sexual content, and brief nudity. Carrey is by far the biggest name star in the sequel’s cast. It’s unclear if retracting support for the film means he’ll drop out of promoting the summer flick altogether, but Universal’s August 16 release date is fast approaching.