It’s always easier to concoct a review, when you leave the movie theater absolutely appalled. At that moment you just want to rant your heart away and save every single living soul from the abomination you suffered through. But when you find a 129 minute screening to be an amusing little thing, it is a lot more complicated to write everything down in an elaborate manner. I can just feel the temptation to post a poster of the film and write “I liked it”. Okay, enough of my dramatic inner turmoil. I’ve watched “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and found it to be stylishly exciting.
Tapping into the genre of comedy spy action flicks, director Matthew Vaughn presents us the story of Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton), potentially smart youngster with a terrible sense in fashion (I’m sorry, I’m just allergic to men in sweats, sneakers and snapbacks), whose father was untimely killed during a secret mission in the Middle East. Wanting to help the family and redeem himself, his fellow agent Harry Hart a.k.a “Galahad” (Collin Firth) takes Eggsy under his wing and proposes for him to go through tests and auditions to become a Kingsman. A member of a very old and elite club of secret agents, who just go around saving the world in extremely well tailored suits. Of course, I can’t forget to mention that like most cinematic pieces of modern day, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is based on a comic book series. This time - “The Secret Service”, created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar.
As the movie started, I was quite skeptical to say the least. I have a big problem with the current state of comedy in film. Don’t know if its my posh nature or I’m just dead inside, but very rarely I find films to be funny. Well, this wasn’t “ha-ha” funny, but it did manage to make me chuckle once in a while, which I already consider a great achievement. Also, the movie started out with “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits. And I’m a sucker for nostalgic rock tunes. While writing this review I can just hear the song in my head. The jukebox style score was noticeable through the entire film. I know that it can be annoying, but it gives this extra layer of cheesiness, which I really like. If the movie is really bad, at least I can hear a few old school tunes that I forgot I knew.
Also not of the biggest importance, but I have to at least mention the costumes. Or to be more specific, I have to mention the suits. ”A suit is a modern gentleman’s armor” was said by Mr. Firth during the film. My God, did that armor look jaw-droppingly amazing. Brogues, double-breasted suits, eyeglasses and woven ties. Nearing towards the climax of our espionage comedy Eggsy gets to dapper up and finally appears on screen looking like the stuck up elitists that made fun of him during training. And I must say… Dear Gentleman, if you want to melt a girls heart, please wear a nice suit. I can’t remember the last time I’ve made an “Sooo sexy” reference during a screening. Here, shamefully, I said it more than once. Interesting sidenote: Matthew Vaughn decided to cash in on the fashionable and always classic outfits seen on screen. Now, you can buy most of the pieces on the site of the web-retailer “Mr.Porter”. Sadly, the shoes won’t include blades. Shucks.
Okay, those were the smaller elements. What about the acting? Or even more importantly, what about the storyline, you poor reviewer you! The acting was… Okay. It truly was decent, but truly nothing mind-blowing. It wasn’t cringe worthy or uncomfortable, without any breakout performances or scene stealers. Now, if talking about the storyline, it gets a bit more interesting. The story is pretty generic: a young smart guy hangs out with the wrong crowd, gets a mentor, scuffles around with him, understands his wrong doings and becomes a new man. Seen it, heard it. But with Collin Firth as your dashing mentor, who provides you with some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen in quite a while and quite the charismatic trainee in the up and coming Egerton, the plot doesn’t seem as dull. Some witty remarks, tidbits of British humor and you have yourself a upper class version of Austin Powers. And I truly stand by this statement. “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is a modern version of the “International Man of Mystery” trilogy. More wit, better looking cast and the visual aesthetic is just revamping a well-known concept of espionage comedy.
I did notice the current trend in action films (“The Equalizer”, “John Wick”) to make everything extremely gory, yet artistic. TV series like “Hannibal” shows off this style best, yet “Kingsman” tries its hardest to make the most out of the deaths of villains and civilians, creating this inner urge in you to freeze frame after frame and just take photographs of it. The epitome of the gorefest killings was Collin Firth going wild in a hate group church. Speeding up most parts and slowing down specific ones made this massacre the stand out moment of the entire film. Oh, and also the gorgeous Gazelle (Sofia Boutella) using prosthetic legs (“blades”) as the coolest weapon seen in recent times. Stylish violent gore, everybody.
Now, the only problem I had with the film... Character development. Sure, our main twosome were okay, had some background story, had time to warm up to each other, all is fine. But what about the others? Mostly all of the supporting characters (except for probably Eggsy’s mother) were awfully underdeveloped and mostly acting as stepping stones for the plot. Even Roxy, the outcasted female, who managed to become a part of Kingsmen and took part in the rebel three person mission, didn’t have any human qualities. A typical female character, who tries to get her way in a man’s game, yet ends up being a nervous girl who constantly needed support and motivation through every task. Even the villain was more of cartoon character, who simply decided to cleanse the world. Why? Because stuff and things. Man is killing Earth. That is why we kill man. Except, for the ones I like. Good enough reason? Great.
But that is only one true miss through the entire thing. Fun, a bit cheesy and not taking itself too seriously, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is a great way to spend an evening in the movies, moving to Dire Straits, admiring fine craftsmanship in the world of tailoring and some visual treats in the form of artistic killings. Definitely, an honest recommendation to check this one out.
You see, I told you this would be one mess of a review.
She hit the nail on the head about the lack of character development. I was hoping for some kind of explanation to why Valentine's assistant had the kick-ass blade prosthetic on her legs or any kind of a backstory for her but nope, we got nothing. Then we got even less for Roxy and the other Kingsmen candidates. The devolution of Eggsy's mother was rather jarring too. I can understand her being depressed after her husband died but to reduce her to the neighborhood whore was just... wow. With Valentine's assistant being an absolute bad-ass in combat, I can forgive the lack of character development for the ladies for the most part. I went into this expecting mindless action (i.e. The Expendables trilogy) and some cheap laughs, so I got pretty much what I was looking for here.
ZX Weighs In
I have to agree with everything Auguste has said above, along with my own tidbits I would like to throw into the kettle of this review. I had the pleasure of seeing this film over the past weekend in the movie theater and I will admit that I enjoyed every second of this film.
It's great to see a director kick back and give the audience a lot of laughs along with tons of crazy, over-the-top action that reminds me a lot of the cinematic style from the cult-favorite Shoot 'Em Up (2007). That sense of style and class goes above and beyond in this film as I haven't seen a group of gentlemen kick this much ass in a sophisticated suit since Roger Smith in The Big O (anime TV series from 1993-2001).
This film sports not one, but two of the craziest (not to mention, VERY well choreographed) fight sequences that I have seen in recent memory in the church riot and the sequence leading up to the film's climax. If Matthew Vaughan wants to do a sequel to this film, I won't stand in his way at all and support that endeavor 110%.
The gore and violence may be a bit too much for some viewers, but sadly Matthew Vaughan is catering to the desensitized masses who eat this type of action up since the Quentin Tarantino set the standard for that type of action in cinema since Kill Bill (2003) or any director that has produce any blood-filled horror film in recent memory.
The gore and violence may be a bit too much for some viewers, but sadly Matthew Vaughan is catering to the desensitized masses who eat this type of action up since the Quentin Tarantino set the standard for that type of action in cinema since Kill Bill (2003) or any director that has produce any blood-filled horror film in recent memory.
She hit the nail on the head about the lack of character development. I was hoping for some kind of explanation to why Valentine's assistant had the kick-ass blade prosthetic on her legs or any kind of a backstory for her but nope, we got nothing. Then we got even less for Roxy and the other Kingsmen candidates. The devolution of Eggsy's mother was rather jarring too. I can understand her being depressed after her husband died but to reduce her to the neighborhood whore was just... wow. With Valentine's assistant being an absolute bad-ass in combat, I can forgive the lack of character development for the ladies for the most part. I went into this expecting mindless action (i.e. The Expendables trilogy) and some cheap laughs, so I got pretty much what I was looking for here.
I couldn't help but laugh that Mark Hamill was playing as scientist James Arnold. The dead giveaway was his iconic Joker voice (made famous from Batman: The Animated Series in the 1980s), which seems to be his default speaking voice nowadays in his old age. The irony of that is that he stepped down from voicing the character partially because he stated in interviews in the past that doing that voice was damaging his vocal cords.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Definitely watch this film. It gets that nod of approval from both myself and Auguste. It's an unique and refreshing take on the spy genre. This change of pace is more than welcome if Matthew Vaughan wants to ever step down from directing/producing the superhero films and do something else, y'know like a sequel to this film.
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