Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) 20th Century Fox/Action-Comedy RT: 129 minutes Rated R (sequences of strong violence, language, some sexual content) Director: Matthew Vaughn Screenplay: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn Music: Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson Cinematography: George Richmond Release date: February 13, 2015 (US) Cast: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Michael Caine, Sophie Cookson, Sofia Boutella, Mark Hamill, Jack Davenport, Samantha Womack, Geoff Bell, Edward Holcroft, Nicholas Banks, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Hanna Alstrom, Bjorn Floberg. Box Office: $128.3M (US)/$414.4M (World)
Rating: ***
I’m a realist. I’m fully aware that Fifty Shades of Grey will dominate the box office this Valentine’s Day weekend. Where does that leave single folks looking to avoid anything remotely romantic? I know where I’d be if I was the same unattached, unlucky in love neo-hippie I was 20 years ago. I’d be checking out Kingsman: The Secret Service, a violent, tongue-in-cheek action-comedy directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class). Truthfully, I married and I’d still choose it over Fifty Shades. I really like it; it’s a lot of fun.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is kind of a cross between James Bond, The Avengers TV series and a Marvel comic book with a bit of Get Smart goofiness thrown in for good measure. The Kingsmen are a group of nattily-dressed British secret agents code-named after King Arthur and his knights. Apparently, they’ve been keeping the UK safe from all manners of evildoers for about 100 years, but prefer to fly under the radar by not calling attention to themselves or their heroic deeds.
Eggsy (Egerton), an unemployed youngster still living with mother (Womack) and abusive stepfather (Bell), has a tendency not to follow through on anything he starts. His father was a Kingsman killed in the line of duty while saving the life of fellow agent Galahad (Firth, The King’s Speech). When Eggsy gets arrested for stealing a car, he calls the number on the back of his father’s bravery medal and sends a coded message which results in his immediate release from custody. Galahad approaches him outside the station and offers him a chance to become a Kingsman like his father. All he has to do is make it through the rigorous training program and be the last candidate standing. Meanwhile, a supervillain named Richmond Valentine (Jackson, Pulp Fiction) is hatching an evil plot involving mind control via technology. He’s also suspected in the disappearances of several VIPs including a Swedish princess.
Okay, I have to revert to Beavis and Butthead mentality for a moment and tell you about this one really cool scene. Valentine wants to try out his plan on a smaller scale before he unleashes it on the entire world, so he targets this hate group church in the Midwest. Everybody, including Galahad, goes bonkers and starts attacking each other. It’s violent and bloody. It results in a huge body count. It was cool, uh huh huh.
Some will invariably interpret this as Kingsman: The Secret Service having a left-wing political agenda a la any film directed by Richard Donner. It’s a valid viewpoint, but one with which I don’t necessarily agree. I honestly don’t think Vaughn set out to make a political statement here. It’s a popcorn movie, plain and simple. It’s silly, sort of exciting and not believable for a second. It’s like a live-action comic book.
Egerton, a relative newcomer, does very well as the hero on the rise. He’s neither overly earnest nor too dark. Is he flawed? Yes, definitely. He’s not what you’d call an upstanding citizen. He longs for a father figure and finds it in Galahad. Firth appears to have a lot of fun with the role. He plays it straight-with-a-wink as does Michael Caine (The Dark Knight) as Kingsmen head Arthur. Jackson camps it up nicely as the villain, a techno-genius who speaks with a lisp and dresses like Steven Urkel trying and failing to look hip. He even has a cool henchwoman (dancer Boutella) who uses her prosthetic legs like a pair of samurai swords. BTW, Star Wars-alumni Mark Hamill contributes a great albeit brief supporting role.
Vaughn does a great job with the action scenes; the editing isn’t nearly as migraine-inducing as other recent action movies. My only real complaint is the overuse of CGI slo-mo effects during the fight scenes. This ceased being a novelty when it showed up in the first Deuce Bigalow movie as a goof on The Matrix. Other than that, I really enjoyed Kingsman: The Secret Service. It’s a fun movie that works because it doesn’t overreach. Yeah, it’s a bit OTT at times, but that can be effective if done right which it most definitely is here. Forget about Christian Grey; he’ll never be as cool as any of the Kingsmen.
