Saturday, February 21, 2015

Kingsman : the Secret Service (2015)



When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was excited for it, because it was from the director of X- Men: First Class. People are also saying that it is a tribute to classic spy films (mainly the James Bond movies of the past), and judging by the posters, it pretty much is trying to be. Now, after seeing the movie, what do I think about it? Let's find out.

The plot of Kingsman: The Secret Service starts out by showing us a Kingsman secret agent dying during a mission. After that, Harry Hart, another Kingsman secret agent, visits the agent's widow and their son, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin to give them a medal with a phone number on the back. He tells Eggsy and his mother that if they need any help, then all they need to do is to dial the number and use a special message.

The acting is great from the ensemble cast. Colin Firth, does a great job, carrying charm and wit to his character. Newcomer, Taron Egerton also carries a lot of charm and wit to his character. Samuel L. Jackson is very charismatic and bad ass as the villain. Even though his act was more a parody, Samuel Jackson was up there with the best Bond villains, weaving a colorful archetype of a man who thinks he's doing what's best for the world in what turned out to be a very cleaver, over the top plot. Aided by a cool henchmen, with blades on her prosthetic limbs, it makes you wonder what would happen if he went heat-to-head with Roger Moore. The supporting work from Michael Caine, and Mark Strong, are also great with the limited material that they work with. Overall, the cast is great and all look like that they are having fun in their roles.


We have the gadgets, the action scenes, the incredible requests to earn certification and become a member of the select few. We meet the fatherless hero who must prove himself worthy of the recognition and hone his natural talents to be able to save the world. Who wouldn't love the poisonous tip oxfords, the cool pens, key chains, and doesn't that umbrella come in pretty handy before and during a lethal encounter?

In order to give the film more panache, we have to include Michael Caine, who has already graced a few "Batman" films with his class, and Mark Strong adds a touch of cerebral ability, as he must prove his resources are after all, important to succeed in this era. 

This is a movie that is a bit over two hours, but we don't want it to end because it is so much fun. There are films out there that are overpraised because it looks like they're trying to be original as they criticize, satirize, or make a half-hearted and pretentious parody of other genres. "Kingsman" is an example that the film makers are able to wink an eye and tell us these types of films are excessive, with just too much of nothing in order to pack it with special effects to hide its creative weaknesses, but this one also shows that you can show intelligent commentaries without dragging or calling too much attention to it.

The action sequences in this movie are very well done. Vaughn has proved he can do action in Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, and he does not disappoint here. Likewise, the music choices are well done (a certain church scene has a great song in it), the script is very humorous, and the dialogue flows very well.

Perhaps my only slight issue is that it feels kind of detached from humanity at points. There is a scene where a lot of people end up being killed, and it feels like the movie is just kind of, "whatever," about it. 

8.3/10·IMDb
73%·Rotten Tomatoes
59%·Metacritic
8/10 - Verdict

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