Review 360: Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service is brilliant!

Based on the Spy Comic Book Series The Secret Service by Mark Miller and David Gibbons, Gary "Eggsy" Uniwin (Taron Egerton) is an unemployed young adult who lives with his mum and abusive stepfather and seems headed for a life behind bars. However, a chance meeting with gentleman, super spy Harry Hart (Colin Firth) causes Hart to recognise potential in the troubled youth and recruits him to be a trainee in Kingsman, a independent, international intelligence agency that operates at the highest level of descretion. Meanwhile, Internet billionaire and philanthropist Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) initiates a diabolical plan to solve the problem of climate change through a worldwide killing spree.

The plot is pretty straight-forward, you could say it's...  (well not exactly a spoof or parody) but a satire on Spy movies, particularly the James Bond movies. Becuase of this we get a lot (and I do mean a lot) of spins on classic spy/James Bond movie tropes such as the gadgets, the beautiful girls, elaborate villain lairs, the over-the-top villains and the dastardly plans, the unorthodox henchmen (or henchgirl in this instant).

It makes the implausible, plausible a lot of the spy stuff is very out there and played for laughs and very much rooted in the spy films & TV shows from the 60's but because writer/director Matthew Vaughn and his co-screenwriter Jane Goldman write the character with such and ernestness and relatability, as opposed to straight up farce.

Matthew Vaughn's direction is stylish & energetic, the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty and the formality of England, the production design is splendid, effortlessly blending high tech gadgetry with upper class lifestyle, the costumes are fabulous and the add to the films tone, the props are brilliantly crafted, the action scenes are exciting, exhilarating and excellently choreographed and get the films tone spot on, the score by Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson is stupendous, there are some superbly inspired moments of tension.

The acting is fabulous all round, Taron Egaerton is the true find of this film, firmly sinking his teeth into the part of Gary "Eggsy" Uniwin. He's a young adult who has exceptional skills such as gymnastics, participating in the Royal Marine's and has a huge IQ but because he comes from a dysfunctional family has drifted over to the wrong side of the tracks. He has all of the potential but none of the discipline to put it simply. He thinks that the whole world is against but when Harry Hart comes along, he's presented with an opportunity to turn his life around by shows him that is most defiantly not the case

Colin Firth as magnificent as Harry Hart, Harry is very much a traditional, old fashioned gentleman spy, someone we'd all love to have as a guardian and show us the ropes. Smooth as silk, cool under pressure, deadly to the last but also having very good manners, Firth brilliantly plays both the classy, well-manered, appealing British gentleman as well as the badass secret agent transitioning between each persona seamlessly. Making Hart one calm & collected badass, now there's a winning combination if ever I saw one.

Michael Caine is also effective in the film playing a Arthur, the leader of Kingsman. He's very much a traditionalist whom believes in recruiting the best candidates with the most potential. As a result, he  disagrees with Harry Hart decision to recruit Eggsy as he doesn't see him as likely candidate for the organisation due to his lower background. There's another side to him that allows Caine to play against type and suggests that he's not as aristocratic as he appears to be.

Mark Strong is also fantastic in this film as Merlin, the deadpan tech genius of Kingsman and this films take on Q - a role that casts him against type from the villainous roles he's use to playing.

Another interesting find in this cast is Sophie Cookson as Roxy, Eggsy's fellow Kingsman trainee and eventual best friend. Roxy is almost the polar opposite to Eggsy, like so many of the Kingsman trainee's she's very well educated and has military training

As Gazelle, Sofia Boutella for sure makes her mark on the world of unorthodox henchmen/women playing a double amputee with razor sharp dance moves.

As always, Samuel L. Jackson delivers in this film, this time playing a villain and not just any villain - a modern day Bond villain. Ever wondered what Steve Jobs had gone evil and decided to use his genius to take over the world? Well, Samuel L. Jackson's Richmond Valentine is the answer to that question. However while he maybe a ruthless villain, Valentine detests violence, seeing any kind of blood & guts makes him sick to his stomach so he leaves all the killing to Gazelle.
Valentine also has this

Kingsman: The Secret Service is simply spiffing spy entertainment, 4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.