KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (R)
Released by 20th Century Fox
Review by Adam Mast
With “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, energetic director Matthew Vaughn (LAYER CAKE) attempts to subvert Bond tropes in the same way that his KICK-ASS subverted super hero movies, and the end result is an infectious, crazy, hyper-stylized tribute to British spy thrillers.
Based on the Mark Millar comic book, KINGSMAN revolves around Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton), a streetwise young man with a chip on his shoulder who is recruited by veteran spy Harry “Galahad” Hart (Colin Firth) to take part in a secret service sanctioned competition that will pick the best of the best in an effort to help prevent tech genius Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) from dominating the world with a most diabolical plan.
As expected, Eggsy is positively unrefined when stacked up against his fellow trainee recruits but his street-smarts certainly serve him well during a rigorous, competitive and most dangerous series of endurance and knowledge tests.
Relative newcomer Egerton is fantastically charismatic as Eggsy. This could have been a very unlikable character but Egerton has a natural likability that seeps through. Even in the early goings, his punkish, hardened, hooligan exterior is balanced with sweetness and vulnerability. We want to see this guy succeed. What’s more, Eggsy does go on a journey here. This isn’t simply a hollow spy movie spoof. Eggsy has an actual character arc.
Firth is a blast here too and it’s an absolute joy to see him in action-guy mode. Together, Egerton and Firth are an unlikely pair, but the chemistry is there and I completely bought into the mentor/student dynamic that makes up the majority of this picture.
KINGSMAN offers up a terrific roster of supporting characters as well. As a baddie with a lisp, Jackson hams it up in all the right ways while Sofia Boutella is a bad-ass, force to be reckoned with as Valentine’s blade legged hench-woman. Mark Strong, Michael Caine, and Mark Hamill round out a wonderfully vibrant cast.
KINGSMAN freely acknowledges what it is by way of directly referencing other spy movies. There are even a few moments when this flick teeters on the edge of AUSTIN POWERS territory. Through it all though, Vaughn still manages to inject provocative ideas and a real sense of danger into the proceedings. The tone of this movie abrasively turns on a dime, but that’s one of its many charms. It also helps that KINGSMAN has a surprising amount of heart.
It should also be noted that this movie is incredibly violent and that’s one of the notable aspects of KINGSMAN that clearly differentiates it from the films it’s riffing on. Sure, much of the violence is of the cartoonish variety but some portions of KINGSMAN, including an unforgettable sequence that occurs in a church of all places, are extreme. Not that such elements hurt the film. If anything, it is these audacious, incredibly well choreographed sequences that make this high-energy movie such a blast. Nothing is off limits in this world. Not even the President of the United States.
As Vaughn so deftly illustrated with KICK-ASS and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, this man knows how to juggle action, drama, and comedy. And while some of the humor here is certainly lowbrow–there’s been much talk about Eggsy’s own unique play on Bond’s reputation for being a lady’s man– there’s no doubt that Vaughn completely understands the genre he’s playing with here. In the end, KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE may have a little too much going on but if you’re going to over-stuff a movie, this is the way to do it.
