'Kingsman: The Secret Service' review by Jake Boyle
Kick-Ass. What a film, eh? I've extolled its many virtues on this blog on a few occasions, so I'll spare repeating myself and simply say that I think it's one of the most inventive, delirious and fantastic films of recent years, even of all time. So, when the director of that masterpiece decides to adapt another comic by Mark Millar, using one of the same actors and even bringing in that God of all things cool Samuel L Jackson, 'must-see' doesn't even begin to capture how high a priority this film was for me.
Far from simply being a tribute to old spy movies, Kingsman: The Secret Service is in many ways both an update and an improvement upon them. Sure, there's an enjoyably ostentatious villain, but one that retains the characteristic flare whilst still being nuanced in some small measurement, and his overblown evil scheme is shown in far more darkness than Connery or Moore ever witnessed. If we were to compare it to its inspirations than it's certainly infinitely more subversive and madcap than any of those. However, it's 2015; profanity, violence and sardonic self-awareness are not exactly rare commodities. While the film's commitment to over-the-top bloodiness and tongue-in-cheek references are amusing, it is by no means as daring or as different as its dialogue portends to be, repeatedly dropping out self-satisfied lines like "This isn't that kind of movie". It suffers too from the inevitable comparison to Kick-Ass, which is both a better movie in general and made several of the same jokes as Kingsman (such as violent, rapid massacres set to jaunty music) but to higher extremes, as well as making them 5 years earlier.
However, judged in their own right, the action is pleasingly visceral and the comedy mostly works; Jackson's fainthearted villain steals most of the film's best moments with his reluctance and even disgust at his own actions. It must be said, however, that with such an outlandish character paired to an actor who can be so delightfully bombastic when called upon, the results are a little disappointing and unnecessarily underplayed. The same could be said of Michael Caine's role, which only benefits from an actor of such merit on the delivery of his last line. Colin Firth, however, proves what Summer Glau, Liam Neeson and Chloe Moretz also have: namely that the greatest action stars are those who look least capable of it. Watching Firth demolish an entire room of enemies is made so much more entertaining by his perennial stiff upper lip and droll delivery. A sequence in a church that takes the most advantage of this is by far and away the best scene of the film, as sanguinary and far-out as anything from Millar and Matthew Vaughn's previous team-up.
A bit smug, a bit simple, and (most upsettingly of all, considering what was promised) a bit familiar, Kingsman: The Secret Service is not a fantastic film. It is, however, a highly satisfying one, possessing as much savviness as it does chutzpah, and an impeccable casting choice in Firth. While it doesn't really do much substandardly, it also doesn't do anything exceptionally, and for such a self-aware film, it often forgets to subvert or pastiche the clichés that it's running with. In an ideal world, this middling level of inventiveness and boldness would be average - as it is, it does remain a cut above much of the competion and certainly worth some attention
Far from simply being a tribute to old spy movies, Kingsman: The Secret Service is in many ways both an update and an improvement upon them. Sure, there's an enjoyably ostentatious villain, but one that retains the characteristic flare whilst still being nuanced in some small measurement, and his overblown evil scheme is shown in far more darkness than Connery or Moore ever witnessed. If we were to compare it to its inspirations than it's certainly infinitely more subversive and madcap than any of those. However, it's 2015; profanity, violence and sardonic self-awareness are not exactly rare commodities. While the film's commitment to over-the-top bloodiness and tongue-in-cheek references are amusing, it is by no means as daring or as different as its dialogue portends to be, repeatedly dropping out self-satisfied lines like "This isn't that kind of movie". It suffers too from the inevitable comparison to Kick-Ass, which is both a better movie in general and made several of the same jokes as Kingsman (such as violent, rapid massacres set to jaunty music) but to higher extremes, as well as making them 5 years earlier.
However, judged in their own right, the action is pleasingly visceral and the comedy mostly works; Jackson's fainthearted villain steals most of the film's best moments with his reluctance and even disgust at his own actions. It must be said, however, that with such an outlandish character paired to an actor who can be so delightfully bombastic when called upon, the results are a little disappointing and unnecessarily underplayed. The same could be said of Michael Caine's role, which only benefits from an actor of such merit on the delivery of his last line. Colin Firth, however, proves what Summer Glau, Liam Neeson and Chloe Moretz also have: namely that the greatest action stars are those who look least capable of it. Watching Firth demolish an entire room of enemies is made so much more entertaining by his perennial stiff upper lip and droll delivery. A sequence in a church that takes the most advantage of this is by far and away the best scene of the film, as sanguinary and far-out as anything from Millar and Matthew Vaughn's previous team-up.
A bit smug, a bit simple, and (most upsettingly of all, considering what was promised) a bit familiar, Kingsman: The Secret Service is not a fantastic film. It is, however, a highly satisfying one, possessing as much savviness as it does chutzpah, and an impeccable casting choice in Firth. While it doesn't really do much substandardly, it also doesn't do anything exceptionally, and for such a self-aware film, it often forgets to subvert or pastiche the clichés that it's running with. In an ideal world, this middling level of inventiveness and boldness would be average - as it is, it does remain a cut above much of the competion and certainly worth some attention
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