Kingsman: the Secret Service is the fifth directorial effort from director Matthew Vaughan and yet another film that I thoroughly enjoyed. I should mention that I have been a fan of Mark Vaughan's work since Layer Cake, one of my favorite British gangster movies and Vaughan's first feature. So I admit I'm a little biased, I loved Kick Ass, I really loved X-Men: First Class, and I was so excited when I heard about this film. Yes, I know I left out Stardust, yes, it's because I really didn't like it.
Based on yet another comic by Mark Millar, Kingsman is a breathtaking re-imagination of the whole British spy genre…and then some. Interestingly enough this is not the first Mark Millar project Vaughan has helmed, the first being Kick –Ass 1 (the better one). Vaughan is also credited as “co-plotter” on The Secret Service, the Millar comic on which Kingsman is based. When I saw the film, evidence of a passion project jumped off the screen at me, and realizing that he had a hand in writing the comic makes a good case for why that is. What I mean is when you see this film you can tell you're looking at one director's opportunity to, for lack of a better word, “spaz”, lose his ever-loving mind on screen with material he really likes. The result is a well-paced film that not only breaks new ground in its approach to the genre, but also brings some new feeling to onscreen fisticuffs and “gwai lo” flavored chop-socky. Speaking of which, I would be remised if I left out Colin Firth's surprising turn as an ass kicking super spy, which was the last thing I would have ever thought of before seeing him in the Kingsman. If the church scene doesn't make you a believer than you, sir or madam, are dead inside.
When I saw the Kingsmen this past weekend I really hadn't researched it at all, I had only seen the trailer and the sneak peek version of the infamous “pub scene” and I was champing at the bit to see one of my favorite newer directors go off on a shoot ‘em up style tangent, the British spy angle was but icing on the cake. The hyperactive, frenetic, and often tongue-in-cheek sensibilities of Kingsman make it irresistibly charming. It manages to go hard and yet not take itself too seriously, turning its mild schizophrenia into delirious, blood thirsty fantasia. On the other hand I could have really done without Sam Jackson's silly lisp, I personally found it a bit distracting at certain points in the movie. But that, for me, is the movie's biggest sin, and one I'm prepared to forgive just on the merit of the church scene alone. Did I say church scene already? Church. Scene.
Adding to the awesome is Hong Kong action luminary Bradley James Allen, known for being that talented Westerner on Jackie Chan's venerated stunt team, first seen battling Jackie Chan to a standstill in 1999's Gorgeous. It still ranks to this day as one of my favorite Jackie battles. What I didn't know was that he had gone on to do action for such cool and innovative projects as The Chronicles of Riddick, Ninja Assassin,(which admittedly wasn't a great film but did have some really fun action sequences), Kick Ass, Scott Pilgrim, and Pacific Rim. Kingsman is his best work by far, due, in no small part, to Vaughan's solid direction and some top-notch camera work by George Richmond former steadicam operator who makes (an awesome) debut as Cinematographer on the film. I realize I may be going a bit deep here for some of you, but the camera work is really part of what makes this film so cool.
All in all this is a fun flick, and a great take on a genre that doesn't have a great deal of variety. Bond, Bourne and Hunt are all somewhat similar. Kingsman's Eggsy Unwin is a punk rock remix of sorts and makes no apologies for its argument for the value of the common man. It is, in fact, Eggsy's “hood” mentality that makes him interesting. Already hinting at a possible sequel, Kingsman could definitely give its predecessors a run for the money, and maybe pave the way for some variety in a waning genre many action fans love in the process. In fact the only thing I'd like to see more than a sequel is an Idris Elba Bond movie. Can we make that happen?
Brad Allan vs Jackie Chan:
Kingsman, Pub Fight:
