Kingsman: The Secret Service Review
I am terrible at keeping up with this blogging filmy malarkey. I'll write up half of a review, get distracted close the window and forget to save it. This means out there in the vastness of the internet are half reviews of Birdman, Whiplash and Boyhood. So I'm determined now to write a review of a film in one sitting and not delete it, this is man vs machine.
Anyway, Kingsman. I must admit the trailers for this film left me as excited as Nicholas Cage being offered a serious, brooding role. It seemed like a chav version of Agent Cody banks, a chavvy misfit turns into a spy, hilarity ensues. But after a little provocation and persuasion (the argument being that Colin Firth was actiony in it) it was decided that the cinema date of the night would be Kingsman. It's pretty bloody great.
I'm going to take a quick aside and discuss Mark Millar, the creator of the comic that this film is based on. He is a pretty bad comic book writer. Seriously, if you've ever read any of the Kick Ass series, or the book this was based on or Wanted, you'll see that his concepts are brilliant but his execution is really poor. It seems he comes up with a tagline and then makes up a story to go with it: 'What if superheroes were actually normal, everyday people' 'What if there were no heroes, only supervillains' 'What if the joker was batman' (that last one was actually on promotional material for Nemesis).
In Kingsman there's the interesting concept of 'What if a working class fellow was James Bond' essentially. Not a terrible concept really, but the comic is just bad. The sensibilities of Millar are to make everything dark and depressing and cruel. This is where Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldsmith come in, essentially. Matthew Vaughn seems to go into every film with child like abandon (not a bad thing) and Jane Goldsmith (writer) is brilliant at taking small concepts and building a world around them. They did it for Kick Ass and now they've done it for Kingsman.
Ramble over. The film boils down to the Kingsman, a secret group of spies unaffiliated to any government overseeing the overall good of everyone (based on their own morality etc, I guess it's best to gloss over that part as the film does). It's typical old school spy fodder, madman wants to take over the world with a ludicrous plan, the Kingsmans (apparently they aren't Kingsmen) are here to stop him. Jesus, this review is already a bit long and that bit there is usually my first paragraph. Onward then I guess, feel free to bail at any point.
We follow Eggsy, the son of an ex agent who is living on a council estate with his Mum and her abusive boyfriend. This section of the film seems like it was written by someone who once walked past a council estate ten years ago and vaguely remembers seeing people in tracksuits, but it kind of fits with the whole hyper reality vibe. He is then brought into training for the secretive Kingsman and stuff happens, essentially. You don't really need to know what stuff as that would be telling but there's a mix of traditional spy fare training sequences and out there stuff which is fun.
The plot really isn't the point here though, its just there to make the jokes, the action and the spy throwbacks happen. Everyone here just seems like they're having fun and its infectious, especially the director. He gets to utilise some cool effects and choreography although some of it seems a bit dated (look out for a terribly CGI'd brick wall near the beginning), but it just works here. The other thing that works is Colin Firth, boy does he work. In the same vein as Liam Neeson, Firth could now legitimately be seen as a go to guy for action. Stiff upper lip action, gentlemanly but action nonetheless. The only crime the film commits is to take him out of the story for such long stretches of the plot, to focus on the less interesting Eggsy.
That isn't to say that Eggsy isn't interesting, it's just to say you're against Colin Firth as a super suave spy, you're always going to come off as second best. The actor always seems a little out of place with his 'chav'ness, especially when the film decides he's going to monologue about the rich's silver spoons etc which didn't really need that exposition as the juxtaposition was obvious. He grows into his character and is a perfectly likable lead towards the end when he;s turned suave spy fellow, even if the overblown nod to James Bond that finishes the main film may diminish that for some (though some may find it hilarious).
At this point I must admit I've written a lot but not actually truly said what makes the film fun. If you remember that scene in Skyfall where Bond whips the dust cover off the old Aston Martin and everyone in the cinema cheered, it's a film of that that's rated got blood and guts. It's harking back to old school spy schlock but putting new ridiculous spins on it. Never quite entering into the realms of full on spoof a la Austin Powers but towing the line. As long as you leave your brain at the door you're golden. As one review put it 'Batshit Bond' 8 out of 10
Anyway, Kingsman. I must admit the trailers for this film left me as excited as Nicholas Cage being offered a serious, brooding role. It seemed like a chav version of Agent Cody banks, a chavvy misfit turns into a spy, hilarity ensues. But after a little provocation and persuasion (the argument being that Colin Firth was actiony in it) it was decided that the cinema date of the night would be Kingsman. It's pretty bloody great.
I'm going to take a quick aside and discuss Mark Millar, the creator of the comic that this film is based on. He is a pretty bad comic book writer. Seriously, if you've ever read any of the Kick Ass series, or the book this was based on or Wanted, you'll see that his concepts are brilliant but his execution is really poor. It seems he comes up with a tagline and then makes up a story to go with it: 'What if superheroes were actually normal, everyday people' 'What if there were no heroes, only supervillains' 'What if the joker was batman' (that last one was actually on promotional material for Nemesis).
In Kingsman there's the interesting concept of 'What if a working class fellow was James Bond' essentially. Not a terrible concept really, but the comic is just bad. The sensibilities of Millar are to make everything dark and depressing and cruel. This is where Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldsmith come in, essentially. Matthew Vaughn seems to go into every film with child like abandon (not a bad thing) and Jane Goldsmith (writer) is brilliant at taking small concepts and building a world around them. They did it for Kick Ass and now they've done it for Kingsman.
Ramble over. The film boils down to the Kingsman, a secret group of spies unaffiliated to any government overseeing the overall good of everyone (based on their own morality etc, I guess it's best to gloss over that part as the film does). It's typical old school spy fodder, madman wants to take over the world with a ludicrous plan, the Kingsmans (apparently they aren't Kingsmen) are here to stop him. Jesus, this review is already a bit long and that bit there is usually my first paragraph. Onward then I guess, feel free to bail at any point.
We follow Eggsy, the son of an ex agent who is living on a council estate with his Mum and her abusive boyfriend. This section of the film seems like it was written by someone who once walked past a council estate ten years ago and vaguely remembers seeing people in tracksuits, but it kind of fits with the whole hyper reality vibe. He is then brought into training for the secretive Kingsman and stuff happens, essentially. You don't really need to know what stuff as that would be telling but there's a mix of traditional spy fare training sequences and out there stuff which is fun.
The plot really isn't the point here though, its just there to make the jokes, the action and the spy throwbacks happen. Everyone here just seems like they're having fun and its infectious, especially the director. He gets to utilise some cool effects and choreography although some of it seems a bit dated (look out for a terribly CGI'd brick wall near the beginning), but it just works here. The other thing that works is Colin Firth, boy does he work. In the same vein as Liam Neeson, Firth could now legitimately be seen as a go to guy for action. Stiff upper lip action, gentlemanly but action nonetheless. The only crime the film commits is to take him out of the story for such long stretches of the plot, to focus on the less interesting Eggsy.
That isn't to say that Eggsy isn't interesting, it's just to say you're against Colin Firth as a super suave spy, you're always going to come off as second best. The actor always seems a little out of place with his 'chav'ness, especially when the film decides he's going to monologue about the rich's silver spoons etc which didn't really need that exposition as the juxtaposition was obvious. He grows into his character and is a perfectly likable lead towards the end when he;s turned suave spy fellow, even if the overblown nod to James Bond that finishes the main film may diminish that for some (though some may find it hilarious).
At this point I must admit I've written a lot but not actually truly said what makes the film fun. If you remember that scene in Skyfall where Bond whips the dust cover off the old Aston Martin and everyone in the cinema cheered, it's a film of that that's rated got blood and guts. It's harking back to old school spy schlock but putting new ridiculous spins on it. Never quite entering into the realms of full on spoof a la Austin Powers but towing the line. As long as you leave your brain at the door you're golden. As one review put it 'Batshit Bond' 8 out of 10