KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE
R
129 minutes
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons
CAST
Colin Firth...Harry Hart
Samuel L. Jackson...Valentine
Taron Egerton...Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin
All The King's Horses And All The Kingsmen...
Gary, a guy in his early twenties, becomes a member of the Kingsmen. This organization is a very exclusive, private sector spy agency. With an arduous training program, full of unsavory, WASPY classmates. It's a familiar dynamic, like Brendan Fraser in SCHOOL TIES. Except Brendan Fraser was Jewish, not poor. But come on, that's almost as bad. All the class warfare is easy to dismiss in the States here, but that's a very real thing in British society. Just look at the blonde kid from Harry Potter. He spent every moment trying to antagonize that dorky kid with 'glasses', nay, the dorky kid with wire frames, those glasses he wore, they didn't have any lenses. It was all just an affectation. Which made me loathe this Harry Potter character. As a result, I was kind of rooting for the blonde kid in every HARRY POTTER film. Yes, he was a dick, but he was a righteous one at that.
This movie has a classic fantasy structure. A hero with a dead father, goes on an epic quest to save the world. But none of these familiar elements detract from the film itself. KINGSMAN is a very self-aware movie. The cliché elements are satirical.
More On Harry Potter...
This picture doesn't have too many flaws . But it is a little too fantastical at times. Like a HARRY POTTER movie, it takes place in the present day, but there's absolutely no grounding in reality. Don't get me wrong, this film is fun, but it all feels pointless. That being said, the sharp, self-aware humor, and the tolerable, cartoonish violence helped me forget about the meaninglessness of it all.
Back To That Movie I Was Reviewing
THE KINGSMAN is worth seeing, but don't expect anything too deep. In the words of Bill Cosby, 'all you got to do is sit back and enjoy the ride'. For clarification, I'm not talking about the comedian, I'm referring to another Bill Cosby that I went to high school with. I think he was an (alleged) serial rapist.
Final Verdict: 85 out of 100