This
self-referential spy-film romp bemoans the modern era in which movies
about the world of espionage have become too serious, and even
contains characters that remark as such. If there's anything one
needs to squash prior to watching Kingsman: The Secret Service,
it's the notion that what we're going to get within it's 2-hour plus
running time is meant to be taken seriously, even if one might read
into it some anti-oppression subtext that reverberates underneath.
The phrase that something is "on steroids" is a trite phrase by this
point, but it would certainly be apropos for this latest action film
by Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First
Class, Stardust), who once again
adapts a Mark Millar comic book to the big screen (after
Kick-Ass), and does it with his own
inimitable panache. It's playing with genre tropes throughout,
sometimes even commenting upon them as they happen. We have
suave and debonair good guys, maniacal super-villains, hi-tech
gadgetry, chase scenes, an arsenal of weaponry, and cheeky dialogue
galore.
King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table provides the basis for The
Kingsmen, a noble group of intensely trained secret agents who
regularly thwart nefarious deeds around the world before they occur,
and therefore are invisible to the public eye. Harry Hart
(Firth, Before I Go To Sleep),
codename Galahad, is a seasoned pro whose life is saved by one of his
fellow Kingsmen, and in return for his debt of life, he gives the
man's young son a medal that will grant him a special favor in a time
of need. Over a decade later, the boy, nicknamed Eggsy (Egerton,
Testament of Youth), is now a young man, and uses the medal to
give himself a get-out-of-jail-free card, and then earns a try-out for
the Kingsmen, competing against other young men and women for the
honor in fighting for the venerable secret service.
As this is going on, a lisping billionaire named Richmond Valentine
(Jackson, Captain America: The
Winter Soldier) is busy implementing a grand scheme
to cure the world of the global warming issue, but his solution puts
the life of billions in mortal jeopardy.
Kingsman is a grand escapist action-comedy by a
writer-director at the peak of his abilities, at least in terms of
putting together an energetic, escapist comic-book lark that one wants
to watch time and again for the sheer adrenaline rush. Its
premise is wafer-thin, built entirely on an exhilarating, funny
adventure, but for what it is, it's definitely an irreverent,
entertaining head-rush worth seeking out for those times when you need
that jolt of cinematic caffeine.
Vaughn smartly crafts this screenplay to squeeze the juice out of any
lulls it can. Another origin story and lengthy set of
competition
sequences could have proven tedious, but he wisely intersperses the
Eggsy-in-training scenes with those in which the main plot is hatching, not only
keeping the focus from becoming stale, but also increasing the
cumulative momentum and upping the stakes as it goes along. It
also does get us immediately up to speed on the organization and its
mission, as well as providing just enough backstory to understand its
many off-the-wall allusions to its past while piquing our interest to
learn more.
Like the superspies it portrays, Kingsman is cool, sleek,
skillful, and bold. There is certainly an edginess to it that
could put off some viewers (it is quite violent, a bit racy, and
contains a scene of child-in peril that may turn off a few moms),
especially in how it is determined to be so devilishly gleeful in its
cavalier attitude towards depictions of violence. And yet,
Vaughn's film moves along at such a brisk clip, whatever unease may
occasionally occur doesn't have enough time to settle in before we're
given a new setting and situation to mostly take our mind off of it.
Vaughn rips a chapter from the Quentin Tarantino manual of showcasing
ultra-violence by making the victims the abusive-powers-that-be that many people don't mind
seeing get their comeuppance -- racists, politicians, megalomaniacs,
and the uncaring 1%-ers. A massacre in a church could have
played far more differently had they not already been shown to be a
Westboro-esque hate group, and a musical-montage of explosive
decapitations might have been far less tongue-in-cheek were the
victims not clearly in cahoots to do the same to others before meeting
their colorful, smoky demise.
Smartly cast, with Firth in particular giving a very commanding
performance as an action hero, Egerton is a terrific find in the role
as the neophyte we're meant to relate to, Eggsy, who goes from punky
hooligan to embrace of the role of hero in a way that gets us on
board. Jackson is a bit cartoonish with his hip-hop mogul attire
and lisp (shades of Russell Simmons), but his persona definitely is
different from the super-villain norm, so it ends up turning a
potential miscasting into an asset, especially since he clearly is
enjoying himself in the role, going firmly against his Nick Fury
archetype.
For as much of a rush as it is, fatigue does start to wear in during
the prolonged climax, featuring the aforementioned indulgence of
potential forced filicide (given the global stakes, it's a cheap trick
to show one prominent toddler in danger) It is also punctuated by an
attempt at a subversion of super-spy coital wrap-up that feels a bit
incongruous with the rest of the film, and with the character of young Eggsy as a whole. You already had us, Matthew, so no need to
push the boundaries of the characters or narrative beyond the breaking
point to get a reaction. Still, it might have been funny in
Bond-spoof fashion if the words, "The End" appeared on the screen in
the moment that a bare bum shows up on the screen.
Tonal quibbling notwithstanding, attempts to push boundaries and upend
traditional tropes will always ruffle the occasional feather, so even
if 10% of the material makes you feel uneasy, uncomfortable, or offended, there's
enough solid entertainment here to justify the time spent, even if your
good nature gets jostled around a bit. In what could be the
first of a new series (and intended to be), the only question remains
when it comes to a film that already has its audacity cranked to 11
is what can it do to out over-the-top itself in a sequel?
-- There is an extra scene shortly following the start of the end
credits.
