Overview
Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.
Another comic-book adaptation? Yep. A Very Stylish One too! The plot is not all that relevant but here you go: street kid gets recruited into secret spy agency Kingsman and things happen.
It is at heart a grand spoof of the old Bond movies from Roger Moore’s days – but updated to today’s standards of action and visual spectacle – or maybe even setting some new standards at that.
The spy kid Eggsy isn’t really a particularly interesting character in the story, but is played well by Taron Egerton. The real lead is Colin Firth as Harry Hart. Very refreshing to see him play an action hero – and he does so very well.
Then there is the evil genius played by Samuel L Jackson. This is where we get too much into spoof territory. Where the rest of the movie walks the line between spoof and action flick fairly well, the Evil Genius and his Evil Plan have crossed that line way way too far into spoof territory… From his look, to his speech impediment, to his Evil Plan – it is just too silly. Which is a shame really.
There are some awesome (and gruesome) action scenes – in particular the church scene is spectacular both in design, choreography, photography and editing; almost Tarantinoesque (not quite though). But there are also some scenes that veer too much into comic book style that really ends up feeling cartoonish (you’ll know when see it).
Overall it is a fun watch let down by a weak Evil Genius (both in terms of plot and acting) and a few too cartoonish effects. However, it may well be the first of a new franchise…