Kingsman: The Secret Service

Based on the graphic novel The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, co-writer/director Matthew Vaughn has done the incredible--made a movie better than the comic--and the comic was already awesome! 

Colin Firth stars as Harry Hart, a very well-dressed, dapper English fellow, who is really a Kingsman--a "knight" in a very secret, well-funded, and unaffiliated (as in, not beholden to any government) spy organization.  As the film opens, an operation in the Middle East goes sideways, and a Kingsman is killed. 

Harry comforts the widow and her young son, "Eggsy" (real name Gary), and offers them a phone number for one favor to be cashed in.  Years later, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is all grown up, and is running in the mean streets of London.  His mother has a gangster boyfriend, and when Eggsy runs afoul of his gang, he steals a car and ends up in jail.  He calls the secret number, and Harry bails him out.  

At the same time, an operation in Switzerland goes wrong, with a Kingsman killed trying to rescue a kidnapped climate scientist (played by Mark Hamilll.)  When a Kingsman falls, all the knights nominate one person to enter the training program, to cull down to one recruit to take the fallen knight's place.  Harry takes another look at Eggsy, who has great grades and gymnastic skills, but a poor attitude.  Harry believes the Kingsman are doing themselves a disservice by being class snobs, and he nominates Eggsy as his candidate.  

The rest of the film details Eggsy's lunatic training program (which seems designed to almost kill the candidates!) and Harry's investigation into the missing scientist, and other missing leaders.  His search brings him into the path of eccentric tech billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), and a conspiracy that threatens to kill a lot of the world's citizens.  (All for a good cause, it should be said.)  

I won't detail Valentine's plan, as it is very shocking and should not be spoiled.  It is obvious that Kingsman is a bit of a cheeky take on James Bond and other spy thrillers, but there are two approaches you can take to this kind of parody.  

• The Airplane or Austin Powers route, and go for full-blown, parodic comedy.  
• The Scream and Shaun of the Dead tact, which is to make fun of some of the conventions, but still take the genre seriously, and use it to make specific thematic points. 

Kingsman takes the second approach, and winds up with an action film that is just flat-out fun, with kinetic action sequences, colorful dialogue, and wonderful characters.  At its heart, Kingsman is a critique of the class struggle in England (which is better than it used to be, but has never gone away.)  

Firth is a revelation as the butt-kicking would-be Bond, and Egerton steals the show with his cheeky but naive personality (and innate good nature.)  Great supporting work from Mark Strong and Michael Caine does not hurt, and Jackson seems to be having a ball playing the villain here.  

Be warned--the film is a bit violent (particularly during one segment), but the point seems to be that James Bond films would not go there, but hey, we are going full-bore on what would really go down.  I had so much fun with this energetic film that never forgets to add the right touch of levity, but never mocks the genre.  I wanted to see it again right away, so that's my endorsement, right there.  

Grade: A-

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