If you’re looking at Kingsman: The Secret Service strictly as a critic you’re going to walk away with complaints. It’s too long, too much CGI, doesn’t really amount to much, etc. However, if you can put your critical goggles aside and look at it purely as a piece of entertainment, you’ll find a lot to enjoy in what amounts to a comic lover’s take on James Bond, made for an ADD audience. Of course, I have to mention at the outset, the completely unnecessary anal sex joke at the end of the film, which actually betrays the character and the kind of movie this is, but I guess director and co-writer Matthew Vaughn felt he needed at least one bit of adolescent potty humor of which the rest of the film manages to avoid.
The movie itself is a comic book adaptation from the writers of “Kick Ass“, Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, which Vaughn also adapted for the big screen back in 2010, and centers on the idea of a super-secret spy organization known as the Kingsman. One such “Kingsman” is Harry Hart, aka Galahad, played by Colin Firth. While Firth is unlikely action star, I got the impression he didn’t do many of his own stunts and even then it felt like a lot of CGI was used to pull off a lot of what took place here, much in the way the Wachowskis used CGI for Neo in Matrix Reloaded.
The story finds its footing as one of the Kingsman is killed in the line of duty, investigating the disappearance of several high profile names across the globe. The loss means a void must be filled in the Kingsman roster and as each member offers up a recruit, Harry chooses Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Taron Egerton), whose father was once a member of the Kingsman and a man to which Harry feels he owes a debt.
Eggsy is your typical “wrong side of the tracks” kind of character, using plenty of South London slang similar to that which was heard in Joe Cornish‘s Attack the Block, though he clearly isn’t meant to be pigeonholed as some kind of mindless thug, but more of a child that lost his way.
Samuel L. Jackson serves as the villain, Valentine, a billionaire with a weak stomach for blood and a comical lisp as he channels Russell Simmons, and beside him is his henchman (or henchwoman in this case), Gazelle (Sofia Boutella), an amputee with blades for legs. There’s no real back-story on either character and while their goal isn’t global domination, there is a slight bend in that direction as some might even argue Valentine’s reasoning, while harsh and inhumane, is actually quite logically sound.
The film is sure to be judged, however, in its treatment of women. Throughout the training process Eggsy’s primary competition for the open slot is Roxy (Sophie Cookson), whose character isn’t so much defined by her promise but her fear of heights. And given how things turn out, it’s a shame it’s Eggsy that finds himself knee deep in action while Roxy is nothing more than an afterthought.
I can’t say much about Gazelle as she’s playing a henchman no different than Jaws, Oddjob, or any other number of stereotypical, one note characters from the past, but, as I mentioned in the opening, the moment the film’s hero is offered anal sex for saving the world, you’ve got to wonder if cinema will ever get out of this misogynistic loop.
Overall, though, Vaughn has proven time and again he can deliver a solid feature, and, in fact, I’ve enjoyed, on some level, everything he’s made. In comparison to his past features, Kingsman is probably his most tonally succinct film since Layer Cake. In as much Layer Cake was pretty much a straight forward gangster tale, Kingsman is a straight forward, violent romp. Don’t go looking for social commentary or pretending Vaughn is saying anything more than Hey, watch this head explode! Even exploding heads go poof with mini hydrogen bomb explosions as this movie is doing everything but taking itself seriously.
My main complaint, both as a critic and as someone watching this as pure entertainment, was the fight choreography. Vaughn attempted to ratchet this film up to such extremes that the CGI elements of some of the fight sequences look quite sloppy. That said, there’s a melee in a church that will likely be remembered as one of the more adrenaline-fueled scenes of the year.
Additionally, if there was ever a film that would have benefit from a celebrity cameo or two, or even a better soundtrack, it’s Kingsman, but for the most part it had me yearning for proper, R-rated spy films. As much as I can sit back and enjoy this goofy little look back at the campiest days of the James Bond franchise, it’s also a film I don’t feel a need to see in a theater (other than that church scene, which is great). There’s nothing particularly cinematic about it, the filmmaking isn’t anything to brag about and while Egerton was a good fit for the character I can’t say he brought anything to the role that elevated it. The whole time I was thinking how much better it might have been to have someone like Jack O’Connell or even John Boyega in such a role.
The career trajectory of Vaughn is interesting seeing how close he came to going from Layer Cake to directing his Layer Cake star, Daniel Craig, in the relaunch of the James Bond franchise with Casino Royale. Had that come to pass what kind of filmmaker would Vaughn be? Layer Cake remains his best film to date and ever since he’s turned into more of a cartoonish, comic book filmmaker with Stardust, Kick Ass, X-Men and now this. In 2004 I would have loved to see Vaughn move to Bond, but 11 years later it seems he’s probably best suited for these types of films, sort of the latest iteration of Luc Besson. Nothing wrong with that, I like Besson, he makes (and produces) fun, campy films, but I don’t expect him to ever make anything as great as The Professional ever again.
