Review of Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) by Josh K — 02 Aug 2015

Matthew Vaughn sets his sights on the spy genre, after having tackled two comic book films: Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. Kingman: The Secret Service does to the spy genre, as Kick-Ass did to the comic book genre: creating a wild, graphic violent picture of a well-loved genre. This film mainly acts as a love letter to old spy movies: such as 1960s James Bond films. The film isn't really a parody, while it is serious, it includes sprinkles of comedy, but isn't on the same level of Austin Powers. The filmmakers takes themselves serious throughout the film, while the film itself appears like a huge over exaggeration of a popular genre, with a good result.

The film begins with a raid in the Middle East, where a secret agent sacrifices himself to save another agent. Feeling guilt, Harry Hart, delivers a medal to the agent's widow and son, while also offering his protection. The film jumps forward seventeen years later, where an agent attempts to save a professor, but is killed in the process. This results in Arthur opening the door for a series of recruits to replace the dead agent, one of whom is the son of the earlier agent. Throughout the film, Hart attempts to investigate the mysterious Valentine, a rich billionaire.

The film acts as a terrific, over the top homage of Bond. Colin Firth, in his first action film role, which he excels at, is terrific as Harry Hart, who is said to pay homage toward David Niven. Firth perfectly resembles Bond at times in the film, with us wondering if Firth could have played the classic agent. Firth dispels perfect timing in his performance, while also making a convincing agent. Taron Egerton, as Eggsy, works alongside Firth perfectly and also steals the film when necessary, while also proving himself as another good action star. Egerton successfully takes the character from a brash, punk to that of a tough, gentleman agent, showing great range in the process. As usual, Samuel L. Jackson proves that he can depict a villain, even in the middle of doing a number of Marvel films. Jackson is truly menacing, always doing something unexpected. Jackson depicts his character with a lisp, as a homage toward the villains of several James Bond films that had some kind of notable disfigurement. Sofia Boutella is outstanding as Jackson's henchwoman, who has bladed prosthetic legs, which adds to several outstanding, bloody scenes. Mark Strong does a great job going away from his villain roles into a supporting, Q like goodguy known as Merlin, Michael Caine is grand as always in the role of Arthur and Sophie Cookson is terrific as Roxy, who holds her own through the film and isn't created merely as a love interest. Mark Hamill also makes a great cameo as a kidnapped professor.

The film seems to owe much of itself to Bond. The cinematography, by George Richmond, is very beautiful, at times feeling similar to an old Bond film, with a comic book feel. The lighting supports every different location in the film. The music by Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson is action packed with constant spy themes, while there are even moments where you can pinpoint the distinguished Bond theme. The use of older songs in the film, such as Give It Up by KC and the Sunshine Band, are used perfectly, supporting the scenes that they appear in.

Many of the action scenes are well-thought out, including the opening and an amazing bar fight with Firth against a group of punks. The best scene, which is probably this year's best action scene and probably even beats action scenes in earlier action films (including the scene between the Bride and the Crazy 88s in Kill Bill Vol. 1), focuses on Firth in a Kentucky church against a group of religious crazies. The scene is over the top, violent and thought out perfectly, with Firth showing his action skills perfectly. While the scene is over the top, it is so much fun to watch and is hands down the film's best action scene.

While the film acts mostly as an origin story and there may be those who will find fault with it, it works well with the film, allowing two stories to converge: Hart's investigation into Valentine and Eggsy's training to become a spy. The training sequences are incredible, always with something unexpected along the way. The use of Arthurian themes are also perfect to the film, with the codenames for the agents having strong Arthurian bearing with a strong significance.

The film is perfect love letter toward the spy genre, while Vaughn outdoes it and proves in the process that he is a director that can successfully change any genre around on its knees. Job well done not only to Vaughn, but also to everyone involved in the film. This is probably this year's best spy film so far, until Spectre arrives that is.