Review of Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) by Júlio A — 18 Oct 2017

Kingsman, a.k.a. The Single Most English Movie Ever Made, was far less funny, and far less exciting, than the hype would suggest. It's great to see Samuel L. Jackson playing somewhat against type, with a pronounced lisp that constantly offsets the menacing and threatening quotes his contract dictates he say in every movie he's involved in.

It's also fun having Colin Firth play a man who is at once debonair and dignified, but can turn on a dime and wipe out a mob of baddies. Unfortunately, the jokes are far too thinly spread, and in a 2+ hour movie, there's not enough laughs to sustain that length.

It also suffers from poking fun at familiar targets, such as Bondesque megalomaniacal villains with elaborate schemes, something Austin Powers beautifully satirised almost 2 decades ago. The cast is the main reason to see it, with names like Caine, Hamill, Strong and the aforementioned Firth and Jackson having a tonne of fun in the midst of all the silliness.

It's a let-down when it comes to comedy, and the action scenes are edited so erratically that it can be hard to decipher who is being attacked and by which person. You should see it once if you love the big-name stars, but you're not missing anything special if you don't.