Review of Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) by James S — 05 Dec 2015

A refreshing standalone spy movie with heart, action, and a lot of cheek. Vaughan has created a picture that both feels familiar and breaks new ground.

It starts off looking like a standard plot: young street kid gets recruited by an elite society that promises to teach him how to be a man while an evil dude does evil stuff, yadda yadda. There are plenty of wrinkles mixed into the formula: the shock factor of the training exercises, the affability of the villain, and the plot twists, which primarily seem to be subverting spy films in general, and Bond films in specific.

There is some really great acting here as well. Taran Edgerton is really fun as Egsy, and Colin Firth plays Galahad with style. Michael Caine is good as the grizzled leader, and Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as the villain.

There was a lot of cursing and blood, as befits the film's R rating. Consume at your discretion; I didn't find it as distracting as I thought it would be.

This was a pleasant surprise. I am gaining a lot of respect for Matthew Vaughan.