Kingsman: The Secret Service (Matthew Vaughn)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb / Wiki

[Henry Gale]

Wow. I don't know what the marketing did to keep my expectations where they were, but this fucking thing felt like it came out of nowhere. I thought I knew what I was generally walking into but it genuinely blew me away.

Maybe it's just this time of year, having been buried in fairly dour prestige movies, that something so unabashedly, outrageously exciting and just concerned with being FUN made it all the more effective in contrast, but that doesn't take away from how insane and stunningly well-crafted an action / spy picture this is. And I haven't even cared for Vaughn that much in the past! I remember liking Layer Cake as an nicely assured style piece that also acted as a perfect showcase for a charismatic Daniel Craig's future-Bond potential and Sienna Miller's general hotness, I never cared for Kick-Ass, I think First Class is okay but that overall it's too dull in its storytelling gusto and it flounders whenever Fassbender, McAvoy and Bacon aren't on screen, and I've only seen bits of Stardust (even though I probably liked what I saw more than those other three).

So needless to say I think this is the best work he's ever done. It's quiet inventiveness coated in just enough meta-ness makes every familiar turn sucker punch you with some of its vicious jaw-dropping left turns. The performances are all really lively and funny (even a rare live-action Mark Hamill appearing as a hammy English professor is awesome), the action is pretty much a blend of Vaughn's Kick-Ass work and Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim / World's End style, except with stakes and crazy thematic edge that make it rise well above those glimmers of noticeable routine. And even from a cinematography standpoint, as a digital endeavour (despite some questionably shuttered moments throughout) it often gives as good a representation of the anamorphic detail and distinct colour palette of this type of British action movie look as celluloid itself. A top shelf 35mm impression.

So yeah, I'm just beyond impressed with this. I didn't even know it was R-rated until it opened with a double shot of F-bombs, and it makes pretty damn satisfying use of that playing field violence-wise (if feeling a bit more in the UK "15" zone). There's one sequence right before the third act that ended in me (and others) needing to say "Holy fuck." that I basically want everyone in America to see, and let it incite as much political hysteria as possible. It is glorious, and the rest ain't too shabby either. There's so much in it that I simply don't want to talk about until it's out to keep it all as effectively surprising as it was for me.

It might not completely reinvent the genre -- though I'm not sure that's really its goal, nor does it have to be -- but by paying its utmost respect to the lighter, wackier conventions of the past (everything from early Bond to Our Man Flint, or hell, even Top Secret!), planting itself firmly in our present, and blending it all together into something that's just self-aware enough but not afraid to take ballsy chances of its own, it ends up leaving its genre in a better, invigorated and refreshing place.

[Pop Trash]

"Hello, my name is Michael Caine. Not very many people know that."

[MadMan]

I'm hoping this comes to my area.

[Morris Schæffer]

Yeah, the trailers had me pumped. I was reminded of that one Alex Ryder movie, but whereas that one was devoid of peril, guts and thrilling action, this one looks like it marries the kids as spies angle with some real stakes and authenticity. Look forward to it.

[Henry Gale]

Yeah, the trailers had me pumped. I was reminded of that one Alex Ryder movie, but whereas that one was devoid of peril, guts and thrilling action, this one looks like it marries the kids as spies angle with some real stakes and authenticity. Look forward to it.

Not only significant stakes, but a cutting sense of humour and absolute "anything goes" sensibilities. The first 15 minutes is easily the most unremarkable, only because the movie's ballsiness only knows how to increase as it goes.

I'm hoping this comes to my area.

Well considering my possibly irrational hope that it'll become as huge a hit as possible, and also that it probably cost a fair bit of money to justify a really wide release against 50 Shades on Valentine's / President's Day weekend (I guess depending on the gender demo being targeted), you should be in the clear.

"Hello, my name is Michael Caine. Not very many people know that."

Honestly, until posting that poster and seeing this reference, I kinda forgot he was in it. It's more or less a flashy, well-employed cameo to establish the old guard of the film's universe passing onto the slyer, younger generations. This is Egerton, Firth and Strong's show, with Jackson appearing in the proper classic spy film villain capacity.

[Neclord]

Call me classist, but going by the trailers it's going to take a miracle for that chav to win me over.

[Henry Gale]

Call me classist, but going by the trailers it's going to take a miracle for that chav to win me over.

Hahah, well, it helps that the movie makes him the butt of a lot of jokes early on, and then in making him more street-smart and socially grounded than his (mostly posh) trainee opponents, covertly makes him really likeable. I also Egerton (who's apparently Welsh) in the role also helps make the character enjoyably relatable and empathetic where he shouldn't be on paper.

[dreamdead]

I feel a little bit removed from this one. Certainly the pre-credit coda with the princess is obnoxiously inane, and the post-credit sequence hits every expected beat that it just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

That said, the absurdity of the finale, shooting heads and all, almost does enough to keep me entertained through a very conventional maturing male narrative. Throughout I was far more interested in Roxy since she's a more unconventional take on the spy thriller; social class isn't enough to transform Eggsy into anything other than the typical lead of these types of films. I like that the film kept Roxy and Eggsy platonic, but I'm more interested in how sex as a weapon splits apart these two coworkers, a la The Americans. This film isn't angling for that tone, but it'd be more interesting.

At least Jackson played a different note than usual.

[TGM]

So yeah, I thought this was pretty fucking spectacular.

[max314]

Good fun.

[Dukefrukem]

Good fun.

You went and saw this before Jupiter Ascending??

[max314]

You went and saw this before Jupiter Ascending??

Kingsman came out in the UK nearly a month ago. So yes

[MadMan]

That was badass. Thanks to this movie I will never hear Freebird the same way again. Also hurray for having Mark Strong in a prominent role.

[Stay Puft]

I feel a little bit removed from this one.

I feel a lot removed from this one, but I take it I'm not the target audience. I'd take what you said about Eggsy and apply that to the whole film, really. It's full of tiresome fan service, lots of winking and nudging at the audience, but it isn't anything other than the movie it keeps saying it isn't. Which is fine, I get what it wants to be, but for somebody who didn't walk into this as a fan of the spy genre, I found a lot of it shrug-worthy. The whole thing being a standard male wish-fulfillment fantasy makes it fairly forgettable, too. Amusing and diverting, perhaps, but it evaporated after I had slept on it.

I do appreciate, however, this recent trend of hiring Brad Allan as a second unit director. Went a little too heavy on the shaky cam this time, but the actual choreography was bananas. Loved it.

[Morris Schæffer]

Not only significant stakes, but a cutting sense of humour and absolute "anything goes" sensibilities. The first 15 minutes is easily the most unremarkable, only because the movie's ballsiness only knows how to increase as it goes.

SOME SPOILERS!!

Really liked this movie, but it got a bit exhausting for me personally. I loved the first 15-30 minutes because they were funny and still a bit energetic, but it all seemed reasonably grounded in reality. I found myself hugely engaged. Then Jackson showed up and my brother and I found him funny, but eventually we found he outstayed his welcome while the action scenes became less probable and just absolutely preposterous culminating in that scene in the church. Bad? No, and I suppose spectacularly choreographed, but total disconnect there in terms of what the good guy was supposed to do. Of course, he wasn't doing it out of his own free will, but he killed about 50 folks in that sequence. You're just showing off, you've decided to shoot a scene in the script where you can do something cool and crazy, but you never stopped to think if you should. You're not interested in engaging me any further on a narrative level, but decided to go off the rails entirely. How do you solve that? You write something that doesn't involve flipping a switch that turns every cell phone owner into a raging, homicidal maniac. I can take a little spoofing, a little nutso stuff, but I guess there are times when it goes a bit overboard and I tend not to equate that with ballsiness. Kudos to the way that scene was shot so superficially not a total loss at all.

Still, glad I saw this. Lots of fun, lots of energy (yeah, still a plus for me), cool cast, seeing Mark Hamill again in a big movie felt awesome!!

[Dukefrukem]

I thought this was going to be a little bit more grounded... until 5 minutes in someone gets completely split in half with no blood and Samuel L Jackson has a lisp.

Fun movie.

[[ETM]]

Did they just... awkwardly remove the Swedish princess anal sex joke from the BluRay? Wow.

[Irish]

This was an immense amount of fun. Probably the best comic book movie I've seen in years. I read some positive notices when the movie was released, but wow did they undersell it.

Also, this has gotta have the best musical cues since Guardians. I have never seen "Money for Nothing" and "Freebird" put to better use.

[Scar]

Oh my God, I almost hyperventilated at the exploding heads.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Oh my God, I almost hyperventilated at the exploding heads.

Fucking multicolored mini-mushroom clouds. Oh my God.

That and the church scene are two of the most amazing scenes of the year.

I had no love for Kick-Ass, but this one seemed to get closer to that film's goal of being both a straight-ahead story and put-on of itself

[[ETM]]

That and the church scene are two of the most amazing scenes of the year.

Amazing...ly tasteless and off-putting, yes.

I had no love for Kick-Ass, but this one seemed to get closer to that film's goal of being both a straight-ahead story and put-on of itself

I found Kick-Ass equally revolting.

I find it bewildering how off my own experience is compared to some.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Amazing...ly tasteless and off-putting, yes.

I found it very off-putting, but I figure that has to be the point. It's a provocation, a confrontational moment where a lot is happening. The action is balletic but repugnant. The victims are terrible people but hardly deserving of their fate. It rips Firth's politeness and decency aside and shows exactly what kind of violence he is capable of (the horrific kind). It's eventually numbing and just kinda sad. And a lot of that feels intentional, especially with the cutbacks to Jackson, who gets no enjoyment from enabling the violence.

Definitely did not find it amazing in the "bro, that fight was so cool!" way. But it dropped my jaw for sure.

[Grouchy]

This is a whole lot of fun. There's zero substance to the film, sure, and every single emotional bit falls flat, but as a send-up / spoof / homage to classic 007 it works wonderfully. Surprisingly, it's Sam L. Jackson and (to an extent) Mark Strong who steal the show acting-wise, although the most memorable moment is the church shootout - a piece of energetic action filmmaking that's better than everything else in the movie.

Towards the end I noticed a surprisingly clumsy jump cut for a film this stylish and now I discover it's because the goddamn online purists wanted an anal sex joke removed. People like that give me the creeps, but the real scary thing is that they are being listened to.

[KK2.0]

thanks to youtube I've seen the infamous "princess joke" and I'm baffled that such a thing would cause any controversy but not the violent church massacre, well, people are weird.