Review: Kingsman: The Secret Service

Colin Firth stars as Harry Hart, AKA Galahad, an agent for the title super-spy organisation, whose life is saved by a fellow agent on a mission, where he jumps on an explosive, sacrificing his life to save Harry’s. Harry is distraught and feels as though he failed. He gives the dead man’s widow a medal that has a phone number on the back, that he tells her to call if she ever needs anything. 17 years later, the dead agent’s young hooligan son ‘Eggsy’ (Taron Egerton) gets himself arrested for stealing and having a bit of fun with someone else’s flash car. Seeing the number on the back of the medal, he uses it as his one phone call. Before long, Harry has bailed the young twit out. It doesn’t end there, though. I mean, that’d be a bloody short film, wouldn’t it? Harry has been tasked with finding a replacement for the recently terminated Lancelot (Jack Davenport), and after the duo engage in a bit of pub brawling with some stupid thugs, Harry decides to let Eggsy be one of the select few to try out for the gig. Taken to a secluded mansion (though the organisation’s HQ is out of a fancy tailor’s shop), he and the other recruits (all from far more upper class stock than Eggsy, I might add) are put through hell by instructor Merlin (Mark Strong, with Scottish…ish brogue). In the end there will be only one. Will that be Eggsy? His streetwise, mumbly Londoner demeanour doesn’t immediately seem the right fit for the smartly-suited, dapper model of a Kingsman, but perhaps he has something in him that his more posh fellow trainees lack. Meanwhile, a lisping, baseball cap-wearing American tech tycoon named Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) seems to be planning something sinister with his promise of free SIM cards for everyone (and therefore free internet and phone services). Or is Valentine just a goofy, lisping nice guy who wants to give us all free stuff for the sake of it? Don’t ponder that one too long, folks. In smaller roles, an intimidating Geoff Bell plays Eggsy’s mother’s bullying thug boyfriend, Sofia Boutella plays Valentine’s double amputee henchperson, Mark Hamill (!) plays a supposedly missing scientist, and Sir Michael Caine plays Kingsman head Arthur, who is a bit of a snob.

 

I was a bit middling on “Kick-Ass”, but this 2015 flick from visually dynamic comic book adaptation by director Matthew Vaughn (who also gave us the solid Brit gangster pic “Layer Cake”) and his “Stardust” and “Kick-Ass” co-writer Jane Goldman is much, much better. Don’t let the awful trailer deceive you, this one’s a lot better than it initially seemed to me and a lot of violent fun. It starts out rather jam-packed, and who doesn’t love Dire Straits’ ‘Money for Nothing’? Well no one was asking you, sit down! We also get a terrific music score by Henry Jackman (“Big Hero 6”) and Matthew Margeson (“Kick-Ass 2”) that evokes John Barry (“Goldfinger”) and Danny Elfman (“Batman”) at the same time. We even get Mark Hamill attempting an English accent (and given more dialogue than in “The Force Awakens”) as a stuffy professor, and Jack Davenport stealing the opening section in his best performance to date. By the way, Mace Windu and Luke Skywalker briefly share the screen in this. This is important. And awesome. And that’s just the opening 10 minutes!

 

The trailer really doesn’t do this one any favours, because whether it’s to Vaughn’s credit or the original source, familiar elements have been put together in a way that creates something wholly unique…and wildly entertaining. Yes, Vaughn’s a visual show-off, but in this case, it works because the material is fun. Vaughn’s in-your-face visual style and Colin Firth kicking arse whilst basically dressed like a nerdy John Steed is jolly bloody entertaining (with a fair emphasis on ridiculous violence that would make 007 faint). Firth is inexplicably ideal here, he’s seemingly so wrong on paper but it actually works, disarmingly. I really do think Firth is an amazing actor of great, perfectly-pitched understatement, and even in a silly, crazy film like this he displays it. He does and says a lot and yet…very little, at the same time. Here he plays the whole thing quite seriously and effectively. Also, it’s Colin Firth as an action hero. Let that one sink in, and then let it sink in that it actually works, mainly because of the absurd level Vaughn has pitched the film at, and partly because Firth himself refuses to wink and nod in the role. I’m not sure it really would’ve worked if Firth had played it for yuks or Vaughn had played things deadly straight. As is, Firth and the film is one of the best surprises of 2015 for me. Firth’s not the only surprisingly good element here, a lisping Samuel L. Jackson contributes one of his best turns in years as the chief villain. In fact, this is what Jackson’s performance in the dire “The Spirit” should’ve been like, except “The Spirit” was terrible on the whole. He’s hammy and silly as hell, but without crossing over into eye-rolling fatuousness and hollowness. That’s what I was worried about from the trailer. Having seen his empty cartoony shtick in “The Spirit”, I assumed that’s what we’d get here, too. Instead, it’s a fully-realised character for him to sink his teeth into, rather than just Sammy J acting goofy for its own stupid sake. Dressed as a total goofball and embodying the crass American stereotype, it’s a really inspired characterisation made up of all different influences. There’s a little Bill Gates/Mark Zuckerberg, a little Russell Simmons, a touch of Blofeld, and quite a lot of Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor in “Superman”. Also, his character’s idea of a fine dining experience is brilliant. And basically a big part of my own diet, if I’m being honest. I also liked his ‘blade runner’ (The Pistorius kind, not the Ridley Scott kind) henchwoman played by Sofia Boutella. She sure is something to behold, and probably not a bad idea for a Bond (Bad) Girl, actually now that I think of it.

 

Sir Michael Caine appearing here in admittedly too small role is pretty fitting given Firth is wearing Harry Palmer-esque glasses in the film. Meanwhile, Mark Strong is typically good, but should never be encouraged to try a Scottish accent ever again. I like the guy but…no. Look out for a small appearance by hard arse Geoff Bell as the lead character’s abusive stepfather. Bell is legitimately frightening, and I commend Vaughn for including such a straight-up mean and violent character with no humour, in a film that otherwise has quite a lot of it. It’s not jarring in any way, oddly enough. I also commend Vaughn for ballsy late scene where an entire church full of bigots is blown away by one of the protagonists. These people are technically not evil, in fact many would just call them ‘God fearing’. However, I applaud Vaughn for saying ‘fuck that shit’ and mowing them down, all 79 of them if you are to believe IMDb. It’s a fictional film, not real life after all (I in no way condone the murder of innocent people in real life, bigots or not!), and I somewhat agreed with the sentiment. You can agree with the sentiment without having a bad taste in your mouth here I think. Also, the character in question is being manipulated by the main villain’s mind-control plan anyway. Although it works quite well on a crazy action movie level, the humour is great, too. My favourite gag was probably the one where Firth tries to explain to young Taron Egerton (who is a bit wooden and uncharismatic to be honest) what he has planned for him, using film references. The gag is that the kid (a young cockney thug) hasn’t seen “Trading Places”, “Nikita”, or “Pretty Woman”, but has seen “My Fair Lady”. There’s also a funny bit where the young trainees are asked to choose a puppy to train, and our hero chooses what he thinks is a bulldog. It’s a pug. Quite clearly a pug. I love pugs (had them in my family for generations), but good luck trying to train one to do something you want. The pug in question, by the way, is a constant scene-stealer.

 

A whole lot of fun. Perhaps 10 minutes too long, but there’s a lot of crazy entertainment here so that you never have time to get bored. Firth is ideally cast-against-type (!), and Samuel L. Jackson’s lisping Russell Simmons meets Bill Gates villain is an absolute hoot. It won’t be for everyone, but this is a whole lot better than its trailer made it seem. It’s also better than any of the dour Daniel Craig 007 films. Yeah, I said it. Based on the comic book by Mark Millar (“Wanted”, “Kick-Ass”) and illustrator Dave Gibbons (“Watchmen”).

 

Rating: B