DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn LEAD CAST: Colin Firth, Samuel Jackson, Michael Caine, Taron Egerton,
Sofia Boutella, Sophie Cookson, Mark Strong SCREENWRITER: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn based
on comic book series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons PRODUCER: Adam Bohling, David Reid, Matthew Vaughn EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton, Jon Harris, Conrad Buff IV MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Henry
Jackman, Matthew Margeson GENRE:
Action, Comedy, Adventure
CINEMATOGRAPHER: George Richmond DISTRIBUTOR: 20th
Century Fox LOCATION: United
Kingdom, United States RUNNING
TIME: 129 minutes
Technical
assessment: 3
Moral
assessment: 2.5
MTRCB
rating: R16
CINEMA
rating: V16
If you're prepared to adapt and learn, you
can transform. Kingsman: The
Secret Service is based on the comic
book series of the same title by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. It is about Gallahad/Harry Hart (Colin
Firth) recruiting a streetwise young man Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin (Taron Egerton) to
replace his father Lancelot who died 17 years ago saving Hart’s life. Eggsy is
in prison for resisting police and car theft. Gallahad gets him out and enlists
him to be a Kingsman—which is a kind of independent secret service not
connected to any government. In short, it is a company of spies—of gentlemen
spies, although class is no requirement. While Eggsy undergoes intense training,
a serious plot of controlling population to save the environment is being
hatched by telecom giant Richmond Valentine (Samuel Jackson). Gallahad takes on
the mission but things turn for the worse. Eggsy has to team up with Merlin (Mark
Strong) and Roxy (Sophie Cookson), the recently accepted Lancelot when big boss
Arthur (Michael Caine), ala M of Bond fame, proves untrustworthy. Will they succeed
in saving the world?
Kingsman
is a parody of 1970s spy thrillers, particularly Agent 007. Looks like Firth
would say at any moment: “The name is Bond, James Bond.” It is peppered with
references to other spies and boasts of high-caliber actors who shine
brilliantly. Firth is a pleasant surprise as a debonair action star, impeccably
dressed, well-mannered but quick and deadly. Samuel Jackson with a lisp essays
the eccentric villain convincingly, with his graceful knife-legged side kick
Gazelle (Sofia Boutella). Newcomer Taron Egerton holds his ground in the scenes
with these thespians including Michael Caine. State-of-the-art gadgets are not
lacking and the irreverent, tongue-in-cheek humor makes you chuckle at some scenes,
bringing back memories of spy thrillers you’ve enjoyed. But others leave a bad
feeling at the mayhem and brutality of extended violence. The action scenes are
skilfully choreographed but there is too much gore, even glee, at the massacre
in a fundamentalist church. Not to mention colorful exploding heads to the tune
of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance.
Kingsman mixes comedy, violence and
action but proposes certain values as well. And then makes fun of it. Quoting
Hemingway, Galahad tells Eggsy that “there is nothing noble in being superior
to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self.” He
returns the supreme sacrifice of his father in saving Gallahad’s life by giving
Eggsy the chance to bring out the best in himself. He also tells a group of
thugs “Manners maketh man.” Then he proceeds to fight with each of them. When
one of the trainees dies after the first test of the program, Merlin tells the group
that teamwork is paramount. In the next scene Arthur commands the trainee to
shoot his dog who is part of the team. The Kingsman is committed to “save the
world” at the risk of his life. Gallahad exemplifies this and so do Merlin,
Roxy and Eggsy as they work together to stop the planet wide genocide. Despite
tech genius Valentine’s program to celebrate a new world safe from global
warming, free offers come at a cost they can’t even imagine. Kingsman also falls into the cliché of
showing women as merciless and capable villains, or sexual reward for saving
the world.
