I have to admit I was initially disappointed when Matthew Vaughn, director of one of my
all time favourite films X-Men First Class, announced that he would be stepping down from
the role of director for its sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and instead take on a
different comic book adaptation in the form of Kingsman: The Secret Service. However,
not only was this disappointment quelled last year when Days of Future Past turned out to
be almost the equal of First Class, but it was totally irradiated after the end credits
rolled on Kingsman. If Matthew Vaughn had to abandon X-Men for another film, I’m sure
glad it was this one.
As both a parody and a homage to classic spy films, Kingsman is both a brilliant comedy
and a brutal action rollercoaster. Well deserving of its R rating, Kingsman may be the most
shockingly violent mainstream film to hit cinemas this year. However, much like with
Vaughn’s previous ultra-violent comic book on screen that was Kick-Ass, the violence
is so over the top to the point where it becomes an integral part of the visual identity of
the film. Yes its brutal but when its accompanied by a killer soundtrack and the superb action
direction that Vaughn has honed over the years everything comes together and ultimately culminates
in what is arguable the film’s most brilliant sequence that will be sure to have a lot of
people talking, some complaining and others even offended. Safe to say if you’ve seen
Kingsman already you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, I don’t
want to spoil it for you but the knowledge of the fact that the scene has been cut from
several countries is testimony to how close to the line the sequence is.
Make sure if you see Kingman you are experiencing the full uncut version.
But of course a film can’t just survive on the quality of its action alone so thankfully
there’s a wonderful plot threaded throughout. Feeling like somewhat of a duel narrative
for the first two acts the film splits between Taron Egerton’s Eggsy going through a rigorous
training process in order to become a Kingman, and Colin Firth’s Harry Hart attempting
to reveal the dubious plans of Samuel L. Jackson’s Richmond Valentine. As time goes on the two
narrative start to entangle and become a unified whole and have much more bearing on each other
than is initially apparent. Much like previous Matthew Vaughn efforts the film’s world
building (there’s that word I love again) is heavily woven into the forward moving plot
so that it happens organically yet at a rapid fire rate. I don’t know if they’re gunning
for a franchise here but there’s definitely enough implied history and potential for future
stories outlined in this film to warrant it. Vaughn also uses his now almost auteur like
vibrant colour palette that make the film feel alive and fresh. In direct contrast to
a lot of other blockbusters continually drawing on blacks and greys, Kingman reminds us what
colour is.
Elevating all the material is the presence of a-list actors portraying the Kingman which
not only adds gravitas to the characters but to the film itself. The aforementioned Colin
Firth is joined by Michael Caine and Jack Davenport and there’s even an extended cameo
by Mark Hamill, a wonderful bit of casting for those familiar with the original Kingsman
comic. Perhaps stealing the show though is Mark Strong who seems to fit his character
so well and handles it with the perfect mix of self awareness and seriousness that this
kind of genre asks for.
It seems almost pointless to highlight any of Kingman’s shortcomings as several of
them could almost be considered to be intentional homages to the format of old spy films. Richmond
Valentine’s plan is ridiculous and some would say convoluted but seeing as that’s
the MO of most old Bond villains, can a film that directly pays tribute to those films
be criticised for doing the same thing?
By films end its quite amazing how much content Vaughn has managed to cram into 2 hours without
any of it feeling rushed, forced in or better off left out of the film. With Kingman he
has truly proven that he is one of the most talented action directors of our generation
and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
In short, go see Kingsman. It's really really good.
Thank you so much for watching. If you've seen Kingsman, tell me what you thought down in the comments below.
Also, make sure you check out last week's video which is also kinda down below but not as far, where I talk about The Lord of the rings and
whether it should be turned into a television series or not.