KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE review by Gary Murray – the spy genre gets hyper-violent

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE review by Gary Murray – the spy genre gets hyper-violent
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We live in a different cinematic world. Lately, movie patrons have been getting storybook villains who are tragically misunderstood, former evil creatures who are just victims of circumstance, and selfish superheroes. In the 21st century, all the classic story elements seem to be turned on obtuse angles just to do something different. Added to this list of re-imagining classic structure is Kingsman: The Secret Service, an origin story based on the comic book “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.

The story opens about twenty years ago and a mission gone awry, in which a young man is killed saving the lives of his comrades. Harry Hart (Colin Firth) also known as “Galahad” talks to the widow and gives her young son a medallion with a phone number on the back. He tells the kid that if he is ever in a jam he should dial the number. We fast forward to today and the kid is now Eggsy (Taron Egerton). He is an young man going toward the bad side of life, causing trouble and committing petty crimes. He steals a car and, in a great action sequence, drives backwards on city streets. Eventually, Eggsy gets caught and out of desperation calls the number. Galahad gets Eggsy out of jail and they go to a pub. We see Galahad in a scene out of something like The Enforcer, where one man takes on an army of thugs. It is a brilliant bit of hand-to-hand fighting.

Eggsy is impressed and wants to know more. He is invited to the most challenging job interview of all time, a request to audition for The Kingsman, modern knights of the Arthurian legend. They all have names from the classic story — from Arthur to Merlin. The bulk of the film concerns two elements. One is the training of all the candidates to become the new knight. We see how deadly serious this training can become with an agent dying during training. The other part of the story concerns the villain. Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) is a lisping computer genius who believes that man is a virus on the planet. He’s determined that to save the planet, most of mankind must be eliminated. He has a henchwoman named Gazelle (Sofia Boutella) who has stiletto legs and heels that are actual stilettos – a deadly assassin who shows a certain glee in her footwork. But more importantly he has an evil plan that has to do with the distribution of free cell phone cards.

The third act is where the film arguably falls apart. Without giving too much away, there is a giant melee where the villain finally gets to test his evil plans. The production wants to be over the top but it goes into a massive slaughter. What was supposed to be thrilling turned out to be more disturbing. It is the beginning of the fall of Kingsman. Eggsy has to save the world and in doing so must destroy hundreds of low-level henchmen. It becomes a cross between a Hong Kong action flick and a massacre along the lines of a Rambo film. It is just too over the top and way too violent for its own good.

Kingsman looks perfect with a production that rivals the best of Far East Cinema. The film pops and jerks from action sequence to action sequence, without ever missing a beat. Director Matthew Vaughn has studied just about every action film and melded them into his work. This effort also makes many references to Bond, mostly to poke the cinematic beast of action. And therein lies the problem. Where Bond has class, Kingsman has crudeness. It is not suave and debonair, but rather tacky and unrefined. Time and time again if felt as if the filmmakers were just trying too hard to make something both different and cooler that the long-running spy series it emulates. In the end, it just doesn’t measure up to 007. This is to the spy film like Kick-Ass is to the superhero flick. It has all the elements one expects but the final finished production is flawed. All that said, it is a decent start to a franchise and the next installment should be a stronger outing.

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE opens February 13, 2015

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