Kingsman - The Secret Service : The Bugle's Verdict

The movie has actually left little for me to say, as there is little that Vaughn left unsaid, what with it's in-your-face humor, sexist depictions, and fast-paced James Bond-meets-Jackie Chan action, and that is the point where the work of the director really shines, where even such an overload is pulled off smoothly, with a touch of British class, and the audience ends up roaring their lungs off. But of course, I shall go ahead and try to comment a little.  

Yet again, Matthew Vaughn doesn't disappoint.

Kingsman is an ultra secret society of tailors turned gentlemen turned spies (Weird, right?), who are just not affiliated to anyone, and fight evil forces just because they think it's right (So British). Everybody loves a little vigilante justice, sprinkled with high-tech guns, bulletproof suits, and of course, the most important ingredient... aristocracy!!

So these wankers are out to foil the megalomaniacal plans of Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a hemophobic internet billionaire, out to kill half of humanity to SAVE planet Earth, and he's a lisp.

To the plain eye, this movie is Austin Powers, with added blood, gore and class. What adds flavor to this adrenaline fest, is the stylized depiction of said violence, the subversive themes, and the very efficient casting, that includes seasoned players such as Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Michael Caine (with his lovely cockney voice, of course). Add to that, a cameo by Mark "The Joker" Hamill. Nothing needs be said about Samuel "Motherfucker" Jackson, whose portrayal of a baseball-cap-sporting, easy dressed billionaire is hilarious in itself, and a new feather to his cap .

Colin Firth really steers the movie, with his multi-faceted persona, a smooth veteran spy, who is all high on manners and etiquette, while kicking ass and breaking balls as a side-hobby. He trains the unassuming street kid Eggsy (Taron Egerton), to join in his father's legacy, and become a spy as well.

Sweet points to Taron Egerton too, who looks like a fast-talking, anglicized, buffed-up version of Elijah Wood.

All in all, Kingsman: The Secret Service is a style-fest with crisp suits, high-tech gear, guns, adrenaline, blood, ladies(well, not a lot) and dark, atypical humour. The film is special in the fact that it plays very dangerously with the thin line seperating a neatly executed spy saga from a James Bond spoof , often tilting toward the latter, and yet it sticks to the credo that is highlighted in the climactic scene:

"This isn't that kind of movie."

Verdict: Hands down, this goes in my list of openly guilty pleasures. Now go watch it.