Review - Kingsman: The Secret Service

The new campy spy film from Matthew Vaughn is essentially Danger Diabolik for the modern century. If most of my beloved readers had seen Danger Diabolik then my review would be done. Perhaps a more well-known reference point would be better. Kingman: The Secret Service is a Roger Moore era type spy film with modern tricks and aesthetics. In other words, a shoot out on ski's set to California Girls by The Beach Boys would not be out of place in this film.

Kingsman are The Secret Service as we learn early on in the film. Unlike other so called secret agencies, Kingsman is truly a secret. After a thrilling sequence, the story is thrust into motion as one of the Kingsman is killed and now the organization is looking for a replacement. Enter in Taron Egerton as Eggsy, a punk kid whose father was a Kingsman who happened to save Galahad, a very game Colin Firth. Thus begins the film's two central story strands, finding out who killed a Kingsman and training the new recruits. The later is by far where the film excels but even it makes little sense even in the world of the film. I mean how many locked bathrooms are going to fill up with water?

Colin Firth is the film's secret weapon. Without his classy presence, the film would easily veer so far into camp that it may have been more akin to Austin Powers than James Bond. Luckily for much of the film, Firth's wit is sprinkled about. Egerton is a solid casting choice but never as much fun to watch as he ought to be. Mark Strong rounds out the cast in another fine supporting Mark Strong type of role.

In the end, Kingsman: The Secret Service is shifts tone too much to ever find a comfortable groove. The scenes with Firth give the film a witty, violent edge and the scenes with Samuel L. Jackson as the villain are so over-the-top that the film dives into full camp territory. The rubberband like effect is exhausting. By the finale of the film, I was too tired to care about the fate of the world.

3.5/5