There are times when Kingsman is almost a sophisticated The Saint-style thriller. Other times, it's a Bond-style tongue-in-cheek action film. Other times again, it's a Hot Fuzz-style comedy gore fest. And then there are bits when it's more like a comic book action film. By trying to be all of those things (often not very well), it's none of them, and the film fails to create its own distinctive "world" in the way that all good films do. The result is a disjointed and strangely unsatisfying film that, to its credit, also has a few quite enjoyable bits along the way.Matthew Vaughn said he wanted to inject a sense of humour back into spy films. If that's the case, he has the sense of humour of an adolescent.
... View MoreA spy organization recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius. Kingsman: The Secret Service is an impressive romantic, comedic action spy film that brings a new angle to the genre packed with great characters, action sequences and actors plus an amazing scene that takes place inside a church with Firth stealing the show. The 2nd film was garbage tho!!!
... View MoreAh, The Secret Service... Yet another overrated comic by Mark Millar. Like many of his other works, this one wasn't even fresh enough. It was bunch of the old ideas mixed together with the poor writing. Artwork wasn't that bad, but nah, I never really liked The Secret Service. It was dumb and boring story about how young kid with no future met his uncle, who was a James Bond of sorts. Uncle introduces him to the world of secret service and kid's doing great just because he played enough Call of Duty. Yep, it was that bad. So, when they've announced the movie adaptation, I thought it'll be yet another failure. Like, you know. Like Kick-Ass. But guess what? It was totally different story.The thing is - movie makers took the best part from the original comic and fixed everything that was wrong with it. The best thing about The Secret Service was that Cinderella concept. The idea of how poor guy with no future can become both secret agent and gentleman. It wasn't really a fresh idea, so, it wasn't enough to save the comic, but this movie sure makes it shine. Really good design and costumes, everybody's favorite gentleman Colin Firth, fantastic soundtrack by Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson (one of those that'll stay with you forever, like Terminator, or Tim Burton's Batman themes)... The movie just nailed. As for what was fixed... well, the story. The story was fixed. Because there's no way to become good with guns while playing Call of Duty. Obviously. So, now we have proper training and other special agent stuff.Can't say that the story is very good, though. It's actually pretty generic. Thankfully, small details and memorable quotes help a lot. Movie makers also understood that it was bad idea to make it to much like James Bond. So, they came with the idea to make it a little bit... dirty. Well, more than a bit, actually. While being old school, I totally hated some scenes here, while the others were way too controversial (like the one in a church). But dirty jokes and controversial stuff is pretty much what makes this movie different from typical spy movies, so... like it, or not, it can't be different.So... yeah. It's dirty, it's totally controversial, but... it's better than the original comic. Way, WAY better. The story may still be a bit generic, but at least it isn't as poor as in the comic and music, costumes, actors and other things sure help a lot. If dirty jokes are your thing, then it's your movie. But the best thing about Kingsman is that it can provide a lot of things aside from those. Unlike the comic, you won't forget this one after you'll finish with it. And that's more than you can actually ask from most of the modern movies.
... View MoreAstonished that Colin Firth, Michael Caine and Samuel L Jackson were this desperate for money. Somebody do Taron Egerton a favour and quietly suggest to him that he finds another vocation because he is hopeless as an actor. Stupid dialogue and over the top graphic violence. Very relieved I didn't pay good money to see this in a theatre. Kept hoping it would get better but just got sillier as it went on, ending in a puerile scene with the 'hero' getting his reward in the back alley.
... View More