This is the story of a gentleman spy who takes an ordinary working-class kid under his wing and trains him in the art of espionage. That line alone may not be enough to convince people to watch; Kingsman: The Secret Service is what happens when you cross Kick Ass and James Bond and then kick things up a notch or two. A mix of action, spy thrills, gadgets and comedy, brought to life by the stellar cast of Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Kaine as well as newcomer Taron Egerton.
The action centres around those in service of Kingsman, the international secret service group based out of Britain. Kingsman is above the government, they play in their own field with their own set of rules. Each member carries a callsign from Arthurian legends. There’s Merlin, the man responsible for training new recruits, he’s also the eyes and ears of all the other agents and fixer of all the gadgets, played by Mark Strong; Colin Firth plays Harry Hart a.k.a. Galahad, the suave spy and father figure to Taron Egerton’s Gary “Eggsy” Unwin; Lancelot, played by Jack Davenport; as well as Arthur, the head of the organization as portrayed by Michael Kaine.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the billionaire tech genius Richmond Valentine, the movie’s central villain, who also happens to be extremely squeamish at the sight of blood. Valentine’s nefarious plot involves mass genocide. “Mankind is the virus, and I’m the cure” proudly proclaims Valentine at one point. *Cue evil laughter here* Suave, Mr Valentine is not, given his lisp and the silly glasses, he seems more of a caricature rather than a serious bonafide villain, despite his intended threat. However, as a villain, Valentine works in the film, and Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of the guy is stellar and sets the character firmly apart from Jackson’s other roles.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Secret Service echoes of Kick-Ass and signs from the influence are all over the film, from the swearing, to the fight scenes, to the over the top moments and musical cues, it’s all there. And indeed, certain scenes and lines of dialogue remind the audience that this film is also based on a comic book and isn’t intended to be taken quite too seriously. Kingsman: The Secret Service is a spoof that stands above many other spy-type spoofs, if not just because of the classy suits, high tech gadgets, various accents and anything else you may see in the world of spies.
Some of the gadgets featured in the film are exploding silicone microchips, remote-activated poison pens, lighter-grenades, bullet-proof designer suits, augmented virtual reality glasses, shoes with poisoned neurotoxin pop-out blades, watches with darts set to cause amnesia or plain kill and more, all reminiscent of the gadgets and weapons Q offers up to James Bond throughout his career as 007.
There’s a series of nicely choreographed, shot and executed fight scenes, especially the well timed and shot finale that’s guaranteed to get at least a few cheers and claps from the audience. It is also nice to see Colin Firth bust a move as Harry Hart in several of the fight scenes, putting to shame any human being half his age when it comes to kicking ass on screen. There were times Harry Hart pulled off moves smoother and better than James Bond himself. Newcomer Taron Egerton has his own charm as Eggsy as well whenever he’s onscreen, it would be interesting to see where his career takes him next.
But the film isn’t all about fight scenes, sleek moves, quirky dialogue and over-the-top baseball capped villains. Kingsman: The Secret Service does make one think here and there about the current state of the world. There’s several serious issues and commentaries made by the creative team, amongst them the film pokes fun at our celebrity-obsessed culture, it shows the audience the dangers of extremism on both sides of the fence as well as the chilling notion of Valentine’s cooky plot. Speaking of plots, some plot twists can be seen coming from a mile away, others leave the audience going “Whoa! Did that just happen?” for a brief moment. Yes, Kingsman: the Secret Service is corny and certainly filled with typical spy-esque cliches, but the movie is still quite entertaining and fun to watch. It is not without its plot holes and issues, however. Gentlemen (and women, although we don’t get to see that many) spies are at the centre of Kingsman, the film and the organization itself. Most of the females in the film are given little to do or are typical weak female characters such as Eggsy’s mother who constantly gets beaten up by her boyfriend yet remains in the relationship. Then there’s Roxy (played by Sophie Cookson), Eggsy’s fellow recruit who is merely an afterthought throughout majority of the film. Audiences probably won’t feel much for Roxy as the character is onscreen for less time than Hawkeye was in the first Avengers film (he was onscreen for around 12 minutes, by the way); nor was Roxy’s character developed much for audiences really to care either way. She serves more as a plot device for Eggsy to succeed in the final mission. The only central female character that’s given more screen time and focus is Sophia Boutella’s henchwoman/assassin, but that’s only because she’s accompanying Valentine in his plot to clean up the world. She also comes with a bit of a twist, in the form of sharp blades for legs that she is very capable of using as weapons, and she does so quite stunningly on several occasions in the film.
At the end of the day: If you’re a fan of Mark Millar’s and Matthew Vaughn’s collaborative work, Kingsman: The Secret Service is a fun fuelled 90-minute ride guaranteed to keep you in your seat until the credits roll. Equally, watch Kingsman: The Secret Service if you wish to pick up a few tips on what it takes to be a gentleman, not necessarily of the spying variety.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is out in cinemas across the UAE from Feb 12.
