I've often compared Millar's comics, and thus his adaptations, as cinematic
junk food. They're a crazy high for a couple of hours and then you crash and
it's over. But there's so much more to Kingsman: The Secret Service that
it won't be so easily forgotten. Directed by Millar's pal, Matthew Vaughn, the
film is like Mission: Impossible cranked up to '11', and everything that
implies. Want wildly improbable super gadgets? Check. Crazy villains with
weirdly distinct quirks? Check. Hot, dangerous babes? Check. Globe-hopping
adventures? Check. Unlike Kick-Ass, one never gets the sense that the
aim is to actually "take down' the genre; rather it's like an adolescent
boy was given the keys to the kingdom to do with as he pleases. The result is
that every straight-up spy movie that comes along for a while is going to get
compared to Kingsman, and probably not in a favorable way.
For an idea just how silly and self-referentially awesome Kingsman is,
just keep in mind that it references everything from My Fair Lady to
pretty much every James Bond movie with Roger Moore, while having fun with
every single spy cliché under the sun. In the "My Fair Lady" portion
of the plot, the story centers on a troubled London kid named Eggsy (Taron
Egerton) who is recruited into a super-secret spy organization by a man named
Harry Hart (Colin Firth), a sort of new-age 007. Harry owes his life to Eggsy's
father, and as a means of repayment has brought the boy into the fold for
training, which amounts to one life-or-death ordeal after another. The Kingsmen
prove to be a peculiar organization based on the concept of the Knights of the
Round Table, but based out of a high-end tailor shop. Harry is sir Galahad,
Michael Caine leads the group as Arthur, and Mark Strong is the chief weapons
dude, nicknamed Merlin naturally. If Harry survives training he'll be the new
Lancelot, but that's a pretty big IF.
Spending too much time winking at the audience with pop culture references
can get annoying pretty quick, and most of Millar's work has a conceited streak
that is hard to tolerate, but Kingsman is such a labor of love done with
such incredible energy that it's never a problem. Everything Vaughn and Millar
give us is exactly what we want from the genre before it became all serious. In
fact, a terrific conversation on the doom 'n gloom of spy movies takes place
(over MacDonald's Big Macs, of course) between Harry and tech magnate/terrorist
Richard Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a silly twist on the old school Bond
villain. He's dressed like some kind of immature hip-hop mogul, talks with a
lisp only Mike Tyson could love, and has a bad ass chick by his side (Sofia
Boutella) who has knives for legs. What's not to like about that? And lest one
think it completely gives in to the common tropes, think again; what keeps
Kingsman fresh is how it subverts our expectations to deliver a new experience.
There are shockingly lethal turns that come out of nowhere, and the hyper
violence is sometimes incredibly dark and other times played for comic
head-exploding effect. That the film manages to be all things successfully is a
credit to Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman, who deliver homage with style and
wit to spare. Part of that brilliance is due to the casting, and you'll be
surprised to learn that Colin Firth kicking ass isn't the main thing that
stands out. While he's great and suave just like we'd expect him to be as a super-agent,
Firth really plays second fiddle to Egerton who emerges as the break out star
with a certain streetwise charm. And of course, Jackson is at his over-the-top
best when given free reign to be as insane as he wants to be. 
It's pretty amazing to see how far Vaughn has developed as a filmmaker.
Let's not forget he's the same guy who gave us Layer Cake, which served
as a soft introduction to Daniel Craig for a lot of people. He's also the guy
who reinvigorated the X-men franchise with his kitschy, nostalgic X-men:
First Class. Kingsman actually shares a number of aesthetic and
tonal similarities with that film; from the juggling of multiple plots
seamlessly to the overall throwback vibe. Yes, Kingman feels old school
while clearly setting itself as a spy movie for a new generation. Difficult
balance to walk? Yes indeed, but Vaughn and Co. do it without fail. The only
time when the film begins to falter is in the final stretch when its
playfulness hinders our understanding of the stakes, but otherwise this is
easily the best Vaughn/Millar collaboration yet. If anything, Kingsman: The
Secret Service proves that the old spy movies, cheesy as they often were,
are still pretty cool.
Rating: 4 out of 5
