Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

     When you look at the spy genre now-a-days, you'll find almost nothing but serious movies. Ever since the "Bourne" trilogy and "Casino Royale," we've seen almost nothing but series spy thrillers. Every once in a while we'll get something a little more silly like the Roger Moore Bond films, but those are few and far between. And to be honest I kind of miss them. It's not that I don't like the series ones, "Casino Royal" and "Skyfall" are some of my favorite movies in recent years, but it's nice to have some variety. Fortunately director Matthew Vaughn is here to give us something a little different. Based off of a graphic novel I really liked, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is if you took one of the Roger Moore Bond films and gave it an R rating, then added elements from "Kickass," "Men in Black," and "X-Men: First Class." Despite much skepticism of whether a movie like this would work in today's market or not, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" might be one of the biggest fan favorites of the year. 

     Gary "Eggsy" Unwin is a young man living at home with his mother and abusive stepfather; and despite being rather brilliant, he spends most of his time messing around with his friends. One day he gets into some serious trouble and is looking at jail time. He calls a number his mother told him to if he ever got in big trouble. Minutes later he is free to go. When leaving the police station he meets Harry Hart, a friend of Eggsy's deceased father. While grabbing a drink, he learns that Harry is much more than he appears after he beats up a group of hooligans. Harry eventually tells Eggsy that he and Eggsy's father worked for a secret organization called The Kingsman, a private spy agency that saves the world on a regular basis. Harry offers Eggsy a chance to become a agent; and despite the danger, Eggsy feels he doesn't have much to lose. 

     I decided to read the comic this movie was based off of after the movie was giver a release date. Wanting to learn more about the back story, I got a violent, over the top, and fun take on a modern spy thriller filled with cultural references. I immediately fell in love and read it in one sitting; afterwards I got scared for the movie. I wasn't sure if they were going to be able to pull off the tone of the movie without ruining the whole thing; but to my own relief, I think I liked the movie more than the book. It follows the comic for the most part; it keeps the overall plot while changing some characters and minor plot details. Every change works though, and will certainly keep fans of the comic happy. I wish that they had changed one plot point though, it's not a big thing but I would have appreciated if they had done it. What really makes this movie work would have to be the directing by Matthew Vaughn, he did it perfectly. He is great at these types of movies, and you can see him really put his passion into it. The one thing he may be best at though would be action, and you can see that in this movie. There are several awesome action sequences in this movie that will just have you smiling with glee. One particular fight in a church to the song "Free Bird" is enough to appease just about any person who goes to see this movie. The action is fast, furious, and in your face. To complement the action, the movie has a lot of humor that works great. You will laugh more than a few times. I will say though that the movie is a little violent for my taste. I'm not much of a fan of violence for the sake of violence, often it can actually pulls me out of the movie. It is every bit as violent as the comic, but it's just a personal gripe. The movie is filled with great performances that do a great job playing these wild and crazy characters. Of everyone though I think it was the actor who played Eggsy, Taron Egerton, who impressed me the most. This was a really breakout role for him and I hope he gets more parts. The only serious problem that faces this movie would be its pacing. You'll have a lot of excitement, then it stops dead in its tracks; and it does this more than once. The ending also feels like this a bit, but they do have a post credit scene that ends it a bit better. I absolutely loved this movie; from start to finish it was a blast. While it will certainly be to cartoony and silly for some, if you go into it to have a good time that is likely what you will get. The movie has the unfortunate luck of being released the same day as "Fifty Shades of Grey," which will likely crush it at the box office; but if this movie does well enough there has been talks of a sequel, which would just make my day. While it is by no means perfect, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is a movie that is worth seeing and will likely be the most fun you have at the theater all year. 

Pros: Love letter to classic spy films, great soundtrack, filled with great performances, breakout role for Taron Egerton, does justice to source material, awesome action sequences, comedy works well, perfectly directed by Matthew Vaughn, several interesting characters.

Cons: Some pacing issues, a little more violent than I'd like, may be too cartoony for some.

4/5 Stars