“I hesitate to say that action comedy is my favorite genre. The truth is, it’s incredibly difficult to pull off, and very rare to find one that gets the balance right. Usually the ones that are great are more of one than the other (Die Hard is more action, Zombieland is more comedy). Still, when it’s mixed just right, you get a little taste of an indescribable and blissful heaven. Kingsman didn’t quite get there, but it was one of the most valiant efforts I’ve seen in a long time.
I shouldn’t be surprised that it worked, seeing as how it came from director Matthew Vaughn who knocked it out of the park with Kick-Ass. This time, instead of subverting the superhero genre, he’s going after the superspy. Colin Firth is a dashing gentleman of a secret agent, mentoring a young potential agent (newbie Taron Egerton). Samuel L Jackson’s baddie has a plot to take over the world using cell phones or something, and the recruits are left to save civilization.
It was a perfectly fun movie, but I felt like something was missing. Maybe Firth was too restrained. Maybe it was all too absurd and needed a bit more grounding. Maybe Jackson was a bit too much. I don’t know. Doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy myself. I do love James Bond and Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer and any other superspy this film was meant to pay tribute to, and this was a genius way to do so. I especially loved all of the training challenges the newbies were put thru.
I’d be very interested to see this progress as a franchise. The framework is there for it to be great. Just needs a little more polish.
Kingsman: The Secret Service – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n”