Kingsman: The Secret Service – Movie Review

Writer/director Matthew Vaughn knows how to make a compelling comic-book movie. In 2010 he gave us a great time with “kIck-Ass” and then he helped rescue the X-Men franchise with “First Class” the following year. Now he works his magic once again with “Kingsman: The Secret Service”. Much like “Kick-Ass”, this is an ultra-violent “R” rated graphic novel adaptation that delivers just the right blend of action and comedy and a stellar cast that includes Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, and relative newcomer Taron Egerton helps keep things moving.

Think of “Kingsman” as a classic James Bond film on speed. You have your villain looking to destroy the world. Jackson revels in the role of the evil Valentine and he gives his character an absolutely hilarious lisp. Another great thing about Valentine is though he has no problem with killing people, he can’t stand the sight of blood. He will make the world’s population beat each other to death, he just can’t stomach watching it.

Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin’s life is going nowhere. He has issues with his mom’s abusive gangster boyfriend and his crew and he has a knack for getting himself into trouble. That all changes when Kingsman Agent Harry Hart (Firth) bails Eggsy out of jail and brings him in to train to become a Kingsman himself. Eggsy’s father died saving Hart’s life when Eggsy was just a child. The young man with a chip on his shoulder must win the position of Agent in a competition between other hopefuls. That is the set up.

Instead of going through the rest of the plot, I will tell you that “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is a whole lot of fun and features Firth in a church set action sequence that will blow your mind. Firth trained for 6 weeks prior to filming in order to do his own stunts and they were quite impressive. We also get a nice dose of Mark Hamill and it is great to see him back on the big screen, even if it is just to help get us excited for his return to “Star Wars” at the end of the year.

“Kingsman” is sure to please action and comic book fans and I am hoping this leads to a sequel.

By: Marc Ferman