A lot of controversy has started rising around this decidedly "mindless" spy satire. If you don't know what it is, don't worry, I'm sure that if this movie has any form of success, a slow rage will grow over the movie's controversial ending, which I won't spoil here. Needless to say that many people may be going to the cinema's this weekend expecting to see a fun spy spoof in the vein of Agent Cody Banks or even Austin Powers. And while it certainly has some of those elements, it's also directed by Matthew Vaughn from a graphic novel by Mark Millar. If you're unfamiliar with their names, they last paired up for the superhero satire Kick-Ass (2010), and Kingsman is very much a lot of the same stuff.
Colin Firth stars as the member of an elite British spy organization known as Kingsman, which have no affiliation with government (an English Team America, if you will). The organization consider themselves modern-day Knights of the Round Table, and as such they carry special codenames including Galahad (Firth), Merlin (Mark Strong), and Arthur (Michael Caine). When Lancelot (Jack Davenport) is killed in action, Firth and the other Kingsman bring in recruits to see who will take up the vacated place. Firth recruits Eggsy (Taron Egerton), a lower-class youth whose father was once a Kingsman and saved Firth's life.
There's also Samuel L. Jackson as Valentine, a media-savy billionaire whose diabolical scheme is so cartoonish yet so fun I won't reveal it here. Jackson's henchman is Gazelle (Sofia Boutella), who has blades for feet like Olympic runner Oscar Pistorious (someone was very inspired watching the broadcast that year). As villains, they are both great fun: Boutella is a dancer by trade and performs acrobatics that usually end with her foes dismembered (or literally cut in half), while Jackson's plan is essentially to wipe out humanity, yet the sight of blood makes him vomit.
What will rub many people the wrong way about this film is the marketing campaign; until I saw a red band trailer a month ago, I thought Kingsman was going to be a light, silly spy-spoof. It would have fun action scenes, and be a knowing wink and nod to the Bond films. Unfortunately for many, the film is a blood bath, with exploding heads, extreme violence, and some ballsy twists. It is not a family friendly film, and I know many will take their children to the theater this weekend and be shocked by what happens. That is not enough to stir controversy, and what will really turn heads is the death of a sitting leader, which echoes The Interview's recent stint killing Kim Jong-Un. The reason this has not generated press yet is because it is not the sole focus of the film.
But the marketing does not effect my opinion of the film. While many might be turned off by the prospect of the extreme violence, I was intrigued and even began anticipating this film. While there's not much here to merit a rewatch, there is enough to entertain for one viewing. The actors are all very good and likable, and the action set pieces are spectacularly done. The film makes one too many winks at the camera while it sends up spy films, making sure you understand that yes, the villain will dispense of his foes immediately instead of setting up an elaborate kill plan that will lead to that character's escape. While I enjoy these moments, I just wish the movie's characters would stop acknowledging all the clichés of the film they were in. It gets to a point where enough is enough.
I came away enjoying this film more than Kick-Ass; while it shares that film's nihilism, it still maintains an air of fun throughout, and the black comedy mostly works. Kick-Ass took a dark turn in the third act, and then tried to play up the fun element of the story again, which left me uneasy. Kingsman is not a movie to go into blindly; know that it is violent and not for kids. If, like me, that interests you, then you'll probably have a good time like I did.
