FROM IMDB:
MOVIE INFO
Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick
Ass, X-Men First Class), Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story
of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but
promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training
program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius. (c)
Fox
Ratings: 8.2/10 from
11,168 users Metascore:
68/100
Reviews:
69 user |
95 critic |
12 from
Metacritic.com
FROM ROTTEN TOMATOES:
TOMATOMETER
81% | Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 52 | Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 10
Critics Consensus: Stylish, subversive, and above all fun, Kingsman: The
Secret Service finds director Matthew Vaughn sending up the spy genre
with gleeful abandon.
AUDIENCE SCORE
98% want to see
Average Rating: 4.2/5 | User Ratings: 53,800
OPENS WORLDWIDE ON VALENTINE'S DAY EVE
Harry Hart of Agent Galahad's idea of impressing a possible recruit is
to beat up the bullies in their lives. It works. ©20th Century Fox
KINGSMAN, ANOTHER COMIC BOOK PUT ON THE BIG SCREEN...
Yup, you read that right. If you weren't into comic books or not the
type to look into the details of a movie like a true movie fan then that
probably came as a surprise. I know it did to me. So now we know that
it was originally a comic book, so what about it? Well, from what I've
read up on it (very little mind you) it's a pretty acclaimed comic book
series which isn't at all surprising as it came from the minds of Mark
Miller and Dave Gibbons who between them have worked on pretty much
every major comic book title ever made including some cult favorite
titles like Watchmen and Kick-Ass.
Now apparently as good as the comic book is the movie
doesn't follow it exactly, in fact from reading the Wikipedia page of
the comic book, loosely based seems a little bit of an understatement.
There's so much difference between the two that I think if they were to
make a movie that's actually follows the comic book you'd have two very,
very different movies.
I've never seen an agent wielding an umbrella look cooler than Colin Firth makes it look.
©20th Century Fox
So what's it about then? (WARNING
SPOILERS COMING UP!!! SERIOUSLY SKIP THIS PART IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH IT
AND ENJOY IT!! GO RIGHT TO THE END)
According to what the studio provided up there in the synopsis it's sort
of a rags to riches story except that instead of becoming rich the
young ruffian ends up becoming an accomplished gentleman spy. If you've
seen the trailers you get the same idea and a tease into what you may
get from the movie (teaser are meant to do that). I have to admit the
trailer did look interesting when I first saw it but it didn't really
impress or pique my interest. It seemed to me another action movie
targeted at the younger crowd. To please the folks that went to the
Hunger Games movies or Divergent or Maze Runner. I was expecting an okay
movie at best. Boy was I wrong.
So the movie opens in 1987 in the middle east and you find 4 men dressed
from head to toe in black with gas masks on their faces. One of them is
questioning an Arab captive when suddenly without any of them realizing
their captive manages to pull the ring off a hidden grenade. One of
them spots this and warns the rest away while he himself jumps on the
captive to absorb the grenades blast. It turns out that the four men are
Kingsman agents and the one who sacrificed his life for the others is a
new recruit and was pulled into the service by Harry Hart played by
Colin Firth. Later, back in England Harry visits the agents widow and
tries to console her but to no avail. He gives her a medal for her
husbands actions and tells her that on the back of the medal is a number
that she can call should she have any needs or comes into any trouble
and needs help. He also tells her to say, "Oxfords before Brogues" when
the operator asks. In her grief she gives it back to him. Harry takes
the medal and gives it to her little boy Eggsy with the advice to take
care of his mother.
So how do you impress an ASBO after you kick ass without breaking a
sweat? Give him a pep talk in a changing room then show him the secret
elevator. ©20th Century Fox
Meanwhile, somewhere on a mountain we meet with Prof, James Arnold
played by Mark Hamill who has been kidnapped by an unknown group and is
told that they are waiting for someone to show up who is very interested
in meeting with him. But the person that shows up at the door turns out
to be a Kingsman named Lancelot, the same Kingsman whom we met back in
the middle east earlier and was actually inducted then. He manages to
rescue the Professor from the soldiers but is killed when the actual
boss shows up with his assistant. The bad guy is of course played by
Samuel L. Jackson and his name is Richmond Valentine. Back in England
the Harry, his boss Chester Arthur played by Micheal Caine and the other
Kingsman gather to honor their fallen comrade and is told to now look
for a suitable replacement.
Now it's 17 years later and Eggsy played by Taron Egerton, is now a lot
older and as you can see he still has the medal. He's also the
stereotypical young English teen rebel. He lives with his mother and
little sister as well as an abusive stepfather. Later at a pub he gets
into a little face off with his stepfathers hoods (dear old stepdad is a
bit of a gangster) and as he leaves the pub he swipes the other blokes
car keys and takes it for a joyride which ends up with him in the police
station looking at a jail term. Not knowing what to do he calls the
number on the back of the medal and after mentioning the phrase that his
mother tells him to remember he gets let off by the police. On his way
out he meets Harry Hart.
Hundreds of feet underground is a tube system that if we are to believe
has existed for quite a while. It looks too new to me. ©20th Century Fox
Harry offers him a chance to improve his life. They end up back in the
pub for a drink when the thugs that Eggsy stole the car from shows up
and wants to even the score. Threats are thrown in their direction and
the thugs tell Harry to sod off. Harry seems to head for the door but
then stops short and instead locks the door. After properly thrashing
the thugs and thoroughly impressing Eggsy he leaves Eggsy to think about
it. Eggsy ends up at home where his stepdad is furious at finding out
that his boys have been beaten up and is threatening to beat up Eggsy if
he doesn't tell him who it was that did it. He threatens Eggsy's mother
when she tries to stop him. Out of nowhere Harry's voice is heard
threatening the police on Eggsy's stepdad if he doesn't back off. Eggsy
makes his way out only to bump into the now battered and bruised thugs.
He escapes of course and makes his way to the location that Harry told
him to go to if he changed his mind.
So Eggsy shows up at Kingsman Tailors where Harry is waiting for him.
Inside Harry asks him tells him he sees potential in him and then takes
him down to a private underground tube system which takes them to a
mansion on the outskirts of town. There Eggsy is told he will be put
through a grueling training to turn him into a Kingsman but he won't be
alone. There he meets with the other recruits who turn out to be the
cream of the crop of England's social elites. All of them with the
exception of the girls pick on him for his lack of education and status.
Part of Kingsman training is when they try to drown all of you in your own dorm room. ©20th Century Fox
So what comes next is we see them go through the tests that Merlin
played by Mark Strong puts them through which includes, trying to drown
all of them, having them jump out of a plane and telling them that one
of them doesn't have a parachute and need to work together, adopting a
puppy which they need to train while they go through their training and
finally when it's down to the last three. two boys and one girl; to
seduce a girl in a club all the way to the bedroom. At the club though
the three of them are drugged and put through another test, each are
tied to a subway track and threatened with death unless they expose who
the Kingsman are. Only Eggsy and Roxy the girl pass.
But that actually wasn't the last test. The last test has them called
for a private meeting and told that they must shoot their dog. Harry
fails and in disappointment leaves the mansion stealing the bosses car
along the way. He heads home to find his mother with a black eye and
rushes out to look for his stepdad whom he finds sitting outside the
pub. He challenges his stepdad from inside the car but now that he's a
little wiser he tells him he'll only step out of the car if the other
thugs go into the pub first. But before he can even open the door all
the windows go up and the doors lock and the car drives itself away.
Harry is in control of the car. Now back at Harry's place Eggsy finds
out that the gun that he was given to shoot his dog with contained
blanks and it was just a test. Harry also shows him the dog he had
during training which is now stuffed and sitting in his bathroom.
Part of being a Kingsman is that you get the cool stuff. Interesting
fact: in conjunction with this movie you can actually have suits made
exactly like the Kingsman at the official tailors for the movie. ©20th
Century Fox
In between all this, Valentine is meeting up with heads of state, social
elites of every nation and people of his choosing and telling them of
his plans. Those that agree with him receive implants those that don't
get thrown in his prison.
The Kingsman are also hot on Valentine's trail. Earlier Harry met with
Professor Arnold and while questioning him something triggers the
implant in the Professor's neck and his head explodes. Harry barely
makes it out alive but only ends up in a coma. Sometime later he
recovers and is told that the implants were triggered remotely and the
signals were traced to Valentines network. Harry proposes to meet him
under the guise of a British socialite. But during the meeting Valentine
sniffs that something's wrong.
How often are you going to see Samuel L, Jackson in a penguin suit, a NYC cap with a lisp in a movie? ©20th Century Fox
After that encounter the Kingsman finds a clue about where Valentine
might be going next, a church in the American Midwest. But prior to his
trip the Kingsman finds out that Valentine through his organisation is
now offering the world a SIM card for that will allow everyone around
the world free calls and free internet. Later at the church just as
Harry tires of the evangelical hate speak and is making his way out,
Valentine triggers the SIM card in the phones of the church congregation
which turns everyone violent. At the end Harry has killed everyone. As
he steps out of the church he is met with Valentine who kills him with a
shot to the head. This happens in full view of Arthur, Merlin and Eggsy
as everything that Harry sees is streamed from his glasses to the
Kingsman network.
Back in England, Eggsy is mess of emotions. He heads to Kingsman
headquarters where Arthur is waiting for him. While talking to Arthur,
Eggsy notices a scar on Arthur's neck. Arthur has been approached by
Valentine and is part of the conspiracy. Arthur tries to turn Eggsy
threatening him with death if he doesn't join them but Eggsy pulls a
switch on the poison drink and Arthur instead is poisoned. Now all
that's left of the Kingsman is Merlin, Eggsy and Roxy.
Agent Galahad goes to a church and then kicks ass. This was a pretty cool scene. ©20th Century Fox
Merlin comes up with a plan; first take down one of Valentines satellite
which will destroy his network and the signal he plans to send out and
second hack into the computer system of Valentine's headquarters. Roxy
is tasked with taking down the satellite, they send her up with a rig
hanging off two helium balloons which will take her to the edge of space
where she can shoot the satellite down. Eggsy now disguised as Arthur
is to infiltrate Valentine's headquarters to enable Merlin to get into
the computer network.
What happens next is a lot of fighting which of course ends up with the
Kingsman victorious and the bad guys dead. At the epilogue, Eggsy visits
the pub where he finds his mom, his stepdad and his thugs all hanging
out, he tells his mother he has a new job with perks like a paycheck and
a big house. He tells her to move in with him. This of course pisses
off stepdad and as he walks away seemingly listening to his mother's
advice to leave he stops short at the door and does the same thing that
Harry did back when he was being recruited.
Eggsy doesn't look as good as Galahad but he still impresses in the kick ass department. ©20th Century Fox
KINGSMAN GOT AN 8.2 ON IMDB WHICH MEANS IT'S ON PAR WITH GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY... IS IT THOUGH?
In one word? YES! It is as good as last years Guardians of the Galaxy.
Like Guardians of the Galaxy I've never read the comic it's based off
but I don't think it really matters, taken on it's own merits it's a
damn good and entertaining action movie. It tries in the same way to use
music and references to a different decade and what was popular then or
refer to pop culture along it's own themes but it isn't so obvious as
compared to Guardians of the Galaxy. It's a lot more subtle, sort of the
way British humor tends to be dry and a little subtle. Which leads me
to that whole British thing. It works. Colin Firth is brilliant as the
consummate British gentleman as always and impressive as an ass kicking
secret agent. It's a side of him I've never seen and hoping actually to
see more of after this movie. And Taron Egerton, a relatively new face
is pretty good too. Then there's Samuel L. Jackson who plays the villain
Valentine, yes he has a lisp that makes him sound silly but in no way
did his character look silly. He was a proper villain, worthy of being
in any serious action/thriller movie or even in a Bond movie. And of
course you can't forget the supporting cast like Michael Caine and Mark
Strong, just as brilliant even if you say little of Caine and you
usually see Mark Strong in a lead role or playing a baddie.
Samuel L. Jackson's bad guys' look is actually inspired by a real life Hip Hop producer. ©20th Century Fox
Remember how I mentioned that this movie would make references to pop
culture and other movies in the same genre? Well, for example
Valentine's headquarters is a reference to a Bond villain named Blofeld
or when Harry takes Eggsy on a tour of the Kingsman's standard issue
weapons he mentions that once upon a time the shoes they wore even had a
phone in it which is a reference to the Get Smart TV series. A few
other fun facts about this movie is that in the comic book the professor
that was kidnapped and held in the mountain cabin was named Mark Hamill
but in the movie the Professor's name is James Arnold who is played by
Mark Hamill. By the way Mark Hamill was very good as the British
professor. And also all the Kingsman are named after the Knights of the
Round Table and their leader is named Chester Arthur just like King
Arthur. All this little things just add to the novelty of this movie.
And one last thing, when Arthur asks Eggsy about his dogs name which is
J.B. Arthur's guesses include James Bond and Jason Bourne but Eggsy
answers with Jack Bauer.
Sort of hard to believe that snobs like these guys would be willing to
be part of something that they can't take advantage of socially. ©20th
Century Fox
All that I've mentioned above works hand in hand with the story and the
way it's told. The pacing is beautiful, the editing is perfect. The
action scenes, the fighting scenes were shot and choreographed
beautifully. In fact I think they did it in a way that was quite new and
refreshing. The story of course is by far not perfect but what movie
especially an action movie ever is? But then again in what movie have
you seen all the heads of state, politicians, social elites and snobs of
the world have their heads explode in a myriad of colors? I've never
seen that happen before and frankly speaking it was quite a cathartic
and satisfying thing to see.
This was a pretty cool scene. ©20th Century Fox
Honestly, this movie is as good as Guardians of the Galaxy was last
year. It is an almost perfect package (nothing in my opinion can ever be
perfect). I know it's still early in the year but this has got to be
one of the best movies of its genre this year. All the other upcoming
comic book adaptations and action movies have got quite a yardstick to
measure up against. If they aren't as good or as entertaining as
Kingsman is, then I'll be very, very disappointed.
So Luke Skywalker has his ears grabbed and then seconds later his head explodes. ©20th Century Fox
To sum it up, I give Kingsman a solid 4 out of 5 just like I did for Guardians of the Galaxy.
It's really worth your time and money to check this movie out. And it
is worth your support, don't go download it off torrent, go pay for it
first and then go torrent it until it comes out on DVD. I read somewhere
that if this movie does really well they plan to do a sequel, if it's
got the same people behind it and in front of it I'll look forward to
it. The only sad part is that Colin Firth won't be in it. Maybe they'll
do a prequel instead? That I'll really be looking forward to.
Here's the trailer for you to check out. Honestly it doesn't do this movie justice.
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