Movie Review – Kingsman – The Secret Service

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2014 – Spoiler alerts A dark edged ultra-violent James Bond spoof that is closer to Quentin Tarantino than Austin Powers. It deals with the transformation of Eggsy from street-wise tearaway juvenile London thug, to gentleman spy when he is recruited to the British Secret Service and trained by Colin Firth, playing a spy code named Galahad. The two tier plot has Eggsy going through brutal training regimes, and Galahad trying to stop an evil megalomaniac, Samuel L Jackson’s lisping, very funny, Richmond Valentine from taking over the World through mobile phone implants that drive people insanely violent. (don’t they already do that?) His banquet where he offers only Macdonald’s burgers is a parody of product placement and shows how miserly Valentine is for such a self-appointed Bill Gates figure. Eggsy will inevitably end up involved in the desperate struggle to save us all as his metamorphosis is completed. Kingsman refers to the bespoke gentleman’s tailors firm that serves as a front for MI5 here. A glorious romp with homages to many spy and action movies. Watch for just how many spies have had the initials JB – James Bond being only the most obvious. More surprising is the Star Wars referencing, notably with a barely recognizable Mark Hamill as a kidnapped professor and the whole chase round Valentine’s secret lair looking like scenes in the Death Star interior corridors. Gadgets abound; daggers in shoes (From Russia With Love), bullet proof umbrellas (The Avengers, John Steed version), exploding lighters (Our Man Flint). Another obvious spy movie inference is the casting of Michael (Harry Palmer) Caine as the head of the Kingsman service. Funny, inventive, and jaw droppingly violent, with great performances from Mark Strong, Taron Egerton as Eggsy, and Sophie Cookson as well as all the other cast members named above. Arthur Chappell