Turns The Spy Movie Genre On Its Head, In My 2015 Top 5

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2016)

I would love to say that I knew ahead of time that this movie would be so special. But I didn't, I thought the marketing looked good but it did seem like the average action/spy movie story line rebooted. My best friend who seems to have a sixth sense about knowing if a movie will be great insisted on going to see this. I was so taken aback with it I went and saw it the next night with another group of friends, that's how much I liked it. I'm so glad it turned out to be the massive hit it was and I'm excited to talk about it.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* In what is presumably the late 1990s, a compound in the Middle East is raided and several masked men are interrogating a suspect. The interrogation goes south when the hostage detonates an explosive device. But most of the interrogators are saved when a brave solo soldier shields the rest using his body to muffle the blast. Quickly we are introduced to 3 Kingsman agents: Harry Hart "Galahad" (Colin Firth), Merlin (Mark Strong), and Lancelot (Jack Davenport). Harry admits that it was his fault and he just missed that there was an explosive device. He travels back to England and tells the agent's widow Michelle Unwin (Samantha Womack) about his demise. She is understandably distraught and while they can't celebrate his heroics Harry promises her a favour, one that has no limitations and that if she calls a specific number, whatever she needs will be done. We also meet young Eggsy (he's just a boy here, the older version of Eggsy is Taron Edgerton) who Harry tells to look after his mother.
I could go into the plot further but I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll go into what makes this movie unique next to so many other spy movies. Kingsman: The Secret Service is a rare breed of movie where it functions well within the genre (spy movies) by itself but it also pokes fun at the spy movie clichés. It could also be considered a comedy/parody. Kick-Ass (a previous Matthew Vaughn effort which I didn't like as much) is another such film from director Matthew Vaughn and seems to be a hallmark for him. It blends the old spy movie magic (outlandish gadgets, over-the-top villain, gentleman spy) with something new and it does so beautifully. It's so much fun and as the movie says, spy movies have gotten a little serious lately and it was refreshing to see a movie that wasn't afraid to tell some jokes while delivering on the action and the plot.
Speaking of the action, this movie has some of the best filmed action I've ever seen. If you have seen the movie, regardless of how you feel morality wise about the church scene, it's astounding how its shot and how horrifyingly violent it is. It really kicked the movie into overdrive for me. Every action scene in this movie is unique and beautifully filmed, stylistically it's as much as you could have asked for.
Talking about the acting next, Kingsman features some really outstanding performances. I can't believe Colin Firth is so good in this movie. He's always been a good actor but I never would have thought he had this in him. He's suave, funny and actually believable as an action hero. Taron Edgerton does a hell of a job considering he was an unknown before this. This is a breakout performance, I'm sure it will lead to many other starring roles. Samuel L. Jackson is awesome as the villain, he has the right amount of theatricality yet he's really funny too. I'm a big Samuel fan already but his character and his performance were different from what you would expect and they add memorable aspect to this film. In smaller roles, Mark Hamill, Michael Caine and Sofia Boutella all shine and round out an excellent cast.
Some people have found this movie to be offensive, I can see that but it more depends on what you want to get out of this movie. I think one of the reasons this movie is so popular is that it really isn't afraid to go there. There's so many violent kills, so much joking at the expense of the typical spy plot and there are some pretty filthy jokes (yes there is a taboo sexual joke at the end, I thought it was funny, I guess a lot of people didn't). Not every action feature has to be this unrelenting but I found it to be refreshing and I think judging by the amount of love this movie has gotten from the public, most people agree.
I saw Kingsman: The Secret Service twice in theatres, I bought the Blu Ray and I've watched it many times since. This is a truly great spy movie which finds the right mix of action and comedy and the balance between the familiar and the new. It commits to the story yet is still outstanding to watch because of some bold stylistic choices. I'm stoked for the sequel and it can't get here soon enough.