From chav to gentleman in two hours

Rating: 8/10 (23 May 2015)

It's actually a rare occasion that you see a movie based on a comic book about British people. Until i managed to recall V for Vendetta, i thought it's my first rendezvous with a material of such sort. Especially since it revolves around a figure of an English gentleman, and who can be a more unlikely comic book hero than a tea-drinking suit-wearing umbrella-cane-carrying snob?
Well, this is where it gets interesting. Because, although our main gentleman figure is played by Colin Firth, a seasoned veteran of Regency era courtships and chivalry, it's not gonna be a Pride and Prejudice of any sort. What we have here is a modern day dandy spy squad. But it's not just James Bond dressed for Royal Ascot. It's more like Captain America dressed (and mannered) for the same sort of thing. Fancy, ain't it?
But, as with a recipe for a proper Martini, all the ingredients, including the last one, are equally important. And, as a cherry (or should i say an olive) on top, we have here a little social confrontation, because our modern time knight with impeccable looks and manners chooses as his apprentice a young chav'ish guy, who's equally talented and troublesome.
At this point, i believe that anyone who's at least mildly interested in the action/adventure movie genre will be intrigued to the limit. And they should be, because Kingsman: The Secret Service delivers a today's interpretation of the ages old fairy tale about a commoner who rose up and got into the highest ranks thanks only to his courage, wits and honor. And this time, instead of bows and swords, we have shotguns and super spy gadgets.
Surely, as any fairy tale, Kingsman is hardly a sci-fi. So don't expect much plausibility here, since what's believable is not always fun. Instead, enjoy how marvelously graphic this movie is, how brilliantly the fighting scenes are filmed and how insanely surreal (or surreally insane) the main villain is. It takes a courage and some wild imagination to actually transform the current collective subconscious into a figure of flesh and blood and make this figure really evil, but only evil enough to still take it seriously. Because, as we know from the old Bond movies, the over-the-top baddies cause more laugh than fright, and we don't want the audience to laugh before the punch line, do we?
But no matter how gentleman material you are, it's hard not to get your suit wrinkled and specked a bit when it's raining punches and bullets. So, while Kingsman is light-hearted and jolly enough to be on par with Kick-Ass, it certainly lacks some depth and character development. Surely, we see how Eggsy, the ballsy (no pun intended) Galahad's protégé, goes from that council housing punk to well-esteemed gentleman with fighting skills straight from The Matrix. What we don't see is some real, not fairy tale sort of, challenge he has to overcome to become what he becomes. Just a bit of brawling with some higher-born competitors and one skydiving trick - that's all. He doesn't even seem to break a sweat, which falls in line with the fairy tale style, but lacks realism so much that it undermines the value of the achievement somewhat. And yes, there's product placement. So explicit and blatant that they even make Colin Firth endorse McDonald's as a part of a dialogue. I try not to be a snob, but that was a bit too much.
So, while Kingsman is hardly a movie that would hold you enthralled on a re-watch, it's still entertaining enough for your first date to be pleasant. It's fresh enough, funny enough, and who would skip an opportunity to see Colin Firth kicking major ass for three minutes straight? Not me for sure. And neither should you, because for that alone watching Kingsman can be a lifetime experience ;).