Almost like a (good) Tarentino take on the Bond series

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2015)

This reminds me of what Tarentino would have done with the Bond series similar to what he did with 70's era Kung Fu movies and action flicks but there's a twist: There are many who say that the theme to Kingsman is conservative. It's like Falling Down for James Bond. It's a similar experience to what I had with the Breaking Bad series which is leftist in feel and scope. In Breaking Bad, the implausible scenario is that a schoolteacher and DEA agent ultimately take drug money to help with their medical care because the government has lousy healthcare benefits. That's like saying Obama has to take the bus because the government doesn't provide him any transportation. It's laughable. But despite that leftist premise, I could enjoy that series.
By the same token, I get the sense that the audience in the DC region theater were mostly leftist but enjoyed the film despite the tone of the film being one of the most conservative or right wing than I've seen in years.
A savvy viewer will find a number of inconsistencies and plot holes but that goes for the Bond films as well. What "secret spy" is quick to tell everyone he's a secret spy and sleep around and draw attention to himself? These plot holes are meant to be savored. Working class folks and the upper crust are both portrayed as yobs with a modern twist: NOBODY smokes. Ever. It's refreshing. Remember in the Bond films how everyone puffed away continuously? I hope this becomes a trend that is repeated in later sequels (which there will surely be.)
The film appears to have recruited every potential spy and cameo imaginable. Mark Hamill, Michael Caine, Samuel Jackson, Colin Firth among others both pay homage to the Bond style thriller while introducing new elements (Jackson's particular performance is hilarious.)
Watching in the theater was surprisingly enjoyable because, not in spite of, the other audience members that made obvious comments during some action sequences but were stunningly silent in others. I could feel their shock and relished it. Vaughn takes violence that had been reduced to pornography in modern Hollywood and gives it a new artistic twist while also knowing when to tone things back a little and introduce suspense.