Engaging hilarious riot

Rating: 9/10 (16 September 2017)

Maybe it helped to have been raised in a British media sphere to recognise the clichés from sixties British TV and films; but sent up, parodied, twisted and subverted. I began with no expectations other than the information in the title: Kingsman, the secret service. The hero faces a series of selection challenges, a theme as old as storytelling. His motivations are as obscure as the motivations of the Bondian villain are improbable, the material culture of the villains HQ is pure sixties Broccoli, but the means of communication are up to date. I'm not sure the plot makes any sense- that doesn't matter as we are propelled from illusion to crisis every minute. The hero receives ambiguous off-hand help from a mentor, but no discernible training before he's put to work. The film is certainly amoral, even anarchic. The Kingsman organisation is an independently funded secret service, with no governmental or democratic oversight. Violence is extreme and cartoonish cf Tom and Gerry, the mores of political correctness are not observed. Most of the cast are dead by the end. The hero does get the girl ( to the tune of 'Slave to Love'), though not the one you expected, another confounded expectation. There is some bad taste here and there. But there are values- and not bad ones for this age of lost boys-wear a suit and tie, have a polite manner, accept some help from 'old people', take a little instruction; and your mother might yet be proud of you. There's a sleazy mendacious Michael Caine, and Colin Firth ( still better known in the UK as 'Mr Darcy') does the unthinkable ( and I don't want to spoil that). And the torch has been passed to a new generation. It probably didn't get many Oscars- there's not much angst here about the American condition- but there's a pastiche of modern Merry England, and that scene in the church. Two hours approx of escapism. Enjoy.