Grade: A

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2015)

Kingsman is the type of movie that from the trailers, looks to polarize audiences. The previews are stylish, ridiculous, over-the-top, but potentially fun. The question was, would it pull these things off successfully, or be so self-indulgent as to be depraved of any quality?
Despite fun-font opening titles, Kingsman starts off rather serious. It begins in the Middle East with a group of secret service men prying for information, before their subject proves to be a suicide bomber. One of the men sees this and immediately sacrifices himself to save the group. This weighs heavily on secret service man Harry Hart, an experienced kingsman who should have seen it coming, knows it, and doesn't ever forget.
Harry Hart is played brilliantly by Colin Firth. He's the type of bad ass who will take down everyone in the room, but will be a perfect gentleman right up until, and right after, that very moment. "Manners maketh man" he exclaims, just before brutally assailing an entire group of men at a bar. Harry Hart's emotions are just beneath the surface much of the time, but Colin Firth does so well with nuance, that it never feels overdone.
The real star of the show, however, is Eggsy, played wonderfully by newcomer Taron Egerton. Eggsy is the son of the man killed in the beginning, and despite his fashion, manners, and swiftness to throw fists to solve his problems, Eggsy is a very respectable character, because he stands up for himself, looks after himself and his troubled mother, and he's determined to do well when called upon. Though his character can pack a lot of laughs, as he is often wide-eyed about the fancy gadgetry, Taron Egerton takes the role very seriously, making for a very charismatic lead. Eggsy is the do-gooder of bad boys, with intelligence and wit.
The film's plot sets these two lovable characters on a collision course with megalomaniac villain Richard Valentine, portrayed in full-blown theatricality by Samuel L. Jackson in one of his most memorable roles to date. Valentine dresses very flashy, has a ridiculous lisp, and often speaks in simple terms, but is cunning and terrifyingly brilliant. Much like Jackson's performance, the over-the-top nature of Valentine is a facade to fool the world into thinking he is harmless. But as his outlandish plot unfolds- and it is easily one of the most ridiculous villain plots in a movie in a long time- we see how dangerous he can truly be, and the stakes are raised.
And that's why I loved Kingsman. Despite being cool, fun, and full of charismatic characters, Kingsman doesn't let its nature from overriding all the dynamics that make movies so enjoyable: it gives us characters we love to watch and care about, puts them in suspenseful situations. All this is achieved through the strong, but never self-indulgent, performances, led by director Matthew Vaughn, through selectively stylish, non-derivative cinematography, and a meta-script that knows what type of movie it is and pays respect to spy films. It is careful not to cross over into parody territory and allows itself to break the rules we come to expect in the genre.
Still, Kingsman is not perfect. Many of the characters that seem to get Eggsy into trouble are very generic, preppy teenage jerks. The character Roxie, who Eggsy has great chemistry with, gets less and less screen time as the film progresses and by the movie's end, doesn't feel very important in the grand scheme of things. There is also the stereotypical action-movie problem of bad guys who have no aim with their weapons, yet the heroes are master marksmen. This becomes very apparent in the movie's final action sequence, which also starts to drag after some time. There's never a dull moment in the movie, but towards the end I was starting to wonder when it actually would end.
These issues don't bog the movie down very much though, simply because it has too much going for it. There are lots of memorable action sequences; one is a gruesome, hilarious riot inside a Westboro-Baptist inspired hate-group church; another features secondary villain, Gazelle, a lethal amputee whose prosthetic metal legs act as blades that can slice a person in half with ease; another is an incredible skydiving training sequence with a terrifying twist. I was on the edge of my seat. Kingsman is not the type of movie that is going to get any accolades later this year, and while I do think it's a polarizing film, I think far more people will enjoy it than not. It's the type of movie that reminds us why we go to the movies: it gives us characters we can laugh with but believe in, keeps us on the edge of their seat as it continues to raise the stakes, and it never forgets to have fun. Kingsman is the first great movie this year.
Grade: A