Joyously entertaining - and clearly the first in a franchise

Rating: Null/10 (14 March 2015)

If you enjoyed the 2010 movie "Kick-Ass" (and I certainly did), you'll be joyously entertained by "Kingsman". That's no accident since the films have the same British director Matthew Vaughan and the same British writer Jane Goldman (aka Mrs Jonathan Ross). Whereas "King-Ass" was a twist on the super-hero genre, "Kingsman" is a homage to the spy caper with particular reference to the earlier Bond movies. While "King-Ass" was wonderfully violent, "Kingsman" at times presents a gore-fest, notably in over the top sequences involving a fight scene in a church and heads exploding to accompanying music.
It is a cleverly constructed work with excitement from the opening seconds, a narrative that fairly zips along, and lots of wry humour. And it deliberately pitches for a wide audience with a host of older familiar stars (Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson) plus a raft of new younger talent (Taron Egerton as the working class young buck, Sophie Cookson as his side kick, and Sofia Boutella as his intended nemesis). Sometimes it is all a little too contrived, with the device of a line of dialogue repeated later in a slightly different context used over and over again, but it is all so much fun you forgive such contrivances.
The plan is that "Kingsman" will become a franchise and early in the credits a scene sets up the central character for the next movie.