What I was expecting, I didn't get. And that's a good thing!

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2015)

My wife and I watched the trailer for this film two weeks ago and she wanted to see it and I didn't. Seemed a silly sendup of the spy genre badly miscast with Colin Firth in a lead role and shot in a frenetic style. Surprise, surprise. This is the most fun we've had at the movies in a long while now.
Colin Firth is exactly right for his part. He deftly wavers between dead serious and quiet amusement. Not once did I think even for a moment that anyone better known for action movies could have done half as well. He's very entertaining and in a lot of ways the film revolves around him to its benefit.
I found Samuel L. Jackson's lisp a bit distracting and a little off-putting, but no deal breaker. The character I was most intrigued by was Gazelle the villain's henchwoman played by an extremely comely Sofia Boutella who would make an impressive Bond girl. Throughout she's a delight to watch doing evil despite her having no feet.
There's humor here and a good sense of fun. But I can't say I'm that enthused about a sequel though the main character here, Eggsy, played by Taron Egerton, is quite good. His transformation here is pretty impressive, but he's awfully young.
Of course, I started out thinking the movie was going to be boring, and I was quite wrong about that. I could be completely wrong about Eggsy in a sequel. I do know they've racked up enough goodwill with me that I won't be able to resist taking a look.