100% Percent Satisfying: Action Galore

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2015)

Who would have thought Colin Firth could play such a suave James Bond type? He displays enough cockiness, looks quite dapper in his custom made suite, and can probably pick up any babes he wished if we had more time in the movie. Jackson also has the time of his life, with his speech impediment villain. In addition to that, we are treated to the training phase of the future spies, and unlike "Birdman" where there's nothing funny, this parody skewers the genre, giving us action fan plenty to cheer throughout the entire movie.
We have the gadgets, the action scenes, the incredible requests to earn certification and become a member of the select few. We meet the fatherless hero who must prove himself worthy of the recognition and hone his natural talents to be able to save the world. Who wouldn't love the poisonous tip oxfords, the cool pens, key chains, and doesn't that umbrella come in pretty handy before and during a lethal encounter?
In order to give the film more panache, we have to include Michael Caine, who has already graced a few "Batman" films with his class, and Mark Strong adds a touch of cerebral ability, as he must prove his resources are after all, important to succeed in this era.
What is most important here is the amount of fun we have throughout the film? Loved the intimate dinner between the two adversaries, the sexy villain who proves to be quite a challenge during the entire adventure, and it is plenty of fun to see some of those selected few get their due, as they find themselves once again worthy of salvation just because they have more money than the rest of the world. Of course, the villain plans are both hideous and hilarious as we see which groups are depicted in the movie. Most of them are one step short of getting into that type of frenzy anyway, so it wouldn't take much to trigger that type of behavior.
This is a movie that is a bit over two hours, but we don't want it to end because it is so much fun. There are films out there that are overpraised because it looks like they're trying to be original as they criticize, satirize, or make a half-hearted and pretentious parody of other genres. "Kingsman" is an example that the film makers are able to wink an eye and tell us these types of films are excessive, with just too much of nothing in order to pack it with special effects to hide its creative weaknesses, but this one also shows that you can show intelligent commentaries without dragging or calling too much attention to it. I can't remember how many times I look at my time during "Birdman", but I had forgotten I had a watch or a cell phone while I laughed and rooted for the heroes and villains equally, and there were a few unexpected turns which gave me some faith about the simple fact that we can still hope to find some fresh material out there.
We might getting too much of the Marvel universe, with a break needed soon. It is also important to note that originality and creativity and their blend with comedy and action are really difficult when they were done. A good work of art doesn't try that hard to call attention to itself. Instead, it's all there, and it flows naturally on its way to its well-deserved recognition, without the overeager critical support to tell us how great it is, when it really isn't.