Comic book James Bond

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2015)

I have to say that the film entertained me quite a lot. All actors were very good and the direction was almost flawless. If you are looking for the cellphone version of James Bond, this is the film for you. In Kingsman you find the origin story for a young adult secret service spy that then gets taken completely over the top with funky suits, weird gadgets that are used only once, the occasional dry pun and lots and lots of violence.
I think Colin Firth was the right man for the job, as was Samuel L. Jackson as the villain. Probably Jackson just stopped one day and said "I am just going to have a lot of fun for the rest of my life". Young Taron Egerton was the main character and he performed well for his relatively short career, but let's admit it: Firth and Jackson made this movie.
The problem with this comic book based film is that it feels just like a comic book. You get the archetypal Harry Potter that discovers that he is the son of special people and he is taken to the magical school for secret spies, destined to fight and defeat the evil man that should not be named, but we know is Sam Jackson. It is a children story, no matter how you take it.
Bottom line: entertaining, but mindless fun. It made me wish for a deep and dark origin story for the likes of Jason Bourne: their recruitment, their training, the real alienation and mind programming, the kills and the failures and their consequences. Alas, it was just a funky JB. Best quote: "I'll have a Martini. With gin, not vodka, obviously. Stirred for ten seconds while staring at a bottle of unopened vermouth."