Gloriously fun and entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2015)

Kingsman: The Secret Service is the gloriously fun and outrageous spy thriller I have always wanted. A delightful premise overcomes its hints of cheese fairly quickly, and evolves into a spy drama that evokes a lot of thrills, laughs and pulse-pounding excitement.
Of the cast, there is much to celebrate. Colin Firth is superb as the classy and ass-kicking spy who first introduces us to the world, Mark Strong is a magnificent Q to Taron Egerton's Bond, and Samuel L. Jackson's villain is one of Hollywood's most memorable characters in the last few years. Mark Hamill's cameo was a great deal of fun. The breakout stars, Taron Egerton and Sophie Cookson, are young actors I really want to see more of. And everyone in the film is darn likable.
The violence is refreshingly, a delightful reminder that after the watered down Hunger Games movies, some Hollywood directors still have the guts to be in your face. However, whilst the bloodbath in the church was a magnificent scene that I thoroughly enjoyed watching, the violence against women was a little too much for me. The story is amazing, with a credible villain motive and execution strategy, perfect highs and lows, and wonderfully fleshed out characters. The society of Kingsman are clearly thought out and the training is a delight to watch.
The main thing stopping this film getting a perfect 5/5 review is that tasteless and grossly immature anal sex jokes at the end. For a film selling itself on class, it just blew a lot of its good will. I could easily swallow the rest of the film's minor flaws - stupid exploding heads, easy to spot stunt men - but I have to knock Matthew Vaughn's film down a peg for being so immature.
But immaturity has its benefits, and for 99% of Kingsman's violent and ludicrously entertaining run time, I was loving it. Bring on the sequel.