Title: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine.
‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ is a spy action comedy film based on the comic book ‘The Secret Service’ created by Dave Gibbon and Mark Millar.
The story feels like a James Bond parody, starring members of a historical gentleman’s club who recruit an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.
The screenplay by Jane Goldman and director Matthew Vaughn is stylish, cheeky, subversive and above all utterly amusing. All acts of intense violence are so cartoonish that they inevitably become cathartically entertaining, making audiences relish in laughter.
Colin Firth couldn’t be more fit in the role of the gentleman mentor towards a steamy backstreet apprentice such as Taron Egerton. Michael Caine, as leader of the Kingsman, and Mark Strong, as his right-hand man, are like two peas in a pod, as regards the noblesse oblige allure required by the roles. But what really gives a bang is Samuel L. Jackson who plays the villain: the lisping tech billionaire Valentine who schemes to reverse global warming by clearing the planet by most of its population, through a free wireless sim card he donates that has a device that transforms people into homicidal monsters.
The irresistible British charm of Saville Row tailoring and the good manners of the upper-class England, mixed with its folly of politically incorrectness in the name of saucy humour, will undoubtably conquer all. In a time where wisecrack is needed to exorcise current affairs, ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ will surely be just your cup of tea.
Technical: A
Acting: A
Story: B+
Overall: A-
Written by: Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
