This weekend, Kingsman: The Secret service was released in theaters. In a time where Hollywood normally releases it’s boring after the holidays, before the summer slate of flicks, this movie came out with guns blazing. It truly was a sophisticated, action packed spectacle of a film. It displayed just the right amount of campy goodness to remind you of an old school 70’s spy film, while keeping its modern day luster to appeal to this generations’s movie goers.
Inspired by the Mark Millar comic book The Secret Service, The film follows a group of covert secret agents, who work separate of the government. The film opens with a mission gone wrong, resulting in the death of one of the Kingsman agents. Galahad (Colin Firth) must deliver the news to the agents’ next of kin: the agents’ wife and his small son, Eggsy. Galahad offers them a medal of Valor with a phone number on it and instructs the widow, that if she ever needs a favor, all she must do is call and give the password. Fast forward 17 years and we find that Eggsy has grown up to be quite the street savvy hoodlum. A series of run ins with the law forces Eggsy to call in the favor which not only will save him from jail, but will send him on a journey he could never imagine.
Galahad, who has always felt responsible for the death of Eggsys father, decides to make Eggsy his candidate to test and become the next Kingsman. And so begins what one of the characters refers to as “the most dangerous job interview in the world.” Recruiting a new Kingsman gives way to a plot to end most of man kind by the films villain Mr. Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). He is an eccentric billionaire with the money and brains of Bill Gates, the lisp of Mike Tyson, and an extremely weak stomach for blood. Thankfully he has a body guard in the form of the beautiful and deadly Gazelle (Sofia Boutella) who does all of his dirty work. In the film she is a double amputee who has prosthetic legs with razor sharp blades and some amazing, acrobatic, martial arts skills .
Colin Firths character Galahad, is truly a modern day James Bond mixed with a little Obi Wan Kenobi and the fighting skills of Neo in the Matrix films. Taron Egerton does a tremendous job as Eggsy. Who is rough and edgy yet sincere and loyal to a fault. Rounding out the all star cast is Michael Caine as Arthur (the head of the Kingsman), Mark Strong as Merlin (the resident computer and tech genius) and even the Jedi master , Mark Hamil. In a film with explosions, looming Armageddon, high tech gadgets, some eyebrow raising sex appeal, and even a few heart felt moments, Kingsman: The Secret Service hits on all levels. Like the suits the agents’ wear, it is sexy, stylish, classic and dangerous in its own right. It is sure to leave you smiling and clapping when the credits roll. I know I was.
This is darthsparrow and I will “catch you on the geek side” 😉