Film / Reviews
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Kingsman: The Secret Service (15)
UK 2015 129 mins Dir: Matthew Vaughn Starring: Colin Firth, Jack Davenport, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton
Looking back on it now, Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s irreverent graphic novel Kick-Ass was something of a miracle, a film that embraced superhero conventions and also deconstructed them at the same time. It’s a technique that Vaughn repeats, to lesser effect, in his latest film Kingsman: The Secret Service; a movie once again derived from a Millar comic book and which once again sees Vaughn collaborating with screenwriter Jane Goldman.
That’s not to deny the spirited efforts of the cast: Colin Firth takes to his role as super spy Harry Hart with such delightful ease that ‘to the manor born’ springs to mind. A member of the top secret Kingsman spy agency, it’s Hart’s job to train up gobby Marines dropout Eggsy (terrific newcomer Egerton), whose father saved Harry’s life in the heat of conflict.
Although Firth and Egerton excel, the problems are embodied in the central figure of Samuel L. Jackson’s supervillain Richmond Valentine, a megalomaniac with a diabolical plan involving corrupted SIM cards. Intended to evoke the essence of a classic Bond baddie whilst decked out in garish gear more befitting Tim Westwood, Jackson’s performance aims to honour spy tradition whilst also satirising it, an uneasy balance that’s never all that engaging.
Sadly the same issues apply to the film as a whole, which for large portions plays out like a (better) version of teen spy adventure Stormbreaker, stopping every now and then for the occasional self-referential in-joke and bouts of giddily extreme violence. It’s a balance that was much better wrought in Kick-Ass but with Firth on fine form, Egerton on star-making duties and fine support from the likes of Mark Strong and Michael Caine, it’s never less than engaging. The ingredients just needed more shaking and less stirring.
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