Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 film starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn and was adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Mark Millar. The film is quite clearly heavily inspired by the classic Bond films. However the film is able to perfectly manage that feel of a classic Bond film, with a modern day setting.

A young man named Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Taron Egerton), whose father died when he was just a child, is dealing with living with living with his mother and her abusive, criminal boyfriend. He goes out and steals the car of one of the boyfriend’s friends. He gets arrested and then decides to call a number that a man gave him around the time his father died, to call if he needs help. A man named Harry (Colin Firth) get him out of jail. He tells Eggsy that he served with his father. When the man Eggsy slighted wants revenge, Harry takes care of him and his friends single handled. Harry then tells Eggsy that he's a member of a top secret group known as the Kingsman and his father was also part of it. He gave his life trying to make the world safe. Harry offers Eggsy the opportunity to be a Kingsman and he takes it. He undergoes a grueling training course. During all this, Harry is looking into the recent death of a fellow Kingsman when the trail points towards a tech billionaire named Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson).

The film is a fun adventure that has something for everybody. The cast is fantastic and all give a good performance. The tone of the film as mentioned, is very much that of a classic Bond film. The action however is what many people will note when they see the film, and for good reason. The choreography is swift and beautiful, yet brutal and excessively gory. It is truly something to behold and very refreshing when compared to how the action is shot in most action films.

There is one particular action scene that I won’t go into detail about, that caused a great deal of controversy due to its insane violence and the fact that it transpired in a church. If that is something that bothers you at all then consider that when deciding if you wish to see this film, just note however that it is but one scene and not a good representation of the rest of the film.

The plot is very B-movie. It is something we’ve all seen before. The evil super villain who wishes to destroy the world, who can only be stopped by one man. However that is twisted slightly as the villain wishes to eradicate most of humanity because he believes it to be the only way to save Earth from humanity. As well as the fact that the film realises it has a B-movie plot, allow it to have fun. Samuel L. Jackson is very over the top, there are several James Bond jokes, and lots of spy movie clichés.

This film is truly a fun adventure. It is full of things for people to love. The film knows what it is and is very proud of it. There is plenty of humor and action to go around as well as a fun world full of interesting characters. I would recommend this movie to most people.

Score: 8/10