Spy Hard
Film: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Cast: Colin Firth, Samuel L.
Jackson, Taron Egerton
Directed by: Mathew Vaughn
Duration: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: * * * 1 / 2
“The James Bond films were only as
good as the villain in it” says Valentine, the man with a nefarious plan in
Kingsman, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Think of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Goldfinger, Mr. Big, Oddjob,
Jaws, Scaramanga, Dr Noand you will know how true it is that not only in Bond
films, largely all action films are only as good as the villain in it. Kingsman
luckily has a mighty good one in the form of an eccentric ex-MIT techie who has
plans to reboot mankind on this planet.
Directed by Mathew Vaughn (of X
Men First Class fame) Kingsman draws from the James Bond template and the
primary aim is to entertain in the good old fashioned way. Kingsman is a secret spy agency that operates
from a tailor shop, or so it seems. They have all the gadgets in the world to
compete with Bond or Ethan Hunt. Harry (Colin Firth) is one of chief operatives
and he has a cross to bear when one of his colleague dies during a
mission.
Years later he bumps across Eggsy
(Taron Egerton), the son of his dead friend. The young man is not doing
anything particularly productive in his life, Harry takes him under his wings
and makes him compete with a bunch of other guys and girls for the next
Kingsman where their physical and mental skills are truly tested.
Meanwhile, a disgruntled man
(Jackson) distributes millions of SIM cards for free – the catch? He can
activate aggressive behavior in them with a tap on the keyboard. The Kingsmen
have to get together then to, what else, but save the world. There are many standard tropes
that the film follows and makes no bones about it. Bond is talked about more
than once and Jason Bourne and even Jack Bauer get a mention.
At over 2 hours the length is a
slight deterrent, in the middle portion not much happens but the finale is
cracking. The heads exploding scene at the end for instance is one of those wow
moments where Vaughn gives you more than you expect.
The action is interlaced with
humor and there is a fair bit of it, there is as much action as there are some
smart quips in the film. And no one believes in being politically correct, the
odd humor also stems from this fact.
There is a lot of swearing (hence
the adult certificate) although that could have easily been avoided to appeal
to a wider audience even without making it like a standard teenage action
flick.
Kingsman is your ticket to some
harmless entertainment.
Published in The Navhind Times, Goa on 1st March 2015
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