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Director Matthew Vaughn loves comic books, a fact evidenced in his filmography,
which largely consists of adaptations including “X-Men: First Class” and the
graphic novel “Stardust.” Vaughn also has an affinity for the work of Mark
Millar, author of “Kick-Ass” and “Kick-Ass 2.” Their reunion is “Kingsman: The
Secret Service,” a big screen imagining of Millar’s comic series (co-authored by
Dave Gibbons), which intends to celebrate the spirit of classic James Bond spy
movies while indulging in CGI-laden ultra violence. It’s a hurricane of a
picture, authoritative and downright fun…for about an hour. The second half of
“Kingsman” is a wipe-out of epic proportions, with Vaughn and Millar losing
their sense of structure to whip up a painfully familiar frenzy.
Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is a wayward young man who suffered a major loss when his
father died under mysterious circumstances long ago. Bright but reckless, Eggsy
is targeted by Harry Hart (Colin Firth), with plans to groom the punk into a Kingsman, a secret service organization that leads with Arthurian nobility and
inventive weaponry. Hoping Eggsy will follow in his father’s footsteps, Harry
puts the boy through the training process, which offers the newcomer a punishing
introduction to the ways of saving the world. Joining Arthur (Michael Caine),
Merlin (Mark Strong), and fellow recruit Roxy (Sophie Cookson), Eggsy needs all
the guidance he can get, soon facing a formidable villain in Valentine (Samuel
L. Jackson), a malevolent billionaire about to launch a secret weapon that will
change the world forever.
“Kingsman” doesn’t mess around, getting off to a refreshingly brisk start with
the introduction of the secret service, with a botched mission to rescue a
climatologist (played with typical gusto by Mark Hamill) from a mountaintop lair
exposing the doomed agent’s agility and appreciation for quality scotch. There’s
equal time for Valentine and his henchwoman Gazelle (Sofia Boutella), a deadly
amputee with running blades made literal by the addition of razor-sharp edges.
It’s a blast of visual might, funky wit, and brutal violence that extends to
moments with Eggsy and Harry, who shows off his own skill with a tricked-out
umbrella to entice the young man into training. “Kingsman” has a killer opening
act, watching Vaughn juggle introductions with stunning ease, securing
relationships and raising stakes while staging a few stunt surprises of his own.
“Kingsman” finds its footing during Eggsy’s training period, where his working
class background is mocked by his affluent competition, while Merlin cooks up a
few deadly challenges involving flooded barracks and a skydiving mission, and
gifts each participant a dog to raise. The goal is create a sense of teamwork,
instilling the force of the Kingsman and their sense of honor, with Eggsy taking
to the stress with ease, impressing Harry, who’s off on his own mission to learn
more about Valentine, going undercover as a fellow billionaire to share
McDonald’s with the eccentric, who’s a dead ringer for Russell Simmons, down to the askew baseball cap and lisp. The core of “Kingsman” is irresistible at
times, toying with spy movie conventions while creating its own world of grenade
cigarette lighters, impeccably tailored suits, and a headquarters located on Savile Row, with an underground pneumatic tube travel system to get the agents
where they need to go. It’s cartoony and lively, boosted by secure performances
from Egerton and especially Firth, who owns the effort as Harry, a gallant but
deadly man carrying a heavy load of survivor guilt.
The second half of “Kingsman” loses appeal quickly. While Vaughn and Millar
pledge their allegiance to James Bond, the picture eventually transforms into
“Kick-Ass 3,” offering an extended climax that showcases swarms of expendable
henchmen, exploding head implants, and anal sex. It’s noisy instead of exciting,
soon introducing an element of child endangerment to secure urgency already
established, giving the whole endeavor a mean-spiritedness it doesn’t need.
Vaughn abandons imagination to deliver pure carnage, paying more attention to
his flawed visual effects (limitations in budget are easy to spot) than tight
storytelling, with a useless mid-movie showboat sequence feature Harry
slaughtering a church filled with Westboro-types while under Valentine’s control
a harbinger of painful overkill to come. As found in “Kick-Ass,” Vaughn is under
the impression the more is less, going apocalyptic with conclusions that only
need to pay off established conflicts. “Kingsman: The Secret Service” soon
becomes repetitive and obnoxious -- out to punish an audience it was previously
content to entertain to the fullest. |
