Kingsman: the Secret Service

Kingsman: the Secret Service is a James Bond style graphic novel brought to screen by director Matthew Vaughn.  Vaughn, known for such hits as Layer Cake and X-Men: First Class, has mastered the hyper violence and pith that turns comic pulp into Hollywood gold.  Those of us who grew up reading comic books are now glutted with choice as studios dredge up any new Marvel or DC Universe comic book characters that come along.

Hollywood has benefited especially from a genre that celebrates moral ambiguity and oddball characters set against a backdrop of mayhem.  Comic book heroes and villains are more than ever the Cowboys & Indians of today's world.

At their best, such characters as Batman have taught young kids about moral ambiguity.  Being a good guy can be a dark business.  The comic book world has attracted top notch directors, actors, writers, and producers and in it's greatest incarnations produced classics that future generations will read about in history books.  It's provided us with resounding connection to our past: a great American tradition.

These super hero movies are the Rambo, Lethal Weapon, & 48 hrs. of our day.  

The film falls victim to machismo and a hokey script.

I love to watch these kinds of movies with my brother.  We both grew up loving gore and action.  But, after reading about the horrors of slavery and the Holocaust, and about social justice movements, I can't help but bring a critical eye to such films.  I worked at an art cinema which has me looking more critically at such components as the way a shot is executed or the filter of a film's light.  As you might imagine, people aren't always keen to pick apart the film.  But, when a film has a great mix of good and bad, who can resist the attraction of a good dissection?

I'll attempt then to analyze this film along the following criteria: Acting, casting, choreography, writing, score, and overall impression.

1)  Acting.  Casting.
Colin Firth.  Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong...Clearly, this director cares to see some integrity brought to bear.  For such a ridiculous premise as this graphic novel assumes, these actors bring a seriousness to their roles, even while they're forced to narrate important plot points sandwiched million dollar action scenes.  Samuel L. Jackson even tempers the hyper violence with a villain that is as ridiculous as any 1970's bond villain.
2)  Good choreography can turn an otherwise terrible movie into a murderous ballet.  Beautiful atrocities achieved.
3)  Score:  schlock.  The director really showed poor judgement with closing music that shouted 'resolution!' in a way not even a film from 1990 could mistake.
4)  Writing:  The story is awful didactic as it explains major plot points in bursts of  exposition.  All this while attempting the meta commentary: 'This is where I tell you my plot and you escape as I sentence you to an elaborate death.'  For all its use of women in leading roles, the women rarely have anything substantial to say.  They are mere set pieces.  At the closing, a princess offers butt sex in exchange for being liberated.  Such casual misogyny likely will go unremarked by those unaccustomed to thinking while enjoying their superhero flicks.  But for those of us progressive, gentlemen, comic fans...you'll have your aesthetic tastes met for look and action, but don't expect much originality in character or adaptation.
5)  Overall Impression:  The director clearly loves comic books and has done a great job bringing the feel to screen, creating a glossy picture, and incorporating the action and awe that make for great entertainment.  Sadly, in his celebration of the genre, he fails to capture the depth of its characters and narrative.  He himself adapted the novel for the screen, which might account for its poor execution.  Next time, he should leave it to someone who understands that characters should not only entertain us in killing others, but should offer more us than one dimension.