“Oxfords, not Brogues!”
Forget about Alex Pettyfer in Stormbreaker and please for goodness sake forget about Spy Kids, and welcome in new agent straight from the tailor shop Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin. Its 1997, somewhere in the Middle East, as Dire Straits, ‘Money For Nothing’ blasts over the scene we observe three men trying to extract information from a terrorist. Comic book lover Matthew Vaughn’s latest feature, Kingsmen: The Secret Service immediately oozes coolness. What quickly emerges is a tactically paced action-adventure that successfully puts the fun back into the spy genre.
Working yet again alongside writer colleague Jane Goldman, Vaughn transforms Millar and Gibbons work into something of a live-action feast for the eyes. Action sequences galore. Watching, Firth, Strong and Davenport swing some rather nifty moves makes for highly entertaining viewing. It’s apparent that Firth is having a ball in his first ever action role, leading the screen as the swarve, yet utterly lethal Harry Hart. In fact, Firth looks pretty damn good when having to take on an entire church full of bible-basher’s gone primal. As we see him having to annihilate them outright to the epic sound explosion that is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’ certainly gives the final showdown of Rob Zombie’s intensely gory The Devil’s Reject’s accompanied by the same song a run for its money - or blood should we say.
This is pure gold. A gloriously British comedy, which may not be to everyone’s taste, however a post-modern slant enhanced this already very tongue-in-cheek production. Expect nothing less than an over the top, slick, sexy and silly spy thriller. Vaughn effectively plays homage to old-fashioned spy films with a take on Tarantino’s brutality, fused with immaculate class.
After all, “We are first and foremost gentlemen”.
Anyone for a Whiskey?
Here's Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Samuel L Jackson Essentials!
Kingsmen: The Secret Service is out in cinemas Friday 30th!