In which I review a movie from my collection.
The early months of any given year are often dominated by – if not
exclusively composed of – filler: prestige films whose releases were pushed
back when it became obvious they didn’t stand a chance against their
competition and would-be blockbusters whose release was moved up to avoid
the summer’s big crowd-pleasers. And while exceptions do exist, the sage
advice has always been to save your money for May.
2015, however, seems to have abandoned this trend entirely. I would be shocked if Cinderella didn’t end up on my “Best of” list by year’s end. Furious7 dominated the box office for a full month before Age of Ultron came out not because it was the seventh in a long
line of action movies, but because it was a legitimately good action
movie. And then there was Kingsman: The Secret Service: the latest action / comedy romp from
writer-director Matthew Vaughn (best known for Stardust, Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class).
In the wake of a gentleman spy’s untimely death, The Kingsman – a
privately funded, extra-governmental spy agency modeled after the Knights of
the Round Table – seek to recruit his replacement. Agent Galahad’s choice
is Eggsy Unwin – the delinquent son of a former Kingsman with a chip on his
shoulder and everything to prove – while his colleagues keep with traditional
and draw their candidates from old, moneyed and aristocratic families.
But while the selection process
is underway, billionaire Richmond Valentine’s growing paranoia about global
warming comes to a maniacal head. In order to save the planet, he sets a
plan in motion to cull the global population, bringing the Earth back to a
state of sustainable equilibrium. And when the Kingsman themselves become
targets of Valentine’s sinister philanthropy, it’s up to Eggsy to lead the
rest of the Kingsman against him.
Kingsman is
a raucous sendup to old spy shows like the Bond movies and the
invariably overlooked Avengers series. It revels in the eccentric
villains, playboy heroes and increasingly impractical gadgets that defined the
golden age of British spy movies. Valentine’s “Odd Job” assistant is a
double amputee whose prosthetic legs double as swords.
In their dapper (and bullet-proof) three piece suits, Kingsman agents
are loaded with electrified signet rings, remotely activated poisonous pens,
exploding lighters and Penguin-styled utility umbrellas. Galahad and
Valentine exchange barbs about what made the early bond films great and
extrapolate how their current scenario would play out in them before ultimately
concluding that “it’s not that kind of movie.”
The central narrative of Eggsy’s
coming of age amidst the unreservedly classist Kingsman organization is
problematic at best when you consider the film’s simultaneous love for and
disdain of the lower class. Eggsy’s ability to get the drop on his fellow
recruits (and sometimes instructors) is directly attributed to his unprivileged
upbringing; the film as a whole, however, sets itself against those upstart
Americans who so uncouthly broke off from British rule.
The villain is a
self-made billionaire whose idea of a private gala is serving McDonalds on a
silver tray. When martially the wealthy and politically influential
to his cause, Valentine effortlessly wins over the Obama administration (all of
whom have their heads explode in the manic finale). This isn’t to say
that the film is itself lacking, just that its often contradictory themes
generally amount to a zero sum while the over-the-top action sequences and
witty banter are allowed to steal the show.
Vaughn uses Kingsman‘s R rating to its full effect, loading the
film down with over-the-top action sequences, outrageous gore and fairly
explicit sexual encounters. In what’s sure to become its most talked
about sequence, a Westbero Baptist Church-styled hate group is beaten,
bludgeoned, shot and stabbed to the tune of “Free Bird.” They kill off
every last man, woman and child in there seemingly just because it felt good to
do so; sure, there was some shoe-horned reason to do it, but it was really
just because they wanted to. The violence never becomes too much,
although I couldn’t help but marvel just how much the studio allowed them
to get away with.
While its wildly fluctuating themes, tones and subtext keep it from
saying exactly what it wants to say, Kingsman is without a doubt the first good
movie of 2015. It’s loud, messy, outrageously hilarious, endlessly
exciting and, most important of all, fun. It the very best version of the
movie that it’s trying to be: an overblown classic spy film with a decidedly
post-millennial aesthetic. It’s Goldfinger meets Kick-Ass and
I loved every second of it.
So what's your favorite spy movie? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment