Kingsman: The Secret Service - Film Review

Director: Matthew Vaughn   Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson, Taron Egerton   Genre: Spy-action comedy

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self"

Colin Firth's new movie Kingsman: The Secret Service is James Bond meets Kick-Ass meets... Eastenders (literally, Ronnie Mitchell is actually in it)

This wasn't the only element of the film that I found surprising: Welshman Egerton hides behind a thick cockney accent as the young male spy Eggsy, Mark Strong actually plays the good guy and I left the theatre thinking Colin Firth was actually quite.. cool.

Council estate kid Eggsy (Egerton) is recruited by top spy Harry Hart (Firth) to become a new member of the secret service Kingsman (hiding in plain sight as a tailors). When the villainous Valentine (Jackson) threatens world genocide the Kingsmen must work together to stop him.

However, this is not your typical Billy Elliot-style working-class boy overcomes societies constraints to succeed those born "with a silver spoon up their arse". It focuses more on moral lessons of attitude and self worth. 

Like other Matthew Vaughn films (Kick-Ass and X Men: Days of Future Past) there is a much respected injection of comedy into the otherwise 'serious' genre. Samuel L Jackson is ingenious as the global warming-concerned villain. With his 'dope' vocab and lisp I'm left wondering if there is anything he can't do.

From the creatively sequenced fight scenes that involve an extremely high-tech umbrella and fantastical gadgets such as poison fountain pens, grenade lighters and bladed shoes to heads exploding like fireworks; the visual spectacle of the film is something in it's own right. Even the female villain Gazelle has an impressive pair of bladed prosthetic legs and insane martial art skills that make her literally terrifying.

A good mix of humour, heart, intensity and good old bloody fantastic spy antics, Kingsman is a highly enjoyable watch.

If anything it's worth watching to see Firth utter: "I'm a Catholic whore [...] Hail Satan and have a lovely afternoon".