(Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)Released on Feb. 13, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” doesn’t live up to the expectations set by its previews.
The movie is a new, cheeky version of a classic spy film with an English twist. Like so many other disappointing comedies, most of the funny parts were shown in the advertisements.
It tells the story of Eggsy, played by Taron Egerton, a young man from London whose father died during his time as a spy in the Kingsman Secret Service. Eggsy grows up to be an outcast with an abusive step dad and a mom who doesn’t have it all together.
A man from Kingsman named Harry (Colin Firth) steps into Eggsy’s life just as he starts to get into trouble. Through Kingsman training, Eggsy learns to deal with his problems like a gentleman and begins to understand the fulfillment of a silent good deed.
Harry and Eggsy become very close and build a relationship of mutual respect. Harry helps Eggsy realize that he doesn’t have to be born from wealth in order to be a gentleman. All he needs are a good suit and some manners.
The Kingsman agents are faced with taking down an evil mastermind, Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). Jackson’s character tries to fix global warming by taking out most of the human race.
Jackson makes a hilarious antagonist with a lisp. Also, as an Austin Powers fan, it was nice to see Michael Caine, who plays Arthur, in another comedic spy movie. His timeless British charm was a highlight for the film and he’s the perfect man to cast as the head of a secret spy agency, hidden under a tailor shop.
While most of the actors do a fairly good job in their individual roles, the film is strewn with cheesy action shots and weak graphics. Much of the scenery is made up of unimpressive computer generated images. The movie is filled with montages of weird fight scenes backed by music that doesn’t really fit the mood or make any sense.
As people begin to turn on each other, fulfilling Valentine’s plan, some of the scenes leave you wondering if you should wince at the gore or laugh at how dumb it is.
The picture does however feature a variety of clever new spy gadgets like a bullet proof umbrella and a ring that acts as a stun gun. It is also a surprisingly new take on a genre that’s been tried so many times before.
Although Kingsman had its brilliant points, I won't watch it more than once.
Reach the reporter at bridget.dowd@asu.edu or follow @bridgetbernice on Twitter.
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