Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Cast: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Sofia Boutella, Mark Hamill

I love it when I go into a film expecting little and come out completely excited because the movie I just saw exceeded my expectations. This is what happened to me with Kingsman: The Secret Service a movie I only had a vague idea about suddenly falls right into my best of the year list. This magnificent James Bond spoof comes to us from Matthew Vaughn, the guy who brought us Kick Ass (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011) and Stardust (2007) all entertaining films in my book. Vaughn wanted to make this movie so badly he said no to directing X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), so that’s how much of a passion project this movie is to Vaughn. Not every director will have the guts to say no to a sure hit that will make millions in order to make a risky film that’s totally original. Sure Kingsman is based on Matthew Vaughn’s own comic book ‘The Secret Service’, but it’s not a household name. It’s not a sure thing. You have to respect a director who believes so much in his film that his willing to do that. The thing is that I see why he did it. Turns out Kingsman was way more entertaining than the last X-Men movie every step of the way, so I’m actually happy Vaughn eschewed X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) for Kingsman.

In Kingsman: The Secret Service we are introduced to Eggsy, a young man who is going down the dark path. He’s all about being a trouble maker. He likes to go to bars to pick fights and cause a ruckus. But there’s something about him, he’s got potential to be something great. Secret Service Agent Harry Hart recognizes this, so he gives him a chance to apply to become a Kingsman. Just what the hell is a Kingsman and does Eggsy have what it takes to become one? Or is he just another loser?

What is so awesome about Kingsman is that it has all these old James Bond movies to build upon. What Matthew Vaughn did was he watched every single James Bond and spy movie ever made, and then he made this one. He cleverly avoids the famous clichés and makes fun of them while at the same time being a good spy movie. It’s a rule of thumb I have for all spoofs. If you’re going to spoof a genre, you still have to be a good film within the genre you are spoofing. Good examples of this are Young Frankenstein (1974) and Spaceballs (1986), two of Mel Brooks most famous spoofs. Young Frankenstein is a damn good Frankenstein movie (actually it was nominated for Best Screenplay in 1974) while still making fun of all those Frankenstein films that came before it. Young Frankenstein is such a good Frankenstein movie that it even surpasses many of the films it is spoofing. Same with Spaceballs, there’s no better Star Wars spoof out there. Funny, yet mindful to the type of film it is. And this is what Kingsman does so well. It takes all those elements you know and love from James Bond films and then twists them around and takes them to another level. If you are a fan of Bond movies, you will have a blast with Kingsman: The Secret Service. It’s always referencing some cliché from the Bond films. In this sense it reminds me William Dear’s If Looks Could Kill (1991), which was also about a teenager who turns into a super spy. It was also a lighthearted, fun film that poked fun at Bond movies, but trust me, Kingsman does it a million times better. Still, if you enjoy Kingsman, check out If Looks Could Kill (1991).

But aside from the spoof aspect of this film, as it turns out, it is also an extremely well written film saying a whole lot about the society we live in and what is wrong with it and boy, I wasn’t expecting this at all, but Kingsman: The Secret Service is one of the most subversive films I’ve seen in a while. It’s a film that sends a big ‘screw you’ to politics and religion. There’s an outstanding sequence that takes place inside of a Christian church that showcases everything that is wrong with religion today. What this story is saying is that politicians and religious leaders are total whackos, they just happen to be running the world, making all the wrong choices for all of us. How do you save the world from these madmen? By becoming a true gentleman, ridding the world of evil. I loved the message that the films puts across. It’s basically saying we can become something better, we can improve ourselves, we can do some good in the world. We have the potential, we just need to focus. It also speaks about the manipulation of the masses, and the control of how they perceive things. I can see why the film is rated ‘R’, it has profanity, nudity and subversive ideas. Its violence quotient is pretty high. It feels as if the filmmakers decided that if they we’re going to go with an ‘R’ rating, they were going to go all in. And that they did; which was awesome. It was so refreshing to see a film that wasn’t worrying about being politically correct.

Final words:  this movie turned out to be one of my favorite of the year; it was entertaining every step of the way. One of the biggest compliments it gets from me is that it was never boring. Not for a second. It brought back that fun element that modern James Bond movies lack. If you take a look at Bond films of today, they are currently on a ‘deadly serious’ phase, all the silly fun from the old movies has been sucked right out of that franchise.  And while I absolutely loved Sky Fall (2012), I miss the whacky element from the old ones, but don’t worry if you’ve been missing that sense of fun adventure from your spy movies, Kingsman: The Secret Service brings it all back.  So remember, what you guys have here is a film that’s very self conscious, it knows the cliché’s and staples of a good spy adventure and plays with them in innovative ways. And one more final note, the Matthew Vaughn’s direction on this one is top notch, his camera moves and angles, the over all direction of the film is truly fantastic. It’s dynamic, the camera angles are interesting, innovative. Case in point? The fights scenes on this movie are a blast! Really fun to watch! Now go see Kingsman: The Secret Service and have a blast, it just might blow your head into a million colorful pieces.

Rating:  5 out of 5  

The King's Speech (2010)

Title: The King’s Speech (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper

Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce

Review:

The King’s Speech was the big winner on Oscar night 2011. It won four Academy Awards: Best Actor (Colin Firth) Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler), Best Director (Tom Hooper) and Best Film of the Year. I thought it deserved the awards that it got, because it is a good film, with excellent performances and a well written screenplay. Personally, I was rooting for Darren Aronofsky to win the Oscar for Best Director for Black Swan, but whatever, as it turns out The King’s Speech was the big winner of the night. You know how The Academy loves an inspirational film with characters conquering their fears and achieving their goals. Black Swan was probably too dark a movie for The Academy, who we all know likes their winning films to be happy, shinny and up lifting. The King’s Speech certainly fits those prerequisites.

The King’s Speech is a film that focuses on the pressures and stress that fall upon a political figure. You and I (read: the common man) can’t really grasp what it means to suddenly become such an important political figure for a whole nation, so the movie does a wonderful job of doing it for us. It’s interesting to note that King George VI (played by Colin Firth) became king only when his brother, King Edward VIII (played by Guy Pearce) renounced the thrown. When King Edward VIII inherits the throne, moments after his fathers death, the first thing he does is burst into uncontrollable crying. At first we think he is crying over his fathers death, but it soon becomes clear that he is crying because he doesn’t want all the responsibility that comes with the title. Apparently, all King Edward VIII wanted to do was have a good time through life, partying, falling in love, he didn’t care about being a King, which is why after a short tenor as the King of England, King Edward VIII renounces the thrown and hands it over to his brother King George VI. Problem is, King George VI has a speech impediment, he stammers and the stammering gets worse when he has to addresses the nation. Enter Geoffrey Rush, speech therapist, to help him with his problem.

The most interesting aspect for me about this film was how The King of England has to come down from his royal palace to meet with a common man to help him out of his dilemma. Geoffrey Rush’s character Lionel Logue isn’t a high class aristocrat, nope; he is just a common man who is good at what he does. He doesn’t even have a degree! Yet here he is; the kings’ last hope. The film constantly questions the seat of power; it literally tries to bring the high and mighty King, the ultimate representation of political power, down to a more human level. Lionel Logue constantly tries to humanize The King, begging for him to come off his high horse. I think the movie quite cleverly squeezes these themes in the film, sort of reminding governments, hey, you know, you wouldn’t be up there if it wasn’t for the help of the common man, the poor guy who has a family to feed and does an honest days work. And I really liked that about the film. It’s the king actually listening, spending time, and thanking the commoner for his services. I liked that idea, because it’s something that those in power sometimes forget: that the governed are real people, with real situations, they aren’t just statistics. So kudos to the movie for that.

It also questions the power that a political figure actually has. I mean, just how powerful is a King or a President of a nation? In certain cases, and this holds true for the United States as well, the King or the President is just a symbolic figure, the big honchos making the decisions are really back stage, while the king or president is just there to talk to the people. One scene has the King saying: “If I am King, then where is my power? Can I declare war? Form a government? Levy a tax? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because the people think that when I speak, I speak for them” There is another scene where Lionel sits in this royal chair where only kings and queens have sat in. The king gets his panties all up in a bunch over this telling Lionel to get off the chair, that he is trivializing everything. Lionel tells the king: “I don’t care how many Royal assholes have sat on this chair, its just a chair.” I liked this aspect of the film because sometimes people tend to deify political figures and forget that they are just humans, with fears and limitations, same as you or I.

I enjoyed the film mainly because it’s a film that begs governments to show a thread of humanity with its ‘loyal subjects’. It bets for governments to treat their subjects, however common they maybe, with the dignity and respect they deserve. Because who knows, maybe one day they might need us for something. It’s a movie that gives value to the common man as an important part of society. I loved the performances; Geoffrey Rush plays such an adorable, goofy and candid character. I love it how he confronts the king, brings him down to a more human level. Colin Firth starts out as a stubborn guy who hates himself and his stammering, a guy who is filled with anger. He slowly, with the help of Lionel, learns to deal with his anger, conquer his speech impediment and finally addresses the nation in the proper way. It’s the reason why the film won four Oscars, it’s an uplifting tale, where a man goes through this whole evolution, and conquers his fears. In the process, he learns a thing or two about humility, sympathy for others and true friendship.

Speaking of conquering ones fears and all that, the screenwriter for The King’s Speech, David Seidler also stammered when he was a child, and King George’s story motivated him to over come it, so the film has a bit of authenticity to it when it comes to the whole psychological process of overcoming a speech impediment. Another Interesting thing about David Seidler is that up to this point he had been working mostly on writing straight to dvd and television films like the David Carradine vehicles Kung Fu Killer (2008) and Son of the Dragon (2006). His only brushes with theatrical releases were his scripts for Tucker a Man and His Dream (1988) and an animated feature film called Quest for Camelot (1998). He’d always wanted to write a film about King George VIII, so he started working on the screenplay which he’d always had in the back of his head. Low and behold, years down the line he ends up winning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and the film itself is the big winner of the night! Seidler isn’t exactly a young pup (he’s well into his seventies) yet here he is in his Golden Years, winning an Academy Award. When he received the award he said “My father always told me I’d be a late bloomer!” He gave a great acceptance speech at the Oscars, without a bit of stammering to be heard! Hooray for late bloomers!

Rate: 5 out of 5