It’s funny when you see a film poster and you get heartsink. Colin Firth looking slightly Bond-esque framed by a woman’s open legs just doesn’t do it for me. Good job I didn’t let it put me off too much.
Harry Hart (Colin Firth) is an old fashioned spy from an underground network fronted by Kingsman taylors. When one of their team dies, Harry is tasked with finding a potential replacement and comes across the son of a former colleague, the streetwise Eggsy (Taron Egerton). As Eggsy begins his training, Harry tries to uncover the plans of failed ecologist cum world-dominating villain Valentine (Samuel L Jackson), who is plotting to wipe out huge parts of the human race. It’s up to the Kingsman team to unpick the plot and save the day.
Apart from some cheap jokes, Mark Strong’s vaguely Scottish accent as the Kingsman jack of all trades and Samuel L Jackson adopting a speech impediment for his role, this is a cracking movie. I was unsure about Colin Firth as spy, but after a while you get used to the idea, and the stiff upper lip but hard as nails combo becomes a very interesting part for him to play. Once you see how Firth physically gets in to the character during the fight scenes, it all becomes a very pleasant surprise. Taron Egerton’s cougar town cute is also no bad thing as Eggsy evolves from council estate scally to action hero.
This is another solid comic book adaptation by the Matthew Vaughan/Jane Goldman team and if you go along expecting more Kick Ass than Bond, you’ll have a whale of a time. Best of all for me has got to be the fight sequences, which are truly excellent stuff. The extended scene in the church to a Freebird soundtrack is just something you have got to see. It will go down as fight choreography gold.
Kingsman: The Secret Service opens in cinemas in the UK on 29 January.
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