Kingsman: The Secret Service (6/10): Uneven at times, but it shows a lot of potential for a future franchise

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

Kingsman is director Matthew Vaughn’s fifth feature film and there was a lot of speculation over this movie considering he had chosen to direct this over the sequel to his highly successful X-Men First Class. He was also in talks to direct the new Star Wars franchise, but Vaughn wanted to adapt Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons’ comic book “The Secret Service” instead. A comic book I had never heard of, but Vaughn’s dedication to the material is inspired by his love for the old James Bond films, and this adaptation plays out as a love letter to those former movies with fascinating villains and a far fetched plot. Kingsman is rich in style and the film is beautifully directed by Vaughn who has always proved his abilities behind the camera. His 2004 debut, Layer Cake, starring Daniel Craig might actually be the reason why he has now become the new James Bond. Vaughn, who had produced some of Guy Ritchie’s films, was heavily influenced by him in that first film, but he has established himself now with his own personal style. My favorite film from Vaughn is still Kick-Ass which felt fresh when it first came out and established itself as a refreshing parody of super hero films. My expectations for Kingsman grew when I heard that this comic book adaptation was written by the same person who wrote the Kick-Ass comic because I was a huge fan of that film. However, the idea didn’t feel as fresh this time and I had some issues with a couple of violent scenes that took me out of the movie. Kingsman does do to spy movies what Kick-Ass did to super hero movies, but if you saw that film you could expect some of the dark turns and twists that were going to come here. It is very similar in style and some of the characters go through the same fate but it is still fun and entertaining. 

Kingsman centers on a British spy organization run by Arthur (Michael Caine) that is trying to stop a global threat from a billionaire tech innovator named Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). When one of the spies dies during a mission, the agency decides to recruit a new one. Each one of the spies chooses a young candidate and Harry Hart (Colin Firth) puts his eyes on a street kid named Eggsy (Taron Egerton) who shows a lot of promise. The recruits have to go through an intense program under the guidance of their instructor Merlin (Mark Strong). Meanwhile Harry continues to investigate Valentine and try to discover what he is up to as several celebrities and government officials begin to disappear.

The film felt bipolar at times. There are incredibly fun action sequences that are directed very well by Vaughn, but at the same time there are some disturbing violent scenes that take place in a church. The violence is cartoonish, but there are instances where it does feel out of place. I don’t know why some of those scenes took me out of the movie because Vaughn is just having fun with the action scenes, but they just felt out of place. The things that did work best for me in Kingsman are the strong performances from Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth who play off each other extremely well. The scenes they share together are wonderful and their self referential movie talk is hilarious. Valentine has a lisp which reminds us of some of the physical dysfunctions that the early villains from the Bond franchise had. Vaughn introduces small elements like this as he pays homage to some of those entertaining films. Newcomer, Taron Egerton, also delivers the good as this young street smart kid who is learning the ways of becoming a gentlemen. His scenes with Firth are another highlight of the film. Perhaps the most entertaining thing about Kingsman is the recruiting process the kids have to go through. One of the other potential candidates is Roxy who is played very well by Sophie Cookson. She shares excellent chemistry with Egerton. Mark Strong might be my favorite character in this film and he also gets plenty of screen time. Sofia Boutella also delivers a memorable role as one of Valentine’s sidekicks. Kingsman is highly entertaining and has many positive things going for it, but there are a couple of disturbing scenes that felt out of place. Despite this, Vaughn is still five for five and a director I will continue to look forward to.

My Review: Layer Cake (7/10)

¨Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will all be legal. I´m not a gangster. I’m a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine.¨

Layer Cake is the film that made Hollywood turn its eyes on Daniel Craig to become the next James Bond. Despite playing an anti-villain in this film, he displayed several qualities that we actually see in some of his recent roles as Bond. If it weren’t for Layer Cake, I can´t imagine Craig being considered for the role. But Layer Cake wasn’t just a breakout role for Daniel Craig; this was also Matthew Vaughn´s directorial debut. Vaughn who had previously produced some of Guy Ritchie´s work including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch was heavily influenced by his directing style and Layer Cake is living proof of that. After the success Vaughn had with this film he went on directing different projects like Stardust, Kick-Ass, and X-Men First Class, which in my opinion were superior to Layer Cake. In Layer Cake I felt, Vaughn took a lot of things from the British criminal genre that Ritchie made famous, but in his next movies he was able to break free and try new things. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time with this crime thriller, but I felt like it didn’t stand out from the rest of the films in this genre besides Craig´s superb performance. The film requires its audience to play close attention to the story because several things are happening at once and at times I felt the pace of the film was a bit rushed. There were way too many things going on to fit everything in a 100 minute movie. The screenplay was based on J.J. Connolly´s successful novel.

The story centers on a cocaine dealer who considers himself a businessman and not a gangster. He´s working as sort of a middle man between the underground wholesalers and street dealers. He´s not named, but the credit roles call him XXXX (Daniel Craig). XXXX is a very intelligent and cautious businessman who knows what he´s doing, but happens to work for very dangerous people who sometimes get him into trouble. He´s planning on retiring from the business, but before he can do so his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) asks him to locate Charlotte Ryder (Nathalie Lunghi), who happens to be the daughter of another powerful underground mob leader named Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). XXXX works alongside with Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris) who watches his back, but he also has two other employees who work for him: Clarkie (Tom Hardy) and Terry (Tamer Hassan). Everything gets complicated for XXXX when a group of junkies steal two million pounds worth of ecstasy pills from a wholesaler named Dragan (Dragan Micanovic) and he´s forced to find and give back the drugs. The person who stole the drugs is Duke (Jamie Foreman), and he´s not willing to give them back. While Duke´s hiding out, XXXX encounters his nephew and ends up falling for his girlfriend, Tammy (Sienna Miller), making matters even worse. XXXX will soon find out that the British mob is like a cake which consists of several different layers.

The film has so many characters and different thing going on at the same time that it’s very difficult to follow everything. Layer Cake is a bit too complicated and messy, but it is still a great crime thriller in which Daniel Craig gives a very solid performance. The rest of the characters don’t get too much screen time. Sienna Miller is much underused here and her character doesn’t bring much to the film. I love Tom Hardy as well but he has almost nothing to work with here and goes unnoticed as well. Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney give the best supporting performance in my opinion, but the rest of the cast is totally forgettable. We´ve seen many crime thrillers and this one doesn’t stand out from the rest. It is above average but nothing groundbreaking in my opinion. I love Vaughn´s films, but this is probably my least favorite film of his.

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My Review: X-Men: First Class (8/10)

¨We have it in us to be the better man.¨

I will be honest with you guys: I didn`t think this movie would work without Wolverine, after all he was the heart and soul of the previous X-Men films. Hugh Jackman was the reason why I had enjoyed the other movies so much and I thought this film would suffer without this main character (it would be like a Pirates of the Caribbean movie without Jack Sparrow). I was wrong! X-Men: First Class works really well as a prequel/reboot to the franchise for one main reason: The casting of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as the two lead characters: friends turned archenemies Magneto and Professor X. The relationship between these two characters and the two outstanding performances these talented actors give are what make X-Men: First Class the best superhero film since The Dark Knight. I know we have been bombarded with superhero films lately, and they are actually all pretty decent thanks to the strong background and depth these characters have been given in the comics, but this one is really worth your time. I loved the direction that Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Stardust, and Snatch) took with this film by letting the center of the plot revolve around the relationship between Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) and Charles Xavier (Professor X). We really come to care for these two friends who we know will become enemies in the future, but can´t help but root for them to get along in some way. Fassbender and McAvoy really deliver outstanding leading performances and the scenes between them are the heart of the movie. X-Men fans won’t be disappointed.

The movie begins during World War II as the Nazis are trying to separate young Erik from his parents. While they are taken away Erik begins to bend the metal fences with his mind until a soldier knocks him out. One of the Nazi officials named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) questions Erik before killing his mother in front of him since he is unable to move a metal coin. Later Sebastian discovers that Erik`s powers only work when he is angry and therefore begins to train his prisoner. The movie then jumps to the present: it is 1962 and the world is at verge of another World War. Tension between the United States and Russia is high; the Cold War is at its boiling point. Sebastian is trying to take advantage of the situation and wants a nuclear war to begin. By his side he has some mutant friends: Emma Frost (January Jones) and Azazel (Jason Flemyng). On the meantime Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) is after Sebastian and wants revenge. Erik isn’t the only one after Shaw, an FBI agent, named Moira (Rose Byrne) discovers that he is trying to start a nuclear war and sees the mutants therefore she decides to investigate and discovers that a young student has done some extensive research on human mutation, his name is Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). Charles knows that there are many mutants with special powers like his in the world. He even adopted one and began to teach her how to deal with her power: Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), alias Mystique. Charles begins working with Moira in order to stop Shaw. He also befriends Erik and together they begin to round up other young mutants with special powers: Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Havok (Lucas Till), Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), Banshee (Caleb Jones), and Darwin (Edi Gathegi).

It was very interesting to see how the X-Men story began. The scenes where Erik and Charles teach the young mutants how to deal with their powers and master them remind us that these two guys are in a way very similar to each other. They both have great respect for one another; they are both excellent teachers and want to help their fellow mutants, but Erik never was able to deal with the pain of losing his parents and has grown resentful towards humans. This is what separates the two: one is motivated by hate, the other by grace. The same happens with the young mutants and there is no denying the fact that some will go along Erik`s path, while others will follow Charles`s. We all know that Magneto`s brotherhood will be in constant battle with Professor Xavier`s X-Men, but what we didn`t know (at least film wise) was how the two groups went their separate ways. It is this friendship between the two main characters that we know will end, what builds the tension for a very satisfying finale. On a side note I really didn’t care for the rest of the mutants. They were just that: secondary characters. What made the movie work entirely were these great scenes between McAvoy and Fassbender. The rest was just unremarkable in my opinion. Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon gave good performances, but the truth is that the movie really revolved around Erick and Charles, and these two actors did a great job to make up for a somewhat mediocre script. I really enjoyed this reboot/prequel and it has taken the franchise to a whole new level.

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My Review: Kick-Ass (9/10)

¨ Had I ever been a real super hero? The most I`d ever had to offer the world was good intentions and a slightly elevated capacity to take a kicking. With no power comes no responsibility, except that wasn`t true. ¨

(9/10) Director Matthew Vaughn has done a fantastic job once again directing this super hero movie, where these heroes actually don`t have anything super about them. This is Vaughn´s third feature film after directing Stardust and Layer Cake, and both films were received warmly by the critics and audiences alike. I have to admit that I really loved this ultra-violent movie and was really entertained throughout the entire film. Hit-Girl makes Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill look like an amateur. Of course we don`t have the Tarantino dialogue with this film, but the action and the performances are highly entertaining. Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn adapted the screenplay from Mark Miller`s comic book of the same name. Miller`s previous comic book, Wanted, was also made into a film starring Angelina Jolie, but I think Kick-Ass is far more superior and probably one of my favorite movies of the year. Yes, the violence is gratuitous and the language is strong, but watching this 11 year old girl fighting all these criminals is just priceless. She steals every scene she is in. This is not your regular super hero movie and definitely not one you will want to miss because it is an extremely fun ride. In my opinion Kick-Ass is last year`s Zombieland combining violence with comedy. Many people were turned down by the violence and the language in this movie, so I know it is not for everyone, but I think that what Matthew Vaughn did in this film was just brilliant, and one can tell he is influenced by his close friend Guy Ritchie.

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is an ordinary kid who isn`t very popular in school. He hangs around with two of his close friends, Marty (Clark Duke, Hot Tub Machine) and Todd (Evan Peters), reading and visiting comic book stores. Dave begins to wonder why no one decides to become a super hero and fight crime. Despite not having any special powers or any fighting abilities whatsoever he decides to become a masked vigilante and calls himself Kick-Ass. One day while he is on his super hero duty he encounters a couple of thieves and tries to stop them from stealing a car. Kick-Ass gets seriously injured and ends up in a hospital. Several metal plates are put in his body due to all his fractures, and they actually make him a little more resistible to punches. Little does Dave know that there actually two other masked vigilantes with vast experience on fighting organized crime. Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his highly trained eleven year old daughter, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) have been fighting against a mafia boss named Frank D`Amico (Mark Strong, Sherlock Holmes). One day the three masked heroes meet and they give Kick-Ass some advice on the business. Kick-Ass seems to have inspired other people to become super heroes and suddenly there is a new one in the streets who calls himself Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and is actually Frank`s son. None of these super heroes actually have any special power and the violence begins to escalate as the movie progresses, but always combining it with a great dose of comedy.

The true star of the film is Chloe Moretz who plays the eleven year old Hit-Girl who is highly trained in fighting and instead of playing with dolls, she plays with knives. She is just fun to watch on screen and one of my new favorite characters. Nicolas Cage is also good playing the eccentric Big Daddy and Aaron Johnson is great in the lead role. Kick-Ass can be compared to Clive Owen`s Shoot Em Up because of all the cartoonish violence on screen, but I found it more similar to Kill Bill, although with a much more climatic ending. I found the dialogue to be quite funny and mixed well with the action scenes. The movie isn`t deep and you probably can`t get anything out of it, but it is highly entertaining and such a fun experience. I haven`t been this entertained in a long time and Kick-Ass is one of those movies I wouldn`t mind watching over and over again. I definitely recommend this film and know it will be hard to top entertainingly wise.

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