We're halfway through the list, everybody. I wanted to thank the people that are keeping up with these blogs for doing so, I really appreciate it. And now, for the next reveal. Moving from one comic book movie to another, my fifth favorite movie is Kingsman: The Secret Service. Released in 2015, directed by Matthew Vaughn, and based on The Secret Service comic book series, Kingsman is one of the coolest movies I've ever seen. It stars Colin Firth as Harry Hart, Taron Egerton as Eggsy Unwin, Samual L. Jackson as Richmond Valentine, Michael Caine as Chester King, and a few other, smaller characters. If you haven't seen it, please do. You won't regret it.
I need to get the soundtrack out of the way first. This movie's usage of music is one of it's strongest selling points, and there's three specific song scenes that I'd like to mention. From the very first scene, the soundtrack kicks you in the nads with how great it is. The guitar riff of "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straights and Sting blares over a shot of a helicopter firing a rocket into the walls of a building in a desert. Bonus points for having the rubble of said wall forming the first three opening credits, too. Right from that moment, I knew I was in for a good time. And then there's the scene that everyone's familiar with: The church massacre scene. The guitar riff of "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd is used beautifully in this scene. I'll get back to that scene momentarily, but I do love the fact that "Free Bird" is the song that was chosen for the scene. And, finally, the scene near the end of the movie in which we see a montage of heads exploding into fireworks. What would normally be unbelievably disturbing is made uncomfortably hilarious when it's set to the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance" (aka: The song that plays during almost every high school/college graduation ceremony). There's also the fact that the explosions are bright and colorful, as opposed to just red splats all over the walls. Although, in a really demented way, that also could've been funny. Potentially.
And, speaking of comedy, this movie delivers a ton of it. Everything about Valentine's character is very amusing. You'd expect a Bond-style villain from Sam Jackson, but nope. He's a campy, McDonalds-loving psychopath with a lisp and a huge gag reflex. Naturally, that comes into play in a humorous way at the end. He runs the risk of throwing up if he sees even one drop of blood. Likewise, Colin Firth as Harry is a stark contrast from his usual "British upperclassmen" typecasting. He's still English and a gentlemen, sure, but, this time, he could kill you in at least 30 different ways. And he'll do it politely. Every single jab at the character of James Bond was great, too. This is a spy movie, yes, but it's much gorier and more vulgar than anything Bond has ever given us. He even parodies Bond's signature drink order in the third act, in one of the funnier lines. The original score being a direct parody of spy movies (even down to using the same triumphant horns that have since become synonymous with Bond villains) is both awesome and funny. I got a huge kick out of Eggsy fixing his posture after the bar fight scene. It's subtle (you might not notice it if your eyes are on Harry catching his breath after wrecking face for five minutes), but it's great. Harry's often-quoted retort to one of the bigot church members before the "Free Bird" scene was super funny. Also, there's the fact that the members of said church are quite clearly a jab at the Westboro Baptist Church. That makes seeing all of them dying in horrible, brutal ways just the slightest bit more satisfying. I'm not gonna touch the controversial Swedish Princess ending with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole. You either thought it was funny or tasteless. That's all I'm gonna say about it.
The best part of this movie is the action scenes. If this was, say, an MCU movie, the action would have a lot of quick cuts that would make most of the action indecipherable. Well, this ain't that kind of movie. Kingsman uses slow-mo shots, long takes, it only cuts to a different shot when absolutely necessary, and features shaky, adrenaline-filled camera movies that give every fight scene a sense of importance and tension. The camera is mostly always following the action, only cutting away to show a reaction show every now and then. It's exactly the way it should be in a movie like this. Major props to Matthew Vaughn. The first time we see a Kingsman fight is when Harry brawls with a couple snobs in the bar. Colin Firth trained for months to be able to do the fighting we see from Harry in the movie, and this is the first scene in which we get to see it. He nails it. The bar fight is awesome. Harry redirects a lot of his opponents' attacks back at them, utilizes the environment to his advantage, manages to make an umbrella intimidating, and he keeps his composure while doing so. Colin Firth is one of my favorite actors, for this movie and for another movie that'll come up later on my list. And the final battle (Eggsy vs knives-for-feet Gazelle) was great, too. A noticeably higher amount of cuts this time around, but it in no way damages the intensity of the scene. When most people couldn't even land a scratch on Gazelle, seeing Eggsy hold his own for as long as he did (and then end up winning) was awesome. Not since The Dark Knight has a shoe knife been so thrilling. I also liked how Eggsy kills Valentine using one of Gazelle's feet-knives. It also gives us the payoff to Valentine's disgust at gore by having him throw up at the sight of his own impaled body. I'm usually grossed out by puke, but I found it funny in this instance.
And, yes, the church fight was incredible. Usually, I'd be against violence in a church (especially given the awful things that have been happening in them recently), but I can't help but love this scene. Firstly, it's excusable when you consider the fact that Valentine's mind-control device is making these people unable to control their actions. We see it in Harry's face after it's all over. He's horrified by his actions, and so are Eggsy and Merlin. There's also the fact that Valentine wasn't expecting the device to work with as much potency as it did. The amount of carnage that results takes him by surprise. Alright, so we've justified it. Now, we get into just how well the fight is put-together. This is, hands down, one of the best action scenes ever put to film. It's mostly done in one, continuous long take, with expertly hidden cuts (i.e. flashes of light, zoom-ins, or something, usually a body, briefly covering the camera) in order to keep the adrenaline going. Colin Firth does his own fighting in the scene, all of the background fighters had to be perfectly choreographed (given the long take style of the action), the nave becomes completely destroyed as the scene goes along, and, my God, the usage of "Free Bird" was the insane. Also, Harry shrugs off a stab and two bullets to the back like it was nothing. I have no jokes for that, it's just cool. There's a moment when an explosion briefly drowns out "Free Bird" and the mind-controlling signal, giving Harry a momentary chance to see the carnage he's causing. The look of horror on his face during those few seconds until it picks back up again was a very nice detail. And, yes, this fight gives some of the most brutal attacks I've ever seen. Special mention goes to the guy that gets turned into an accordion against a table. That will always make me cringe. This scene is awesome, it's horrifying, and, depending on your religion, will probably put you in a bad mood. Me, personally? I loved the brutality of it. Does that make me a bad person? Probably. And, as sad as it was to witness, I also admire the fact that, after Harry gets done doing the exact opposite of what Kingsmen stand for, Valentine defies the typical Bond-villain trope by just shooting Harry in the face. Yes, he's in The Golden Circle, and, yes, the trailer for that movie probably shouldn't have revealed him being alive, but it's still powerful and shocking to see top-billed Colin Firth get his face blown off before the third act happens.
And the last thing I'd like to touch on is the acting. Everybody knocks it out of the park. Colin Firth plays the suave gentlemen that could still pummel you exceptionally well. His best scene is the aftermath of the church scene. No words, just the most terrified facial expression. Sam Jackson rocks the lisp, even getting an uncut, several-minute-long monologue and he never once breaks character. Mark Hamill is in the movie, too, but briefly. He gets killed off at the halfway point, which was kinda disappointing given my love of Star Wars. That being said, Hamill does a great job. His English accent was perfect. Taron Egerton nailed the lazy, but promising, side to his character that we see from him at the start. And, when he gets to show off his fighting skills, he doesn't disappoint. I'm really looking forward to see him play Elton John in Rocketman, especially since he worked with the actual Elton John in The Golden Circle. Michael Caine was good (what happens to/with his character genuinely caught me off guard first time I saw it, Mark Strong was great as Merlin, Jack Davenport's brief, yet memorable, role was nice, and Sophie Cookson played the awesome Roxy Morton very well. MVPs were Firth, Egerton, and Jackson. Firth and Egerton work off of each other very realistically, I love the father-son dynamic they establish. It makes Harry's sudden, unceremonious "death" even worse. Eggsy's "NO!" could've been narmy, but Taron manages to sell it believably. It's a heart-wrenching scene. Harry's also my favorite character, so there's that. Glad he's in the sequel.
Having not been familiar with The Secret Service comic series before this movie was announced, I didn't know what to expect it. What I recieved completely blew away my expectations! The action was mind-blowing, the score/soundtrack was awesome, the actors all nailed their characters. It was funny at times, it was sad at times, it was even kinda creepy at times. It's well-paced, it's well-written, the characters are developed nicely. There's a lot of fun to be had, overall. I haven't seen The Golden Circle yet, but I plan to at some point. Really hyped for Kingsman 3. I'm excited to see where the story goes from here. We're halfway through my list. I'm gonna go ahead and apologise beforehand if the next four reviews are slightly-fanboyish. I have a habit ot going overboard when talking about them, especially in the cases of numbers two and one. Just wanted to make that known going forward in case it happens. I'll try not to let it happen. I try to review things analytically, but it doesn't always work out like that. Stay tuned for tomorrow.
