Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) Review

The spy-spoof is a tired genre with  many recent movies failing to entertain with watered-down action and unfunny set pieces. Matthew Vaughn's lastest venture is not one of them. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) exudes charm, satire and spoof hitting all the rights notes with its blending of ultra-violent action, tongue-in-cheek humour and brash fantastical gadgetry.

Kingsman follows Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin (Taron Egerton), a snarky young Londoner and Marines drop-out who lacks any direction in life. This all changes when secret agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth), recognising his talent, takes on Eggsy as a protégé in an effort to train him to be part of Kingsman, a secret British spy organisation. As Eggsy trains, a real-world threat develops in the form of Richmond Valentine (Samuel L.Jackson) who aims to control the world via free SIM cards. Using fancy gadgets which would put Sean Connery's Bond to shame and high-cotane fight sequences which would not look out of place in the Matrix, Eggsy's journey from council estate to secret service is one that is constantly thrilling, unabashedly fantastical and plain fun.   

'"Manners maketh man"...Do you know what that means?'- Harry Hart (Colin Firth)        

Kingsman boasts a stellar cast of British actors including Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Mark Strong and newcomer Taron Egerton who is surely destined for a successful future career in film. Colin Firth moves outside his typecast into a suave, dangerous spy becoming the best Bond we never had. Michael Caine dons his received pronunciation accent, a la Zulu, embodying the finest example of what makes a Kingsman a gentleman whilst Mark Strong plays Merlin (no doubt a nod to M in the Bond movies), a gadget man and mentor  of Eggsy. Samuel L. Jackson's turn as Richmond Valentine, a tech billionaire with a lisp and fear of blood is both funny and ruthless.

Eggsy (top) and the candidates undergo a underwater training exercise at the Kingsman facility 

Matthew Vaughn once again teams up with Jane Goldman, who penned the script for Kick-Ass, to write a tongue-in-cheek and at times poignant script. In a similar context to Kick-Ass, the danger in translating Mark Millar's graphic novel to the big screen is in retaining substance with the aesthetic style. Vaughn deftly chooses to omit some elements from the graphic novel and expands on others meaning that violence (mostly!) never meets the level of gratuity and the character's class-struggle keeps viewers engaged. Kingsman's combination of different movie franchises including Bond, Bourne and even Harry Potter really does make for a fresh experience in contrast to the generic blockbusters which follow linear story-telling cliches.

9/10   

Dumb and Dumber To Review

When a sequel to one of your favourite movies is announced, a flurry of feelings often ensues causing nervousness, sweating and often tears. In the months leading up to the release of such a film, the hype rises from a slow simmer, to a bubbling boil, to a "WOAH, take that off the heat, do you wanna start a fire?!". For me, Dumb and Dumber To was such a film, reuniting Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels and the Farrelly Brothers just 20 years after the first outing.

The film follows the dim-witted duo, Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels) who embark on another adventure in an attempt to track down Harry's daughter who could act as a kidney donor. Announced in October 2011, Dumb and Dumber To underwent a turbulent pre-production phase with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. refusing to produce and distribute the film. The general trend of films with this much hype and pre-production, see John Carter and Spiderman 3, fail to produce the critical reception and box office success. So, Is Dumb and Dumber To worth the wait?

Well, the answer to that question will depend on the enjoyment of the original and your comedic taste. Any synopsis of the story is irrelevant as the film is really a series of comedic set-pieces that continually test the dumb nature of the individuals. For the most part, these work well with the biggest laughs coming from nostalgic references to the original much like the format of the funny buddy-cop sequel, 22 Jump Street. Any fan of Jim Carrey, will be glad to see a return to manic form after a series of disappointing roles in recent films like The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Kick Ass 2.

Harry and Lloyd introduce Travis (Rob Riggle) to the 'He Who Smelt It' game.

 Dumb and Dumber To is at its best when Harry and Lloyd are embarking on the cross-country road trip. The highlight being not one, but two dream sequences which are perfect examples of the hilarity and absurdness which made the original a success. As the duo approach their destination of a KEN conference where Harry's daughter is expected to hold a speech, the film screeches to a halt and laughs become more sparse. However, the film wraps up with a funny albeit dumb (What do you expect?) ending. This film will be enjoyed by fans of the original and by anyone who is tired of the monotonal crudeness that so many comedy films rely on today. It is a welcome return to the comedic physicality of Jim Carrey's earlier movies and showing the chemistry of the two main characters is still there and still as dumb as ever.

7/10