Kingsman: The Secret Service (MA15+)
Starring: Most of the five British actors
IT’S a spy spoof so mental it makes a Bond film look like a documentary.
But Kingsman is an enjoyable ride for all of that.
The Kingsmen are an elite society of British super-spies, descended from and funded by the turn-of-the-century aristocracy.
It’s a Pygmalion tale of a ne’er-do-well kid, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), ironically descended from a Kingsman himself, who tries out for the firm.
Obviously, this scrappy little rough-edged Scouser will have to fight it out with some inbred upper-class twits for a slot in the corporation, and so it develops.
Colin Firth plays his mentor, Harry Hart, while Michael Caine is the spy in chief.
Their foe is an evil criminal mastermind and internet billionaire played by Samuel L. Jackson, bent on exterminating most of humanity so the planet can become a green utopia.
Stylish and oh, so subversive, Kingsman keeps things moving along nicely with its tongue in its cheek and action scenes aplenty.
Along with The Imitation Game, the film forms a two-part renaissance for British film this year.
– Jason Beck
