Kingsman: The Secret Service - The Adult Bond Send-Up You Didn't Know You Wanted

Kingsman: The Secret Service

It was within the first scene of the movie (the title sequence) that I quickly realized to just say "fuck it" and enjoy the ride that is Kingsman: The Secret Service. In that "checked-out" mentality, I found the film to never take itself as anything other than what it is: a modern day adult send-up of classic Bond and spy movies.

It does a great job of playing with classic Bond tropes: the grandiose villain with a defining feature (lisp) and the badass second-in-command, the rich and powerful secret organization complete with a master of gadgetry/tech , the equally powerful evil organization and even the classic spy romances.

Without trying to give too much away, the film did a very interesting twist by having the villain (wonderfully played by the one and only Samuel L. Jackson) not actually seem all that evil - he actually wants to, as he fully believes, help the human race - through population control. The film itself never directly calls him out as evil, nor does he grandstand, but clearly he's the bad guy. Right?

As for the spy romances, I thought Kingsman did a great job by largely avoiding them, instead focusing on the friendship between the two young, attractive, would-be secret agents - breakout stars Taron Edgerton and Sophie Cookson. Even the wicked and alluring evil second-in-command played by Sofia Boutella, also a breakout, lacks a clear romance angle. It's refreshing to just have them focus on character growth and plot (classic spy hero's journey to save the world).

Speaking of the characters, everyone did a fantastic job, with Colin Firth going above and beyond to prove that he can really kick ass and have fun while doing it! The adult actors (Firth, Jackson, Mark Strong, Michael Caine) were all clearly enjoying their roles, while the younger actors felt more like they had something to prove (as they had more of an arc, particularly Edgerton and Cookson).

Beyond that, I particularly enjoyed the films overall style - choregraphy, cinematography, direction, set design (exotic locales and elaborate sets!), costumes and even a surprisingly satisfying soundtrack by Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson.

My only gripe is the film's gratuitous violence. I like good over-the-top violence with a point, such as Robocop, but found the occasional bit of over-the-top violence in Kingsman to be unnecessary, despite the many great action sequences. Then again, the gratuitous violence regarding our desensitization may be one of the films mild attempts at social commentary - the other regarding the power elite of the world vs the layperson. But the commentary, and even the violence, wasn't really the primary focus of the film, which was simply to have some crude, crass adult fun with spy movies.

Bottom line:
RECOMMENDED for those looking for a highly enjoyable spy romp popcorn flick with great action and style.
NOT RECOMMENDED for those against gratuitous violence, crude humor or expecting something revolutionary in the spy genre.

Kill la Kill anime review

Good gracious me, "Kill la Kill" is an absolute treat of a show. Great characters, great music. It starts out really strange/weird/quirky and fetishistic, but is a slow build that ramps up into a great testament of human will, with plenty of "fuck yeah" moments. But don't let the pervy-nature of the show fool you, there's actually a lot of great depth, with some strong parables and themes. The action got me fully invested and the humor was always welcome; the flow between the two helped set a great overall pace for the show.

Trying not to give any spoilers, it was one of the most enjoyable thrill rides I've had the pleasure of being on in some time. I watched all 24 episodes on Netflix within about a week and wish there were more, or at least a bit more of an epilogue/denouement. The show is primarily action while often playing with genre tropes and it delivered in spades - great character development through its action.

Speaking of characters, Nui Harime quickly became one of my favorite recent villains. The combination of her bubbly personality, high strength level and melodically ominous music made for a richly entertaining character; reminiscent of Buffy's Mayor. Also, again despite the fetishy nature/start of show, it's filled with LOTS of great female characters, often outnumbering and outshining the male characters (who are equally fetishized).

Highly recommended. It's very complementary to Gurren Lagann, seeing how they had the same director and writer.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3114390/?ref_=nv_sr_1