It's pretty telling of the current state of action cinema that a film like Kingsman: The Secret Service can be viewed as a "surprise hit". It was directed by someone who'd already this decade made a cult superhero smash and what many deem the best in the X-Men franchise and featured a slew of bankable names. I guess that it goes to show just how uncertain an unknown property can be (and how tapped out spy movies, even of a more parodic sensibility, appear). But you should never underestimate Matthew Vaughn. Working with Mark Millar again (the pair collaborated in a similar quasi-joint-development on Kick-Ass), the film is simultaneously a hyper-kinetic action flick, a genre pastiche and genuinely engaging thriller that executes each of these elements, if anything, better than the pair's superhero equivalent. There's an escalating disregard for whatever any detractors may have to say that creates an almost childlike thrill, gawping at things that are "wrong" - a random over-the-top attack on religious fundamentalism, killing off the bankable Oscar winner, blowing up all the world leaders in a burst of colour, that anal moment (which, for the record, was perfectly pitched). Deliriously enjoyable. Read the full review here.
