Matthew Vaughn is a self made man. All of his movies have been self funded, self written and self produced, and in doing so reserves complete creative control over the results. It's apparent in all of his movies, which are singularly brash and bold, and full of the kind of verve and style that directors of the majority of hollywood studio movies simply wouldn't be allowed express. Which makes each step into the directors position a risk with no promise of studio support to fall back onto. So far he's been right on the money every time, mixing a blockbuster sensibility with independent film making. Kingsman is no different.
Kingsman wears its tributes loud and proud on its gold cufflinked sleeves, and I n the case of Bond right on its pocket square directly over its heart. But it is by no means any form of pastiche or homage; it is the irreverent and degenerate younger sibling, throwing V's and smashing bottles over peoples heads, attempting to prove that hey, I can be a big deal too dammit.
Before I go on, I need to say this - I like Kingsman. At times it was like nothing I've seen before. At other times it was, unfortunately, like a lot I've seen before. It has some truly jaw-dropping moments - the church scene being a quite obvious stand out - and Colin Firth gives great gusto as the Bond-that-never-was, his usual subtle grace lifting a quite ordinary character above the usual gentleman hero archetype. It's a relatively small cast - Samuel L. Jackson is, well, Samuel L. Jackson (great, as per usual) with a weak stomach for violence (for the irony LOLZ), Taron Egerton is strong with the delinquent to distinguished arc, and the two female leads may be a little thinly sketched but are well played and get plenty to do. The problem for me is the script and storyline feel like they needed a couple more drafts.
The dialogue is a little clunky in places, though it's generally hidden behind good performances and colourful characters. The biggest problem is in pacing. If we compare the high octane church sequence with the 20 or so minutes that preceed it, you get a feel for the Vaughns greatest strength and ultimately the films biggest weakness. Vaughn knows how to film and choreograph action. It's inventive and ridiculous and takes you on a visceral thrill ride through, between and into the heart of the action. It's stunning and uncompromising. However, what comes before it is laboured and a little boring.
A trap frequently fallen into in film is mistaking shorter sequences for faster pace. To flit from one place to another, one set of characters to another, location to location, swapping between storylines does not make a film move faster. Instead it just leaves scenes half cocked and moves on before it's had time to breathe. Too many times in Kingsman it feels like small moments just happen individually rather than cohere together into a whole, and while they fit within the overall narrative it just feels rather disjointed.
The irony is the denouement involves a sequence where Taron Egerton's Eggsy runs in to the baddies lair, runs out, has to run in again, runs out AGAIN, the goes BACK IN to meet a Swedish princess, which all gets very repetitive. Granted sandwhiched in between are some truly fantastically ridiculous moments and Sofia Boutella's Gazelle literally cutting up the dance floor, but it still feels a little haven't we been down this corridor before?
Look, it's definitely a fun film, preposterous and wonderous in equal measure. It's also a little bloated and the story a little under-baked. It's definitely not Vaughn's best work, but it's most certainly his ballsiest.
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Featuring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine
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