Kingsman: The Secret Service

What a ride!

Hold my umbrella as I regale you with a tale of secret agents, Oxford whites and technocrat billionaires. If you took Ian Flemming and added Guy Ritchie's sensibilities – the outcome would be: Matthew Vaughn's 'Kingsman' movies. 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' is an absurdist nightmare with cheeky overtones; providing levity for an audience that otherwise would be nonplussed with the now rather tired tropes of the spy thriller genre. 

Colin Firth takes the lead – starring as Harry Hart AKA agent "Gallahad" – a pastiche of British superspy James Bond and 'Get Smart's' Maxwell Smart. Agent Gallahad is a man not to be trifled with; he's humanity's last hope to prevent a planned doomsday event, working alongside a new agent-in-training, "Eggsy" – played expertly by Taron Eggerton.

The cast contains a wide array of talent. Some lesser known UK names, established English actors, a few global superstars, and even "Luke Skywalker" himself – yes, Mark-Frickin'-Hamill is in the movie. Matthew Vaughn gravitates towards productions with an eclectic mix of talent: Snatch, Revolver, X - Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, and most recently, Argyle (2024). Directors and producers share responsibility when it comes to final decisions on casting choices. So, Vaughn clearly understands the type of production required to juggle multiple personalities on set. A larger project with more principal leads can mean a more exhaustive process: increased camera and lighting, safety precautions, insurance, more on-set disagreements, larger wardrobe & makeup, craft services, stunt coordination, scheduling; to name a few examples. It takes a lot of oversight to handle these types of projects efficiently, is all I'm trying to say.

What's the hardest factor to predict?

How your stars will get along during filming:

'Fast & the Furious' suffered from the "too much star power in one room" effect, when Dwayne Johnson butted heads with the franchise's lead-man Vin Diesel in 2016, Johnson was a series staple at that point -- having appeared in two movies and a spin-off feature. Evolving tension betweem the two main-actors (some of which was aired via social media; Facebook, Twitter namely) eventually caused Johnson to refuse any-and-all future offers to return to his role as Secret Agent "Hobbes". 'Fast 7' marked his departure from the series forever.

"Everything Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Have Said About Their Feud"

"You don’t turn your back on family — unless you’re Vin Diesel or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who have been nursing grudges against each other off and on since at least 2016.

The two action stars made their first onscreen appearance together in 2011’s Fast Five, in which the former wrestler joined the already long-running franchise as Luke Hobbs, an agent pursuing the Fast and Furious crew for their various crimes against every law enforcement agency in the world

Everything seemed copacetic over the years as Johnson returned for the sixth and seventh entries in the saga, but in August 2016, Johnson set the fandom ablaze with a since-deleted Instagram post in which he referred to unnamed members of the cast as 'candy asses.' "

[1] UsWeekly

By Eliza Thompson - Usmagazine.com

I know, all this to make a point about Kingsman? But if you take a look at the cast of the average Guy Ritchie movie -- post his 'Lock, Stock, and, Two Smoking Barrels' era, he tends towards a large number of actors; a true ensemble piece. Iconic imagery, refreshing monologues, and comedic stylings. Self-evident are his days as a producer; Matthew Vaughn understands the constraints of filming fully. Kingsmen: The Secret Service utilizes its budget very well -- rivaling some of the grandest fight choreography ever put to screen. Avid fans of The Matrix and John Wick obviously won't quit watching those franchises after viewing Kingsmen for the first time but there's a high chance that they'll add it to the list of their all-time favourites.

Let's talk about the CGI -- I think everyone realizes how bad the visual effects were in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but surprisingly the first movie also chooses to incorporate some glaringly obvious VFX, yet it works due to the supporting elements.

The story's pace slowly trods along during the set-up, with a character driven first act -- centered around Eggsy's family, and his poverty stricken home life. His mother's common-law partner is a local London thug; abusive, misogynistic, confrontational with the family. Eggsy must overcome his existential fears before tackling the fear provoked by the paternal figure in his life. This character flaw  baked into the co-lead's backstory — contributes to a well-deserved payoff in the third act; what excellent screenwriting!

As well, it enables the more fantastical elements of the film (a woman with swords for legs, a plot by an evil villain that involves cellphones turning people into "rage zombies", etc) shown on-screen to be balanced by relevant emotional payoffs, so, the viewer becomes invested in the outcome(s) for said character(s). The sequel sadley didn't achieve this level of screenwriting finesse.

Producers are (more often than not) an essential part of developing a film and okaying the final draft of a script. They have "final say" on the overall product and ultimately they're the ones responsible if the movie loses money. 

Matthew Vaughn tends to write scripts for a large number of films he works on -- he's the recipient of seven screenwriting credits and one story writing credit. As for missteps in his filmography, there's a few of those: Argyle (2024), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), Fantastic Four AKA FANT4STIC (2015) -- are all examples of when a Matthew Vaughn release failed to meet the expectations of studios and audience goers.

In contrast ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle' was a complete and utter mess, with very few redeeming qualities. Where the first Kingsman film utilized a smattering of garishly apparent CGI -- the second film doubled down on it, deciding it was okay to increase the amount of visual effects needed without actually improving upon the look of the predecessor. In addition, the plot suffered from little to no characterization, and the subtle cinematography that was seen during quite sequences had vanished.

My final thoughts:

I'd love to go into every little detail of Matthew Vaughn's career -- and realistically I've barely scratched the surface here (I haven't even touched on 'Kingsman' 2023, look out for my upcoming review) but I feel this is as good time as any to call it quits -- plus, I'm drinking a vodka cooler and the damn thing keeps calling my name.

But please do realize that Vaughn’s latest addition to the franchise, ‘The King's Man’ (2023) is a phenomenal WW1 era throwback film that really delivers on the promise of a an entertaining spy-thriller.

It stars Ralph Finnes, as he does battle with secretive forces that are attempting to sway the balance of geopolitical power in Eastern Europe. I'm planning to review that film soon, like previously mentioned -- so, no more on the subject right now.

Except these three words of wisdom:

Oxfords, not brogues.

Sources:

[1]www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/vin-diesel-dwayne-the-rock-johnson-feud-timeline/