I was really hoping to like Kingsman: The Secret Service. First of all, it’s directed by Matthew Vaughn, who made two movies I really like: Layer Cake and Stardust. And the trailers made it look fun. And who doesn’t like Colin Firth, right?
Well.
Let’s get the good stuff out of the way first. The film is indeed snappy, has some visual punch, and a fun cast. It also has a few very big laughs, which is always a good thing. And it’s got Mark Strong in the cast, which of course makes any film better.
But.
The movie has a tone problem. It’s trying to be this veddy veddy British 007 pastiche, which is fine, but that can’t hide the fact that it’s just another remake of Men in Black with Firth in the Tommy Lee Jones role and buff newcomer Taron Egerton as Will Smith. Ripping off a famously terrific movie is risky business, because if you’re not careful, we’ll just sit there and think about how much better the original was.
