Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons
Cast: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Mark Strong
An independent spy organization recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into agency's ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerged from a twisted tech-genius.
The film works both as an homage as well as spoof on James Bond films from the older times while art the same time poking fun at the the seriousness that have come to the spy-action genre post the success of Jason Bourne films. It goes where James Bond films cannot go with their PG-13 rating and the spoof element of the film gets apparent even as the film progresses. In the initial action sequences blood is not visible but by time it gets to that scene at the church it gets all bloody. At that point the director reveals his intentions to the audience through the conversation that Colin Firth's character have with the cartoonish villain played by Samuel L. Jackson. Film culminates with a very risque joke on a princess' back-doors and that is also a jab at James Bond franchise that has to convey its sensuality while staying within the boundaries of PG-13.
The first 30-40 minutes of the film is quite tepid and the whole theme is based on the class difference between protagonist kid and the establishment and this again is a play on James Bond films with its suave protagonist. It gets more interesting and funnier once the training starts and slowly and surely you realize that it is as much a spoof as it is an homage. The action sequences are intentionally/unintentionally funny and you do have a quite good time watching the film. It is doing to spy-action films what Matthew Vaughns' Kick-Ass did to superhero films while not being nearly as good as Kick-Ass. It works well as a standalone film mind, but, if they indeed go ahead with sequels I do think it will be a bad idea like it was for Kick-Ass 2.
Rating: 3/5
