Given the recent remarks on Ooh Sometimes, about the sheer volume of award grabbing films which have been released this time of year, the fact that the Lego Movie was pretty much snubbed for anything beyond a BAFTA nomination for animated film and best song at the Oscars, it’s with great relief that finally something else has come along.

As the recent film Birdman itself commented on (of sorts) about viewing habits of the public, this will drag you away from your everyday lives and the tales of true stories and various amounts of shouting and crying which is pretty much what is required for something to be “hard-hitting” these days.

Perhaps then, my reaction to Kingmen: The Secret Service on Twitter coupled with the next paragraph may be forgiven in it’s lack of objectivity as when asked by anyone who will come along afterwards and enquire about the comic-book conversion from the chaps behind Kick-Ass, it will go something like this;

Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, f**king watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, what are you still doing here, go watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, have you watched it yet? Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it.

Sorry I had to beat people up just now, would you care for some pork scratchings?

Not exactly the stuff that you read in the Guardian in terms of critical excellence and it would have been enough to just leave it at that and ensure that everyone marched over to the cinema this instant.

But then again, not everyone is that way inclined when it comes to the well worn-out ground of the spy genre, and arguably it’s entirely understandable why so many people will pass this over in favour of more serious content.

So, what’s the story and is it any good despite the blubbering watch it comments above?

We find ourselves in a naughty middle eastern location to begin with where due to sheer bravery, we see someone give their live to save Harry Hart (One Mr. Colin Firth, ok, ok we’re not doing that joke again from Into the Woods….) who is a member of the Kingsman, who is a highly advanced, well dressed, well funded from old money secret service unaligned with any government and operates, as explained by Harry, with the highest level of discretion.

Why yes, I do eat spam and look this good.

He makes a promise to the widow and son of the chap who died bravely that should they ever require a favour, they are contact a number and say a special phrase, and it will be done. Fast forward a few years and that son has become Eggsy (Taron Egerton) whose mum is now involved with a nasty piece of work, and pretty much fits in with the stereotype of council estate trash that people watch on documentaries on Channel 4 and tut over.

But after some naughty hi-jinks by stealing a car and impressively driving backwards at speed before then being caught by the Rozzers (Police to everyone else), Eggsy calls the number given years before, and suddenly he’s free without any questions asked.

This is when Harry met Eggsy. (yes….bad joke but just roll with it)

Harry, still feeling a debt from Eggsy’s father saving him, takes Eggsy into the realm of the Kingsmen and begin mentoring him in the art of combat, stirring Martinis and what footwear is acceptable with a bespoke suit. All quite British, don’t you know….

Eggsy has to put up with snobs who belittle him, and thus provide the drive to prove himself in the various tests that follow. But that’s not the whole story as there is another story thread weaving through with someone who poses a threat to everything we hold dear.

Bad Asseth Motherf**ker!

A billionaire maniac bond type villain named Valentine who comes onto the scene with a lisp and a bad dress sense, is played wonderfully here by Samuel L Jackson, someone who of course is no stranger to comic book films but mainly as a good guy.

Valentine decides the world needs a jolly good sorting out and thus conspires with various celebrities, people of various governments, organisations and those rich family b*******ds we all hate, to achieve just that. All using something that we all take for granted these days and that we cannot live without. Even better when you create demand for it by giving it away for free.

Where would our villain be without a sidekick with some weird gimmick and we have that in good measure with Sofia Boutella who seems to have taken being a blade runner to extremes and is rather good at slicing up various people with her metal feet. So will the Kingsmen save the day, or will they not be able to put Humpty together again? 

Frankly there are just far too many excellent scenes within the film to go through and it would be a shame to spoil them here with details.

It’s a glorious p*ss take on so many levels with familiar themes, even going as far Harry discuss briefly the current trend of spy films where they are all so serious and they preferred the campy old ones, yet has it’s own identity of which you would actually be interested to see more of in future. Parody is perhaps one way of putting it, but it does go deeper than that and there are points where you will be surprised as what will come next.

We witness a bizarre fight being played out in a church of which is wonderful to see for how Harry handles the situation and frankly Colin Firth is just astounding during that sequence along with others too many to note. That church scene however is probably not going to go down well with certain folks given what is said during the sermon of course (brilliant comeback by Firth during it though) and was surprising to see something like that.

Eggsy we see coming through into his own while not forgetting his roots, and great performances are had from Mark Strong, Michael Caine, and even Mark Hamill as a fumbling professor who gets involved in the whole affair by chance because he discussed Global Warming at some point and that got Valentine’s attention.

Going to church seems to not be as boring as you thought….

It was something that for the first time in recent memory, that jumped out at me that I wanted to go back and watch a second time, in case there was something missed the first time through the tears of laughter and applause that sounded through the audience at certain points. It was full on over the top violence, tongue firmly in the cheek, balanced with a wonderful cast, excellent pace which will keep you engaged.

To answer the negatives, yes, it’s not the calibre of film where excellence is present and it’s not at the very top of the cinematic world in terms of special effects, as certain parts looked rushed and could have done with more work.

It’s also arguably had a lot of advertising in the UK which itself raises the alarm in your heads as to whether or not it’s a stinker and also goes over several tired clichés. The action sequences will not be everyone’s cup of tea either as it can go a bit too far and that may make you think twice about seeing it in the first place.

This is also sadly something that will be quickly forgotten in 6 months time when Marvel basically takes over the summer schedule, and well you can’t argue about that.

But given the other recent releases in January, most of which you will never watch again, it cannot be argued that you will not leave the cinema with a big smile on your face after watching Kingsmen. The applause of the audience as well at the screening, would also seem to fit that feeling too.

Well worth watching and cannot be recommended enough for those who would love a very British action spy comedy to brighten their day.