Kingsmen: The Secret Service

I rented Kingsmen: The Secret Service during my 1/2 price week at Family Video. It had surprisingly good scores on Rotten Tomatoes and I figured it was worth a shot. Colin Firth plays the "primary" agent of the Kingsmen, a secret agency not funded by any government, but one that stands for true independence and gentlemanly pursuits and honor. Colin Firth is perfect, Michael Caine is excellent as well as the "agency" head of the Kingsmen, Mark Strong is great as "Merlin", the trainer extraordinaire and finally Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain, though it's a more whimsical role than what we're used to with Sam Jackson sadly. The plot follows Jackson's character as a billionaire technology mogul who is offering an implant that will allow free internet and phone service to anyone with it. You know his reasoning is diabolical, but you don't know exactly how. A Kingsmen agent (Lancelot) is killed trying to rescue Mark Hamill (I know, you can't kidnap a Jedi) and the event makes the Kingsmen dig into Sam Jackson a bit more. Meanwhile a former Kingsmen agents son (Agent died in 1997 saving Colin Firth's and others lives by jumping on a grenade) is a bit of a rogue/rebellious youth with a ton of talent and ability, but he's spending his life being a loser in England. He calls the number on the back of a medallion given to him as a five year old and it's a direct line to Firth to get him out of a tough legal spot that would include grand theft auto, destruction of police property, etc. He's enlisted to become the next Kingsmen agent with eight others. The movie follows a fun, stylized form from Matthew Vaughn. The violence and action is fun, a bit ridiculous, but very impressive. It's a fun, unique story that makes fun of a lot of movies that follow the similar vein of a Bond-like film. Crazed, megalomaniac bad guy, sophisticated spy, global destruction/domination being the stakes. Bottom Line: 8.1 out of 10. It's a fun time that has a few surprises up its sleeve. Worth the price of a rental if you're looking for a fun action movie.