Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
As a sequel is due out in September, I thought I’d revisit Kingsman: The Secret Service. Contrary to the movies titles and the implied homage seen in the various trailers, the film is not as clichéd as the genre it's set in. Nor does it draw too heavily from its graphic novel source material. As with Kick Ass director Matthew Vaughn has managed to smooth over the rough edges of this films antecedents and create a rather unique, stylised and extremely entertaining hybrid. It is a somewhat niche market undertaking and won't appeal to all audiences but if you like all out action, knowing satire and a liberal dose of gallows humour then this movie is most likely for you.
As a sequel is due out in September, I thought I’d revisit Kingsman: The Secret Service. Contrary to the movies titles and the implied homage seen in the various trailers, the film is not as clichéd as the genre it's set in. Nor does it draw too heavily from its graphic novel source material. As with Kick Ass director Matthew Vaughn has managed to smooth over the rough edges of this films antecedents and create a rather unique, stylised and extremely entertaining hybrid. It is a somewhat niche market undertaking and won't appeal to all audiences but if you like all out action, knowing satire and a liberal dose of gallows humour then this movie is most likely for you.
Kingsman is an independent international agency specialising in the elimination of global terrorist threats; something they like to do with as much panache and class as possible. After the death of one of their operatives, Kingsman agent Harry Heart (Colin Firth) decides to replace him with a rather disreputable, unemployed youth called Eggsy (Egerton), whose father was in fact a fellow Kingsman. Thus, follows a fish out of water tale, as Eggsy has to pass the rigours of the Kingsman training program, while the agency has to counter the machinations of multi-billionaire entrepreneur Richmond Valentine (Jackson) and his obligatory plan for world domination.
Now this is all very contrived and certainly there's a lot of plot themes that we've seen before but the movie has an incredible sense of style and some of the most dynamic and fluid action scenes of recent years. Let me stress that this is really over the top gratuitous stuff, yet it works perfectly within its own internal logic. Colin Firth is a pleasure to watch playing against type and adapting to the material effortlessly. The set piece in which single handedly slays an entire church congregation that has become psychotic, is very impressive. Michael Caine, Mark Strong and Samuel L. Jackson also greatly elevate the proceedings. I thought that Taron Egerton as Eggsy would be the movie weakest link but he surprisingly makes the role his own.
Sadly, the movie does have a flaw running through it and it's based around the institutionalised sexism that has always been prevalent in this genre. Consider any Connery Bond movie and you'll get the idea. Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman strive to satirise this theme but it ends out having the reverse effect and somewhat derails the final act. The gag at the end of the film in which Princess Tilde gives Eggsy his “reward” is somewhat tasteless. It's a shame because I'm pretty sure that was not the intention but tonally this doesn't work. Yet this isn't an enough of a defect to spoil the entire movie, which in other respects has quite a moral undertone.
Kingsman: The Secret Service was a surprise hit for Twentieth Century Fox back in 2015. The film had a production cost of $81 million but saw a total box office gross of $414,351,546, which is a handsome return by Hollywood standards. Therefore a sequel was inevitable and so we have Kingsman: The Golden Circle hitting the UK cinemas on 29th September. The budget has now increased to $140 million but the writing and directing talent remains the same. Hopefully, audiences will be given a similarly stylised and satirical take on the international spy genre, that will prove as entertaining as the first. I’m happy to give the movie the benefit of the doubt, because after all “manners maketh man”.
The Secret Service (1968)
The Secret Service is somewhat of an enigma, being the last Supermarionation show that Gerry Anderson produced. It was poorly received not only by critics but also by its own financier, Sir Lew Grade and was therefore given a limited broadcast upon its initial release. However, it marked the end of an era for Century 21 productions as they turned their creative attentions to film and live action TV after a decade of puppets shows. Subsequently, The Secret Service fell into obscurity over the following years and never gained the same degree of attention from the public, as previous Supermarionation shows had.
The Secret Service is somewhat of an enigma, being the last Supermarionation show that Gerry Anderson produced. It was poorly received not only by critics but also by its own financier, Sir Lew Grade and was therefore given a limited broadcast upon its initial release. However, it marked the end of an era for Century 21 productions as they turned their creative attentions to film and live action TV after a decade of puppets shows. Subsequently, The Secret Service fell into obscurity over the following years and never gained the same degree of attention from the public, as previous Supermarionation shows had.
Having recently caught up with the entire series and being a consummate Gerry Anderson fan, it is hard for me to be excessively critical of the show. I have a lot of love for his earlier work, especially Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. The Secret Service has many of the aspect that made previous shows enjoyable and unique. There are quirky and amusing characters, a rich and detailed production design and superb miniature effects by the legendary Derek Meddings. Once again, the score and ambient sounds created by Barry Gray play an integral role in the show. Yet even I must admit that two major flaws standout and validate why this final series was Anderson’s weakest.
Firstly, from Four Feathers Fall to Joe 90, there had always been an element of substituting human footage for material that puppets could not do. This was usually limited to shots of hands. However in The Secret Service this technique was greatly expanded upon. There are long shots of characters walking into building, along with footage of them driving vehicles down country lanes. The central character Reverend Stanley Unwin, is directly modelled on its voice actor Stanley Unwin. Furthermore, live footage of the said actor is frequently intercut into each episode. Although it can be argued that this innovative approach covered some of the puppets technical deficiencies, it also breaks the shows immersion. Is this a puppet or live action drama?
Secondly, Stanley Unwin himself was a comedian who became well known for his use of “Unwinese”, a faux comic language of his own creation. It was an odd choice to cast such an actor with a uniquely English comic trait, namely our love of linguistic humour and word play, into a television show destined for international distribution. Gerry Anderson’s argument was that Stanley Unwin’s occasional lapse into this verbal slapstick was to purposely confound all viewers. However, I think that rather than amuse the viewers it simply perplexed them. It was sufficient for Sir Lew Grade to lose confidence in the production and pull the plug.
If like me you have been raised on Gerry Anderson’s back catalogue, The Secret Service, despite its shortcomings, is still engaging and quality entertainment. It is yet another example of Century 21 Productions refining their process. However, for the more casual viewer, who is broadly familiar with Thunderbirds, this may be a little too niche market and obscure. The show also seems to have a somewhat nebulous view on Christian denominations. Stanley Unwin seems to frequently alternate between the Anglican and Roman Catholic faiths. Therefore, I can really only recommend The Secret Service to hardcore Anderson fans and those who are simply curious and forgiving.
Historically, the failure of The Secret Service although marking the end of Supermarionation ultimately led to Century 21 productions first live action TV series, UFO. A show that was a possibly five years ahead of its time. With regard to The Secret Service, after a consistently successful decade, the concept of the puppet series had run its natural course by the late sixities. One of Gerry Anderson’s great strength from this era was his capacity to experiment. The Secret Service shows us that not all experiment work, but even those which are deemed failures can still be or merit and quality.
