So far, the Kingsman franchise only consists of two movies, The Secret Service and The Golden Circle, but there’s a prequel chronicling the titular spy organization’s origins on its way and a third entry in the mainline series coming after that, so fans have a lot more to look forward to. Said prequel, The King’s Man, looks like it could shake up the franchise and expand its world in a way it sorely needs after The Golden Circle.
It wasn’t necessarily that The Golden Circle was a bad movie, but it fell short of the original. The first Kingsman movie was a breath of fresh air that set a high bar for the franchise. Here's how.
It Was More Fun Than The Last Few Actual Bond Movies
The Kingsman franchise is set up pretty transparently as an homage to the James Bond movies, but not the recent post-Austin Powers pseudo-serious Bond movies; the gleefully absurd Sean Connery and Roger Moore movies with ludicrous gadgets and out-there action scenes.
Between the CG-laden dreck of the Brosnan era and the unnecessarily gritty Craig entries, Kingsman: The Secret Service was a lot more fun than most of the recent actual Bond movies.
It Deconstructed Spy Movies While Also Being A Great One
When it was first released, Kingsman was referred to as Scream for the spy genre. And like Scream, it’s also a great entry in the genre it lampoons. In addition to deconstructing the tropes of spy movies, Kingsman delivers the goods.
As a spoof, Kingsman has its cake and eats it, too. Not since Roger Moore played 007 have spy movies been this fun.
The Comic Tone Was A Breath Of Fresh Air
2014 was a great year for moviegoers who were sick of the endless slog of dark, dreary blockbusters that arrived in the wake of Christopher Nolan’s success with his gritty reboot of the Batman franchise. After Marvel provided a comical counterpoint to these Batman Begins knockoffs with the zany stylings of Guardians of the Galaxy, Matthew Vaughn provided another one with Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Vaughn’s movie was an antidote to all the big-budget movies that take themselves seriously. Kingsman offered goof instead of grit, and fatigued audiences responded to it. Unfortunately, like Guardians, the sequel faced the challenge of delivering the goods while not just feeling like more of the same.
The Script Is Close To Airtight
The screenplay for Kingsman: The Secret Service isn’t quite as perfectly crafted or airtight as one of the all-time greats like Back to the Future or Casablanca, but the muddled, meandering plot of its sequel makes it look like that in comparison.
From Harry Hart’s backstory to Eggsy’s training to bringing it all together to thwart Valentine’s plan, Kingsman’s script keeps its plot moving at a brisk pace, and every scene has a story or character-related reason to be there.
It Subverts The Audience’s Expectations At Every Turn
One of the most commonly used words to describe Kingsman is “subversive.” It’s a go-to word for any movie that gets meta about its chosen genre, but it’s apt when describing Kingsman, because it’s a movie that really does subvert its audience’s expectations at every turn.
But storytellers can only subvert the audience’s expectations to a certain extent, especially in a franchise that has to keep pumping out sequels, so the Kingsman franchise might eventually struggle to keep this up (and frankly, kind of did already in The Golden Circle).
Samuel L. Jackson’s Valentine Is A Perfect Riff On Bond Villains
With his insane plan to kill off most of the population and leave behind only the social elite using evil SIM cards, Valentine is as much of a megalomaniac as any of the foes faced by 007. He also has distinguishing features, but instead of a Nehru jacket, he has a collection of baseball caps.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the role perfectly, authentically selling the madness of the tech tycoon while also leaning into the ridiculousness of the film’s tone. Plus, the fact that he gets squeamish around violence is a hilariously ironic running gag.
The Church Scene Will Be Difficult To Top
In Kingsman’s greatest set piece, Valentine tests out his devious SIM cards in a Kentucky church belonging to a far-right hate group, while Harry is inside investigating. The opening bars of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” play on the soundtrack as the SIM cards are activated and everyone in the church stands.
Then, as the tempo of the song increases, so does the anarchy of the scene. Suddenly, all the churchgoers start trying to kill each other as a handheld camera frantically follows a gun-toting Harry through the chaos. It’ll be difficult to top this scene; nothing in The Golden Circle came close.
Harry & Eggsy’s Mentor-Mentee Relationship Gave The Movie An Emotional Core
While Kingsman: The Secret Service is primarily a deconstruction of the spy genre, it’s not a full-on spoof in that it also has a dramatic core: the mentor-mentee relationship developed by Harry and Eggsy. Colin Firth and Taron Egerton’s on-screen chemistry went a long way toward making their dynamic tangible and memorable.
The emotional substance in the sequel comes from Eggsy feeling guilty about cheating on his royal girlfriend to get information on the job, which is a lot weaker in comparison.
It’s Endlessly Rewatchable
The first Kingsman movie will never get old. It doesn’t matter how many times a fan watches it, they’ll always get a kick out of the “Manners maketh man” bar brawl or the “Free Bird” church massacre.
While the overlong runtime and insubstantial plot of The Golden Circle prevented it from holding up on rewatches, The Secret Service is a movie that can be enjoyed again and again.
The Finale Is “F****** Spectacular!!”
Valentine triggers homicidal chaos across the world, Merlin blows up the heads of most of the mega-rich elite that were spared from the SIM card scam, and Eggsy uses one of Valentine’s bodyguard’s sharpened prosthetic legs to kill him.
When Merlin cries out, “That is f*cking spectacular!” in the middle of the movie’s climactic sequence, he echoes the thoughts of every viewer in the audience.