'Kingsman: The Secret Service': Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as the villain
Now that Liam Neeson has paved the way for 鈥渟erious鈥� Irish and English actors聽to get all action-y, are you ready for Colin Firth as a superspy martial聽artist?聽
In 鈥淜ingsman: The Secret Service,鈥� directed by Matthew Vaughn聽and based on the popular comic book, Firth鈥檚 Harry Hart is an expertly聽tailored gentleman who is actually a ranking member of a hush-hush聽spy organization, modeled on the Knights of the Round Table, dedicated聽to eradicating bad guys. Chief bad guy here is Samuel L. Jackson鈥檚聽Valentine, a billionaire entrepreneur with a nefarious plan to curb global聽warming by eradicating large swaths of the world鈥檚 population. He鈥檚 like聽a classic Bond villain except he spouts profanity, favors baseball caps, and聽thinks Big Macs are gourmet food. Camping it up, Jackson is hilarious.
Other big names show up, including Michael Caine as the Kingsmen鈥檚 head聽honcho, but the film centers on Hart鈥檚 prot茅g茅, Eggsy (Taron Egerton),聽who gradually transforms from petty thief to superspy as the film聽periodically explodes in an orgy of flailing limbs.聽
Egerton is a serviceable聽young action star and since this film is primed for a multitude of sequels,聽he will surely have the opportunity to play the part well into old age. Grade:聽B- (Rated R for sequences of strong violence, language and some sexual content.)
