Revisited - Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

For this Revisited, were going not so far into the past and arriving in 2014. The spy movies weren't doing so hot with the James Bond franchise and Mission Impossible franchise somewhat in a rut here came an odd ball, Kingsman. You see when I first saw ads for the Kingsman, I didn't think much of it and thought it was going to bomb. Against my expectations it succeeded and went on to make two more sequels and possibly more coming in the future. However, time passed and I decided to pick it up and instantly love the fast paces fun action that it delivers with excellent acting to complement each of the characters individual story arcs.

During a mission in the Middle East in 1997, probationary secret agent Lee Unwin sacrifices himself to protect his superior, Harry Hart. Hart, blaming himself, returns to London to give Lee's widow, Michelle, and her young son Gary "Eggsy" a medal engraved with an emergency assistance number.

Seventeen years later, Eggsy has become a stereotypical chav, having dropped out of training for the Royal Marines despite his intelligence and talents for both gymnastics and parkour.[9][10] After being arrested for stealing a car, Eggsy calls the number. Hart arranges his release. Hart explains that he is a member of Kingsman, a private intelligence service founded by British elite who lost their heirs in World War I and decided to put their money towards protecting the world; the organization is named for the tailor shop that clothed them.

Hart, code name "Galahad", explains there is a position available, as agent "Lancelot" was killed by the assassin Gazelle while trying to rescue Professor James Arnold from kidnappers. Eggsy becomes Hart's candidate. Other candidates are eliminated through dangerous training tests run by Kingsman's technical support operative "Merlin", until only Eggsy and Roxy, a candidate he befriended, are left. Eggsy refuses to complete the final test – shooting a Pug puppy he has raised during the training process (unaware that the gun holds blanks) – and Roxy is named the new "Lancelot".

Meanwhile, Merlin discovers that Professor Arnold has returned to work as if nothing had happened. Hart attempts to interrogate him, but a chip in Professor Arnold's neck explodes, killing him. The detonation signal is traced to a facility owned by Gazelle's employer Richmond Valentine, an Internet billionaire and philanthropist who has recently offered everyone in the world SIM cards that grant free lifetime cellular and Internet connectivity. Hart, impersonating a billionaire philanthropist, meets Valentine face-to-face. Hart learns of Valentine's connection to an obscure hate group's church in Kentucky, and travels there, wearing glasses containing a video transceiver.

As Eggsy watches, Valentine activates the SIM cards in the church, triggering a signal that causes the parishioners to become murderously violent. Hart's spy training leaves him as the only survivor. Outside the church Valentine explains what happened, and then shoots Hart in the face.

Eggsy returns to Kingsman headquarters and finds that Chester "Arthur" King, Kingsman's leader, has a scar on his neck just like Professor Arnold's. King reveals that Valentine plans to transmit his "neurological wave" worldwide via satellite network, believing the resulting "culling" of some of the human race will avert its extinction. Only those Valentine has chosen, willing and unwilling, will be unaffected. King tries to poison Eggsy but Eggsy switches glasses and King poisons himself.

Eggsy, Merlin and Roxy set out to stop Valentine. Roxy uses high-altitude balloons to destroy one of Valentine's satellites and break up the network, but Valentine quickly secures a replacement from a business associate. Merlin flies Eggsy to Valentine's base, where he masquerades as King. Eggsy is discovered by a failed Kingsman recruit, Charlie Hesketh, leading to both Eggsy and Merlin being cornered. On Eggsy's suggestion, Merlin activates the implanted chips' failsafe, killing almost everyone with a chip. An angry Valentine activates the signal and triggers worldwide pandemonium. Eggsy kills Gazelle and uses one of her sharpened prosthetic legs to impale Valentine and kill him, stopping the signal and ending the threat.

Ultimately, Eggsy, having become the new agent "Galahad," offers his mother and half-sister a new home away from his abusive stepfather Dean, who flatly objects to Eggsy's suggestion. Eggsy then dispatches him in exactly the same manner that Hart dealt with one of Dean's henchmen earlier.

In my opinion, Kingsman came as a waking call for most movies to stop being so dull and color less like the avengers did for comic book movies. Kingsman added color and flavor to a genre that desperately needed it. Now the spy genre is thriving again in a market of superheroes. Of course the genre wasn't going to die of but it defiantly needed a face lift that the Kingsman gave. So go watch this film that is not only a great spy film but a great film on it's own. This has been Revisited, thanks for reading. Ricardo signing off.