By Brenton Thom KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE January, February and March are generally the months where movie studios release the garbage they don’t know what to do with... the cheap, bad movies that earn a quick dollar outside the summer and winter season. That's the the reason this movie is such a surprise. KINGSMAN is a story about a secret organization that fights terrorism and the professional gentleman assassins that work for it. They are a private organization and don’t answer to any government. When a member is killed off, they need a replacement, so operative Harry Hart, played by Colin Firth, recruits our main character, Eggsy, played by Taron Egerton. Eggsy is an urban kid with great potential due to his IQ and prior military background, but gets into trouble with the locals in his town and lives in a bad neighborhood. Eggsy believes Harry’s life was based around him having money and doesn’t understand the hardship. Harry goes on to prove him wrong. Okay, I’m starting to get into too much detail, but basically, while Eggsy is training and competing against other candidates, our villain, Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson, slowly develops an evil scheme to ‘save’ the world and take out a large percentage of the human race. The thing I love about this movie is that it FEELS like a James Bond movie. We’ve got these characters (who are real people and not stopping bullets with their hands) who are trying to stop a semi-realistic evil plan. The villain feels like a Bond villain, there are funny jokes, witty banter, and they even poke fun at the Bond-esque elements of it. The movie is a lot of fun, and to top it off, there is an incredible cast of great players. I already mentioned Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson, but there is also Mark Strong, and even Michael Caine! Valentine’s sidekick is a woman with prosthetic legs with razors in them that can slice her enemies. The odd thing is Samuel L Jackson’s acting choice to talk with a lisp, and I guess he was was trying to hone in on the idea that Valentine's a big nerd with a speech impediment. But there are a lot of little things that make the movie a lot of fun. Little details, humor, and even cute animals. This movie is a straight-forward comedy-action movie. There are plenty of big set pieces, lots of locations around the world, and most of the characters, especially Colin Firth, kick serious ass! The only flaw would be the use of the female lead in the climax. Although she has an important role in the film and realistically couldn’t be there for the ‘final fight’ I wish they had used her more. For most of the movie is male dominated, with the exception of Valentine’s assistant Gazelle, played by dancer Sofia Boutella. Overall, I highly recommend this movie to people who want to have a good time and enjoy a fun movie. This would be tongue-in-cheek like some of the Roger Moore-era 007 movies, and it's up there in story and action. It's KICK-ASS meets James Bond, and a definite must-see in theaters. SEVENTH SON I had heard rumors of this movie being pushed back and it's release date rescheduled for a long time, which really surprised me, because while the movie is not fantastic, it is very charming. SEVENTH SON stars Jeff Bridges as Master Gregory, a Spook (which is basically a knight that deals with demons, evils, and witches in a foreign old land). It has the visual look of the medieval era which can be seen in LORD OF THE RINGS or GAME OF THRONES. The movie is basically a fantasy story, with dragons, sword fights, and plenty of beautiful scenery. The movie is fun. I like the setting and universe. The characters are good and even funny! Jeff Bridges steals the show as a drunken knight who deals with ghostly things and the aide of a troll-like creature sidekick, Tusk, who - as Bridges states it – is “as loyal as he is ugly.” The plot unfolds as a younger Gregory cages Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), a witch, inside a mountain top. Over years the cage weathers with age and during the start of a red moon, she escapes in the form of a dragon. 10 years pass and she is out to seek revenge and enslave the world for ostracizing her and others like her from society. She calls upon others to join her. In another village, Gregory is called upon to remove a demon from a little girl and during the process, he discovers it to be Malkin. In a fight, she kills Gregory's apprentice in the process and flees. Gregory now looks for a new apprentice, and we then meet Tom Ward (played by Ben Barnes), a young farmer wanting to do more with his life. Gregory takes Ward in and tries to teach him the ways of being a Spook, but their time is short because they have a week to get to her fortress on the mountain before the blood movie is full, giving her unstoppable power. The plot is pretty straight-forward and what this movie mostly has going for it are the fantastical locations. None of the places are real, but they are quite inventive, creative, and very beautiful. The characters are interesting and funny, too. I’d also like to point out, this is another movie Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore have done together, outside of THE BIG LEBOWSKI, so their chemistry here is great. They play off each other quite well. Overall, this movie has some great visuals, sound mixing, and atmosphere. However, it isn't worth seeing in 3D. As much as I have praised the movie so far, as a story it is kind of dull. I guess what I would have wanted were more twists or things you wouldn’t see coming, because going into the movie, you kind of know how it’s going to end. It would have been nice if things were different. But in the end, if you’re a fantasy fan, I’d check it out in theaters, otherwise you could wait until home box office.
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