Kingsman - The Secret Service (2014)

At first this seemed to be a retake on the old Bond genre, now that Bond has evolved and moved onto suits of the new world, and left a void for someone else to fill. Yet that first facade of aristocracy and expectedly slow generic classy spy drama fell away to reveal something more: a playful take on the whole art form of action, creative violence, grace and pace, even details that educate (like exquisite types of alcoholic beverages, oxford shoes and the shower loo tube thing - not only all those commonly showcased tastes and items we already know).

It had great moments, it had fun and drama, it had all those things that characterize a classy spy movie, but also some real surprise brutality: heads that explode like fireworks, riots, all sorts of feisty surprises. Definitely scenes you'll remember!

Our soon-to-be main character and underclass hero Eggsy (Taron Egerton) puts on a great show, as does the mastervillain Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), not to mention the sleek swordstress-with-metal-legs Gazelle (Sofia Boutella) and that old man Michael Caine who's appearing in so many great movies nowadays! Where does he get the energy?! There's plenty of other notable performances, like Bjørn Floberg and Hanna Alström (Hey, Swedes!), though I barely recognize a name in the cast. It's all new names and mostly new faces to me... well, apart from Samuel L. Jackson, but I hope to see more of most of them.

Maybe in a few years I'll look back at this title and it'll seem to me like the G.I. Joe series does now: somewhat generic, mainstream, full of fancy effects and action but no real depth... but maybe not, maybe this is as masterful a movie in a few years as my first impressions tell me now. Just the cover image shows they thought outside the box with this one, whilst still providing the distinctive blend of action, comedy, drama and just a little romance - all that the spy movie blend is known to infuse. Great watch!

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome