Kingsman: The Secret Service

[SelfieControl 5]

Went to go see this last night, and just wanted to say I'm looking forward to the inevitable review.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

I hated how this film kept reminding you how clever it thought it was. Like that "nudge-nudge, wink-wink" sketch from Monty Pythons. Austin Powers, minus the fun/plus the Big Macs.

 

Of course, admitting to not liking the movie is tantimount to "...not knowing how to have fun." So, keep your disdain for this movie hush-hush, my fellow killjoy.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I hated how this film kept reminding you how clever it thought it was. Like that "nudge-nudge, wink-wink" sketch from Monty Pythons. Austin Powers, minus the fun/plus the Big Macs.

 

Of course, admitting to not liking the movie is tantimount to "...not knowing how to have fun." So, keep your disdain for this movie hush-hush, my fellow killjoy.

Not that it pertains to this movie necessarily, as I had a lot of fun with it and it's not as bad at what it does as some flicks that try to pull the same tricks, but that reminds me, does anyone know where the line is between the "just turn your brain off and have fun" argument and "Okay, that WAS just fucking stupid"? I mean, even with something like the Transformers movies, which are super repetitive, super dumb, and super long, you'll still have people saying that you "just need to turn your brain off and enjoy it" when im pretty sure there's nothing that will make me enjoy it if doing that didn't work the three other times.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Not that it pertains to this movie necessarily, as I had a lot of fun with it and it's not as bad at what it does as some flicks that try to pull the same tricks, but that reminds me, does anyone know where the line is between the "just turn your brain off and have fun" argument and "Okay, that WAS just fucking stupid"? I mean, even with something like the Transformers movies, which are super repetitive, super dumb, and super long, you'll still have people saying that you "just need to turn your brain off and enjoy it" when im pretty sure there's nothing that will make me enjoy it if doing that didn't work the three other times.

 

That's a good question PlanB...

 

I am pretty good about turning off my brain and just enjoying something stupid, but there is that next level that I simply can't enjoy. There are movie's that are "bad", which is to say they don't really hold up to scrutiny (i.e. Jurassic Park movies, Star Wars, etc), but pointing out the flaws in them is half the fun of watching/re-watching them. Usually, these are the types of movies that blow you away on the first viewing, but on subsequent viewings you see all of the logical flaws, the bad acting, whatever. That initial feeling of joy carries you through and just grows every time you watch one of them.

 

Then, on the other hand, there are movies like the aforementioned Transformer movies and, more recently for me, the newest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Look, I understand with TMNT we are starting from a place of ridiculousness so my brain has already been firmly left at the door, but that movie was so aggressively obnoxious that, by the end of it, I was legitimately angry.

 

So, I think for me, the difference between the two types of movies is that if a movie is made with care, but fails on a logical level, that is a "good bad" movie, but if a movie is made as an obvious cash grab or otherwise not from a place of pure intention, but still maintains all the flaws of a "good bad" movie, then that becomes a "bad bad" movie. Does that make sense?

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I agree that a good "pure entertainment" type movie is one that allows us to turn our brains off and just enjoy it, while something like Transformers 2 has things terrible enough to make... humans with brains want to wretch (e.g. racist jive-talking robots with dangling testicles). Movies like John Wick or, for me, the Bond movies allow audiences to ignore logic gaps and actually enjoy it. They are both tangibly and intangibly well done. The grand confluence of magnificence that is the first Star Wars movie envelops me in its warm embrace so effectively that, by the time the "Exhaust Port Single Weakness Leading to Instant Death Star Explosion" rolls around, I don't give a shit. The prequels... not so much.

 

I think Kingsman COULD have allowed me to turn my brain off, but it spends so much energy winking at the audience and not taking itself seriously that it's impossible to invest any emotion or import into anything that happens. Yes, it's an aesthetically pleasing series of events, but that's it. I wasn't rooting for the good guys to succeed the way I root for Bond. Also, Samuel L. Jackson was really annoying and unconvincing as a villain. Worth my time and money, but rather forgettable.

[wyldride 285]

My brain's only "off" setting is "this movie is stupid; fall asleep now." Luckily, if I can stay awake, I enjoy tearing stupid movies apart.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

i loved kingsman. from the endless product placement, over the top violence (craziest fireworks scene ever), SLJ and his lisp and just the fact that they just had fun with it means for me this has to be a future episode. theres so much to talk about

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

But that lisp wasn't fun, it was so, 'hey, I am doing a villain thing! It's a lisp! Like a vocal eye patch!" It broke the fourth wall in such a dumb, clumsy way, it was like the boom mic was in frame every time he spoke.

 

Also, what do women do in this movie? Get abused by bad guys and LITERALLY get buttfucked by the hero.

[sillstaw 414]

Also, what do women do in this movie? Get abused by bad guys and LITERALLY get buttfucked by the hero.

 

Believe it or not, the director has tried to claim that the anal sex thing is empowering, because she's the one offering it to the hero. Then he goes and blames the controversy on "some bloody feminists," so something tells me he's full of shit.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

But that lisp wasn't fun, it was so, 'hey, I am doing a villain thing! It's a lisp! Like a vocal eye patch!" It broke the fourth wall in such a dumb, clumsy way, it was like the boom mic was in frame every time he spoke.

 

Also, what do women do in this movie? Get abused by bad guys and LITERALLY get buttfucked by the hero.

To be fair, the female henchman WAS the most dangerous baddie, and it was actually the one girl that got the Kingsman position, even if her involvement in the finale was someone marginalized. All she really did was take a balloon into space and fire a rocket launcher at a satellite...or something.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

So, I think for me, the difference between the two types of movies is that if a movie is made with care, but fails on a logical level, that is a "good bad" movie, but if a movie is made as an obvious cash grab or otherwise not from a place of pure intention, but still maintains all the flaws of a "good bad" movie, then that becomes a "bad bad" movie. Does that make sense?

I think that the opposite can be true as well, that something can be completely inept at what it was trying for and fail on every level and still be a great "turn your brain off" movie, like a "The Room" or a "Birdemic". In those cases, I think the intention is pure, but the filmmakers had intended to do something else entirely. If they catch on though and knowingly try to replicate it, or someone else sets out to TRY to make a bad movie, that's when you go right to "Yeah, this is just stupid".

[HipGuide 196]

Not that it pertains to this movie necessarily, as I had a lot of fun with it and it's not as bad at what it does as some flicks that try to pull the same tricks, but that reminds me, does anyone know where the line is between the "just turn your brain off and have fun" argument and "Okay, that WAS just fucking stupid"? I mean, even with something like the Transformers movies, which are super repetitive, super dumb, and super long, you'll still have people saying that you "just need to turn your brain off and enjoy it" when im pretty sure there's nothing that will make me enjoy it if doing that didn't work the three other times.

 

 

Haven't we decided its Face/Off?

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

 

 

Haven't we decided its Face/Off?

"Face/Off" is the alpha and the omega. "Face/Off" is all.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

The overall thesis statement of this movie was how much more fun those old Roger Moore-era James Bond films were, and how dour and super-serious modern Bond films have become. And while this film definitely makes a good point (not every action film has to be Nolan-ized), the execution is so ham-fisted and obvious that the seams show. I walked out of this movie feeling tired and disappointed. As a friend of mine put it: This is either a clever movie for dumb people, or a dumb movie for clever people.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

To be fair, the female henchman WAS the most dangerous baddie, and it was actually the one girl that got the Kingsman position, even if her involvement in the finale was someone marginalized. All she really did was take a balloon into space and fire a rocket launcher at a satellite...or something.

You are entirely correct, I was just choosing to be unfair because this movie was unfair to my desire for a believable villain and especially unfair to Swedish royalty.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

You are entirely correct, I was just choosing to be unfair because this movie was unfair to my desire for a believable villain and especially unfair to Swedish royalty.

Come on, as far as we know, Swedish royalty is ALL about the butt sex. I blame our school systems for playing down butt sex and its role in international relations over the years.

[MelissaBecker 79]

Just saw this and I liked it in the same way I liked Kick-Ass. I enjoyed the 2 hours in the theater, I will promptly forget the entire experience by tomorrow, and I might put it on in the background when it is on cable. But it isn't one of my favorite movies or something I'm going to seek out to ever see again.

 

It was rather cathartic to see Colin Firth stone cold murdering the bigots in that one scene.

[RyanSz 3140]

I enjoyed the movie overall as it kept fairly close to the source material unlike other adaptations of Mark Millar comics, Wanted especially. I did think the lisp was pretty over the top at points but Jackson was still pretty good as the villain. I do think the fireworks scene was kinda hokey and it actually came off as a last minute edit in order to get a R rating. With how this came out and how other Millar works have fared in theaters I am wondering what they are going to do with the Nemesis movie that is apparently being made by Joe Carnahan since that book features maybe one of the most unrepentant villains in comics ever.