Kingsman: The Secret Service (6/9/2015)

Rated R for sequences of strong violence, language and some sexual content.

Starring Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson. Mark Strong, Jack Davenport and Sofia Boutella

Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class)

All of the skills of a British spy, but none of the class.

Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

TODD’S WORD: This is the craziest movie I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ve reviewed a few bad ones. One thing I particularly dislike about Kingsman is that it never takes itself seriously…announcing itself as a “hard-R parody” from the beginning and keeping the joke going throughout the film. On day one of filming, they must have thrown away the moral compass and taken a group vow to turn up the gratuitous violence.

JONATHAN’S WORD: No doubt. This movie earned it’s R-rating. A lot of people missed that when they saw the preview during the Super Bowl this year. It looks like a fun Colin Firth spy flick.

TODD’S WORD: Colin Firth looks like he’s playing the typical Colin Firth part until a band of thugs pick a fight with him in a pub. Harry locks the doors, turns around, and takes out the hooligans with his umbrella.

JONATHAN’S WORD: And then the movie went downhill.

TODD’S WORD: The scenes just became increasingly violent.

JONATHAN’S WORD: I think the key word is, “irresponsible.” The violence became mind-numbing, and then a few sexual innuendos, nothing mild mind you… a reference to anal sex, then a point of view shot of a guy turning the girl over as he was about to engage in it. Completely out of hand.

TODD’S WORD: Taron Egerton, who looks like the sixth member of One Direction is the obligatory smart/talented/undisciplined young buck recruited by Hart to become the next Kingsman. After an entertaining but too-long series of sequences in which various candidates are weeded out, the real (and really sick) violence begins. In fact it plays out more like a Quentin Tarantino film than a James Bond film.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Valentine, a sinister multi-billionaire who wears baseball caps tilted slightly sideways, speaks with a lisp and is convinced he can take over the world.

JONATHAN’S WORD: I should have known when I saw that it was the director of the violent film Kick Ass.

TODD’S WORD: This is the fifth film director Matthew Vaughn has directed. I really liked X-men: First Class, but the others were not good. And when it comes the Kingsman, I say “Skip It.”

JONATHAN’S WORD: Yeah… more like… run from it.

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
There is a sex scene and some brief nudity along with over 100 F-words and plenty of other profanities.

There are several prolonged scenes of graphic violence that are very disturbing. People are scene fighting, stabbing and killing each other in graphic ways. One scene in particular shows a mom breaking through a door with a butcher’s knife in her hand trying to attack her own son.

Then there is the “anal sex” reference mentioned above. More about that Here.

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. How does Valentine plan on taking over the world?


2. Why is removing self-control so important to his plan?

Read Proverbs 25:28

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.


3. What areas in your life need the most self-control?


4. What can you do this week to work on your self-control?