The Best of 2015: KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Welcome back, dear reader(s). School is back in session, my independent comic book is getting closer and closer to completion, and it’s time for me to get back to blogging. Since we’ve wrapped up 2015, I thought I’d start the year with a best-of-the-year pick and follow up next week with my choice for the worst comic book movie of 2015. *Spoiler Alert* It’s Fantastic Four.

Last year, I did a series of “Year in Review” posts detailing the best and worst in a few different categories. But, for now, I’m going to stick to simply the best and worst releases, then possibly detail the best and worst heroes and villains from the last year. Without further ado, here’s my pick for the best comic book movie of 2015.

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Let me start on a down note by saying that 2015 was, overall, a rather disappointing year for comic book movies. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Although, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron was the box office titan out of this year’s titles, it fell very short creatively for me. There was a small lot of live-action CBM productions to choose from, including just Kingsman, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant Man, and *ahem* Fantastic Four. And while some of these were clearly better than others, there were no stand-up-and-cheer moments in the theater — just a couple of enjoyable, if flawed, pictures worth seeing — at least on video.

Speaking of disappointments, Specter, the most recent Bond film, has shown that the Superman of the spy genre has worn out his welcome, at least for now. And it was Bond’s move towards more dark storytelling that inspired Matthew Vaughn (director of Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class) to direct Kingsman: The Secret Service — based on the Mark Miller/Dave Gibbons comic of the same name. The story follows a young, up-to-no-good-but-loveable teen named Eggsy who’s drafted into a secret spy organization and trained by a master spy named Harry Hart, played by the always-affable Colin Firth.

If breathing some life into the spy genre was Vaughn’s mission, he most certainly succeeded. Kingsman is nothing if not a fun movie, mixing dark comic book violence with colorful characters and scenarios — both of which Vaughn is known for. The church riot briefly seen in the trailer is a gory delight and Samuel L. Jackson steals every one of his scenes as Richmond Valentine, a billionaire philanthropist who loves McDonalds and over-the-top evil lairs.

While watching the first trailer, Kingsman didn’t look like that interesting of a project until I saw that Vaughn’s name was attached. And the movie, while featuring a few great surprises, was much like like the trailer: At face value, the story isn’t all that interesting, and its greatest redeeming quality is that it has Vaughn’s name written all over it.

Like in Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, Vaughn has mastered a fine balance of comic book imagery, action choreography and pacing, along with some very memorable new characters we’ve never seen on film before. (I can’t decide who I like more: Valentine or Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw). Speaking of X-Men: First Class, Kingsman definitely lends itself more towards comedy. And I found the story of a young man training to become a super spy like his father was more compelling in Wanted (2008). So while Kingsman is definitely another great Matthew Vaughn movie, and the best comic book movie of 2015, I’m hoping the best of 2016 receives a standing ovation.