This Wednesday comes Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the second installment of the saga begun in 2015 by Matthew Vaughn. In addition to the returns of Taron Egerton, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, the cast includes Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and Channing Tatum. Kingsman is a comic book created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. It is published in 6 issues from April 11, 2011. In France, it was published by Panini Comics. The complete 6 issues were released in France on February 11, 2015.
A surprise success
It is always quite complicated to adapt a comic, especially when it is not known to the general public. Far from the Marvel or DC machine, Kingsman could have struggled to exist in the shadow of these giants. But that was without counting on thetalent of Matthew Vaughn. The brilliant director, already at the origin of the adaptations of Kick-Ass and X-Men – The Beginning has managed to totally magnify this story. The result is a very rhythmic and totally fun film. Carried by the charisma of Colin Firth and the passion of the young Taron Egerton, Kingsman is a high-end entertainment very well written, which never falls into boredom or one-upmanship.
Kingsman's success undoubtedly lies in the explosive mix concocted by the filmmaker. English humor, vitamin action scenes à la Guy Ritchie, precise writing, self-mockery, exciting characters, colorful, bordering on caricature, and especially a first-rate cast. Samuel L Jackson is a big bad zozotant while Colin Firth remains as magnetic as ever.
A new way of approaching the blockbuster
Matthew Vaughn has demonstrated that a light tone can totally adapt to blockbusters and comic book adaptations. Taking up the irreverence of Kick-Ass, the filmmaker demonstrates that approaching a blockbuster through the prism of lightness, irreverence, humor and derision was an undeniable quality. Far from the too serious DC Comics movies, Matthew Vaughn does not fall into the Marvel ease either. Because if Marvel productions are focused on humor, each film is a carbon copy of the previous one, constantly using the same writing skeleton and stereotypical characters. Matthew Vaughn manages to create novelty and be original by faithfully adapting this cult comic.
Matthew Vaughn sought to give a real identity to his feature film. This is what makes the difference with the average productions of the genre. An electric soundtrack on which David Bowie participated, particular characters, new situations, a charismatic villain… The filmmaker left nothing to chance. With Kingsman, Matthew Vaughn insists on one of the characteristics of his films: nonconformism. We will obviously remember the scene of the Church which is the quintessence of the film. A sequence shot in seven days and which required the presence of about 130 actors including 20 stuntmen, 30 extras specialized in action scenes and 80 other extras. If this impressive moment of cinema is similar to a long shot-sequence, this is actually not the case. The main difficulty for Matthew Vaughn and his team was to connect the different outlets to make the whole thing work.
An unexpected public and critical success. Kingsman: Secret Service is a supercharged, comical, funny, ironic feature film that perfectly combines action and humor. Carried by the class of Colin Firth and the energy of Taron Egerton, Kingsman is a compendium of madness carried by hallucinatory action scenes.
