On Her Majesty's Secret Service Matthew Vaughn shoots quite a variety of movie comics: realistic-parody “Kick-Ass”, Neil Gaiman’s fairy tale “Stardust”, pure fantastic superheroic “X-Men: First Class”, and here is the spy, again parody, comic book “The Secret Service”. An entertaining spy thriller about saving the world is stuffed with a huge number of all sorts of cliches, references, and sometimes ridicules himself in dialogue when it comes to Bond or the nickname of the dog J.B. (James Bond? Jason Bourne?) Jack Bauer? But at the same time, the picture manages to save face, like a prim British gentleman, who is given the most global attention here.
After the "Tarantinov" prologue, representing almost all the main characters of the picture, the two-hour tape quite fascinatingly covers the life of its protagonist - a young boy whose father once died on a secret mission. The boy suffers beatings from local gopniks, steals cars, chicly races backwards with the local police, arranges parkour races and, in the end, is forced to put up with the fact that his mother has a new nasty hahal, just the leader of the local gang. The family drama is served with chic and bright accents, immediately throwing the characters on the table.
It is curious how in its 130 minutes, such a drive and well-organized movie does not have time to tire. Becoming a spy, the story of the villain, the test of instruments, finally the final batch - all this is served with the wildest drive and sense of style. The Secret Service is definitely Matthew Vaughn’s best film, or at least on par with the masterpiece Kick-Ass. And most importantly, the film adaptation turned out to be better than its original comic book. Literally all the coolest pieces of the picture, such as the allusion to the Knights of the Round Table in a spy organization, are completely absent in the comic.
A unique picture, in addition to a spectacular director's presentation, also makes an excellent cast. The unknown Edgerton gives a really good protagonist, whom you empathize with, whom you admire at the end, and, in the end, really goes on the screen from a street punk, suffering from tough guys to an elegant gentleman with a full set of physical skills and high-tech devices. Colin Firth does give the best role in his career - here he can be admired simply dimensionlessly, and Samuel L. Jackson (already just ate the dog on comic screenings and superheroics: "The Spirit", "Oldboy", "Unbreakable", "Kite", "RoboCop", and Nick Fury in the Marvel-cinematic universe) gives out a really wildly lisp antagonist, who everyone must be remembered forever after watching.
The picture has excellent stalking humor, cool and well-placed accents of drama, as well as magnificent and, most importantly, bloody, action! The R rating is very justified by the number of shot heads and severed limbs, and by the end of the film there is even an erotic scene with a Scandinavian princess. The scene of the showdown in the church (with the phrase “Glory to Satan”!) will be remembered no less than the spectacular showdown in the bar with the help of a mug and an umbrella. It just has everything you need for good entertainment, at the highest level and in competent proportions among themselves. Action, spy thriller, comedy-parody, and at the same time with the scope and quality of a real blockbuster! Even the bonus scene among the credits there, as befits comic screenings these days. All counted, all perfect. Matthew Vaughn shot a magnificent spy action film, which I want to watch again and again!
10 out of 10
Original
