I haven't read the comic book, as much as it pains me to say it I've never been sold on the media, so this review is entirely of the film on its own.
Glorious, if I'm going to use one word to describe this film, it is that one.
After having watched, in theaters, a string of depressive dramas (mostly Oscar nominees of this year as well as some arthouse movies) in the past few months; this movie reminded me why I love the seventh art so much: it's just shameless, stylized, escapist and balls-to-the-wall fun.
Unusually for action movies, the first thing I want to pinpoint is the acting and I'm not going to comment on the veterans (it's pretty much a given to expect amazing performances from Firth, Jackson, Caine and Strong; even if, specially for Firth and Jackson, their roles are so wildly outside their comfort zones) but on our protagonist. Egerton plays the role with panache, comfort and emotional depth unusual for someone who is pretty much doing their first big role and in an action/comedy flick no less. There's no moment in the movie in which I can tell he isn't Eggsy. He clearly threw himself to it and had a blast, there's enough conflicting emotions, audacity and (to use Merlin's words) "cheek" to spare. And he also did most of his stunts to boot.
That leads us to another fantastic point of the movie: the stunt work. The action setpieces of this movie are just things of beauty and while everyone mentions, and for a reason, the church scene, I'll focus in particular on my favorite moment in the movie: Eggsy running away from Valentine's lair, demolishing all the mooks he finds on his way before reaching the plane. It's mesmerizing even if it's been done thousands of times before.
The comedy is also spot on and perfectly timed, Galahad's line in the church is flawless in every sense, and that's just one moment.
In the director's seat, Vaughn does a great work of letting us see all this in the smoothest way possible, he has an eye for genial moments that he puts to great use.
I could say here that the movie has its shortcomings... but I won't, I loved this thing, I have watched it three times (being the fourth overall I've watched more than twice in theater) and I might go back for more.
Here's hoping it gets enough money to warrant a sequel and this one isn't shat on like certain other of director Vaughn.
An utterly exhilarating experience
I haven't read the comic book, as much as it pains me to say it I've never been sold on the media, so this review is entirely of the film on its own.
Glorious, if I'm going to use one word to describe this film, it is that one.
After having watched, in theaters, a string of depressive dramas (mostly Oscar nominees of this year as well as some arthouse movies) in the past few months; this movie reminded me why I love the seventh art so much: it's just shameless, stylized, escapist and balls-to-the-wall fun.
Unusually for action movies, the first thing I want to pinpoint is the acting and I'm not going to comment on the veterans (it's pretty much a given to expect amazing performances from Firth, Jackson, Caine and Strong; even if, specially for Firth and Jackson, their roles are so wildly outside their comfort zones) but on our protagonist. Egerton plays the role with panache, comfort and emotional depth unusual for someone who is pretty much doing their first big role and in an action/comedy flick no less. There's no moment in the movie in which I can tell he isn't Eggsy. He clearly threw himself to it and had a blast, there's enough conflicting emotions, audacity and (to use Merlin's words) "cheek" to spare. And he also did most of his stunts to boot.
That leads us to another fantastic point of the movie: the stunt work. The action setpieces of this movie are just things of beauty and while everyone mentions, and for a reason, the church scene, I'll focus in particular on my favorite moment in the movie: Eggsy running away from Valentine's lair, demolishing all the mooks he finds on his way before reaching the plane. It's mesmerizing even if it's been done thousands of times before.
The comedy is also spot on and perfectly timed, Galahad's line in the church is flawless in every sense, and that's just one moment.
In the director's seat, Vaughn does a great work of letting us see all this in the smoothest way possible, he has an eye for genial moments that he puts to great use.
I could say here that the movie has its shortcomings... but I won't, I loved this thing, I have watched it three times (being the fourth overall I've watched more than twice in theater) and I might go back for more.
Here's hoping it gets enough money to warrant a sequel and this one isn't shat on like certain other of director Vaughn.