Agents and Spies, Secrets and Lies
James Bond, Jason Bourne Each Get a Send-up in These Bloody
But Fun Capers
Imagine James Bond as a skilled ne’er-do-well who’s living a
life of petty crime before being adopted into the upper ranks of MI-6. Or, if
you prefer, imagine Harry Potter as an inner city British boy with one living
parent, who’s mysterious past comes full circle when he’s invited to join a
super legit, super secret agency most people don’t know exists…
Now imagine Jason Bourne as a below-average Joe, a stoner
prone to illness, panic attacks and laziness eek-ing his way through life...one
who just happens to have an inner switch that, when flipped, opens up a whole
world of pain on any ill-advised suckers trying to hurt or subdue him…
And you pretty much have the two spy/secret agent flicks I
watched in the past 24 hours, last winter’s pseudo-Bond flick Kingsman: The Secret Service and this
weekend’s new indie actioner, American
Ultra. Neither was completely original—what with echoes of Harry Potter, Mission Impossible, and,
especially, the Bond and Bourne sagas—but both brought a little
extra oomph to the movie-watching experience when I needed it; I’m rather jaded
at the tail end of a long summer of big-budget but cookie-cutter theatrical
experiences. Neither was a family-friendly experience, exactly, but both
brought a sense of fun, hyper-realism, irreverence, and badassery that made
them very legitimate entertainments.
KINGSMAN: THE SECRET
SERVICE GRADE: B+
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
I had had thoughts of seeing Kingsman: The Secret Service when it bowed in theaters back in
February, but, scared off by some iffy reviews and the unpromising spectre of
the typecast Samuel L. Jackson as the villain, I never got around to it. But
after learning a few of my friends liked it, I took a shot—and I’m glad I did.
Sure, the elements are kinda familiar, but
director Matthew Vaughn brings the same snarky but fierce, funny but edgy
aura he brought to his cult classic 2010 film Kick-Ass. Here, as there, the characters are vivid, the twists and
reveals are exciting, and the action is a Tarantino-esque mix of
shockingly-brutal and exquisitely, insanely awesome.
The plot is simple, and most of the keys were revealed in
the film’s trailers—in modern-day England, a physically-gifted petty criminal
who goes by the name of Eggsy (newcomer Taron Egerton) is bailed out of a tough
corner with the law by a mysterious man in a suit named Galahad (Colin Firth) who
claims to have been saved from certain death by Eggsy’s father, who died when Eggsy
was just a boy. At first cynical and derisive, Eggsy warms to the man once he
gets a glimpse of his bone-breaking fisticuffs skills and nifty gadgets. He’s
thus introduced to the world of the Kingsman, a super secret high-tech agency
that was created after World War I and whom no one outside has any idea exists.
It’s headed by an elderly aristocrat (Michael Caine) and trained and equipped
by a tech genius (Mark Strong), both of whom accept Galahad’s recommendation
that Eggsy be included in the newest class of Kingsman recruits.
Though the poor Eggsy seems out of place with his fellow
recruits, who were mostly plucked from prep schools, he shows guts and guile,
which the Kingsman need, as they’ve begun to monitor a secretive sociopath
(Jackson) bent on world domination. A Steve Jobs-esque mogul who’s made
billions in the tech industry, Jackson ’s
Richmond Valentine has all the money and weapons he could want, plenty of
deadly henchman, and a crude but undeniably effective means of accomplishing
his goal. Plus, any who oppose him tend to end up dead. After a run-in with
Valentine’s henchman leaves Galahad--the Kingsman's top operative--in a coma, all signs
begin to point to Eggsy as the Kingsman’s best hope of stopping the worldwide
threat.
Again, it’s familiar stuff, but the way the Kingsman’s
secret world is unveiled has bits of the magic of early Harry Potter, and it
certainly helps to have the seasoned likes of Firth, Caine and Strong on hand.
Egerton proves a nimble, likeable presence who’s believable in the fight scenes
and some of the more emotional moments—he’s easy to root for. And Jackson
actually eschews accusations of playing the same old, same old—sure, he gets to
rant and rave (and curse) a little bit, but, armed with a lisp and techie
knowhow, Jackson’s actually believable as a new-age supervillain, namely, a
geek who grew up being overlooked and made fun of and never forgot it. The movie has a few
great stunts, and, of course, electrifying action. Like Kick-Ass, the action is stunning in its execution,
but it’s well choreographed and edited in a way that makes it both real-life
dark and comic-book “legit” (a lengthy fight sequence inside a church is one of
the great large-scale, R-rated action scenes in recent years; jaw-dropping in
its brutal, intimate details yet also strangely, perversely funny). Vaughn, who’s directed two of the great comic-book movies of the
past five years (Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class) has done it again.
I wasn’t blown away while
watching it (though I marveled at the aforementioned fight scenes), but I
realized how much I’d enjoyed it when it came to a close. I would gladly have
watched at least another half-hour.
**KINGSMAN: THE SECRET
SERVICE is rated R for strong, bloody violence, language, gory and disturbing
images and brief nudity
AMERICAN ULTRA Grade:
B+
Directed by Nima Nourizadeh
I knew little about American
Ultra before I saw it, and what little I knew I didn’t know quite what to
make of. I saw very mediocre online scores after it opened, I heard the
description of a “stoner secret agent movie” (including a radio ad that boasted
“Part Pineapple Express, part Bourne Identity”), and I knew of its
star, Jesse Eisenberg, a typically low-key, likeable actor, but one best known
for snark, sarcasm, and parody flicks (like 2009’s Zombieland). I also went in thinking Ultra had its work cut out for it (as far as impressing or
entertaining me goes) because I had just watched Kingsman the previous night. Seeing the low critics’ scores, I
dreaded sitting through a lame-brained, poorly-written, stoner giggle-fest.
Well I’m glad I saw it. Very glad. For one, it was far more
entertaining than I expected (and than it’s online scores suggest); I would
watch a movie with the same premise and major pieces that was twice as long, I
enjoyed it so much. For another, well, it actually features a very good
performance by that most maligned of It Girls, Kristen Stewart.
American Ultra focuses
on the person of Mike Howell (Eisenberg), a twenty-something burn-out with a bland job at a convenience store and a record of petty drug arrests. However, he
is supremely blessed to live with, and be loved by, Phoebe (Stewart), a pretty,
kindly young woman who seems to love and appreciate him for who he is, even
when he almost burns the house down trying to cook an omelet, or when he has
panic attacks so severe they have to skip a dream Hawaiian vacation at the last
minute. Mike, who knows he’s squeaking by, begins to fear that he’s holding
Phoebe back from a better life.
One night, while sitting behind the counter of his
convenience store, Mike—secretly rolling a joint beneath the register—is approached
by a wary-looking older woman (Connie Britton), who suddenly bequeaths on him
what seems a mouthful of nonsense: “Chariot
progressive. Listen. Mandelbrot set is in motion. Echo Choir has been breached,
we are fielding the ball.” Nonplussed, Mike watches the woman leave the store,
thinking she (or he) might be insane. But when he leaves the store that night,
he’s set upon by a pair of muggers armed with a knife...Next thing Mike knows,
he’s just barely escaped from a blown-up police station with a terrified Phoebe
in tow, being pursued by nasty, highly-trained hit men, somehow unearthing
hidden knowledge about weapons that he never knew he had, and, when cornered,
unleashing deadly skills he doesn’t remember learning. Mike begins to doubt who
is and what he is, and wonders who wants him dead so badly.
I won’t give away more except to say that American Ultra’s Bourne Identity-style
screenplay is exciting, the action is swift and brutal (a la Kingsman, but a little less showy), and,
most importantly, the two actors at the fore are wonderful. Eisenberg—best known
as the stuffy, self-centered Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network—is surprisingly vulnerable, and likeable and
convincing as a relatively Regular Joe caught up in scary and overwhelming
circumstances. As his amazingly supportive and understanding better half,
Stewart gives probably the best performance she’s given since she became a
household name with the Twilight series.
Gentle and encouraging and completely committed to Mike, yet also possessing a
backbone of steel that begins to show itself, Stewart nearly steals the show;
ironic that this great, raw performance comes in a movie no one is anticipating
and no one has any expectations for (though I maintain that the Twilight series’ lameness does not rest
entirely on her shoulders). It’s the connection between the two leads that
makes this movie work, even more than the action, and the movie ends with a brilliant,
Bond-esque scene of espionage.
Not the smartest or most original movie in the world, but American Ultra is far more than its “stoner”
label suggests, an exciting and engaging action flick for the late summer.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Screenplay by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
Based on the comic book "The Secret Service" by
Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons
Starring: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Samuel L.
Jackson, Sophie Cookson, Sofia Boutella, Michael Caine, Samantha Womack and
Mark Hamill
Rated R
Length: 129 minutes
American Ultra (2015)
Directed by Nima Nourizadeh
Screenplay by Max Landis
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace,
Connie Britton, Walton Goggins, John Leguizamo, Tony Hale and Bill Pullman
Rated R
Length: 95 minutes
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