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JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
THE
SECRET'S OUT
C omic book films seem to be everywhere
nowadays, but while capes and tights
might reign supreme at the box office, new
release Kingsman: The Secret Servicedoes more
than just hold its own – it holds its own by stabbing
about with a poison-tipped tweed print umbrella and
letting off a few rounds from a Barrett M82 anti-tank
rifle for good measure. Pure and utter madness and
indulgence from start to finish, Kingsman is what you
get when Quentin Tarantino and Ian Fleming have a
bastard child.
The film is the marriage of director Matthew
Vaughn's visual stylings and the levels of
ultraviolence found in the works of comic book
scribe Mark Millar – as seen in the pair's previous
screen collaboration, Kick-Ass. Sophie Cookson
(Roxy) justifies the almost comical level of violence
in the film by describing it as "incredibly stylised”, to
which Taron Egerton (Eggsy) adds, “the whole thing
is rooted in the ridiculous. We're not dealing with
real life, it's a comic book film”. Speaking further on
comic book films, he adds, “it's so in vogue, there's
a voracious global appetite for comic book films. The
great thing about Kingsman is that it's so much more
reverent than others”.
Action is just as important to a comic book film
as any other component, and Egerton describes his
training for the film as relentless. "I worked with an
incredible stuntman and gymnast named Damian
Walters, who would learn everything that needed
to be done in the film and then teach it to me," he
explains. "Anything that was deemed too dangerous
by the insurance company, he would double me for”.
Cookson didn't get off lightly, either. “Everything
you see on screen, I did myself, apart from the
skydiving. There was a lot of gymnastics training, a
lot of core training and learning to use the rigs that
Cirque Du Soleil use”.
Speaking of the extended cast, including Colin
Firth, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine, Egerton
says, “I think the film lives and dies on the fact that
Colin is the last person you'd expect to be playing
this part, and that's what makes this film work, in my
opinion. He's the secret to this film, there from the
very engendering of the project.”
"As soon as Colin's name was mentioned,
everyone else just jumped on," offers Cookson.
An overarching theme in the film relates,
surprisingly, to manners. The art of being a
gentleman may not seem to be the likely lesson
from a film wherein approximately eight kajillion
people die, but Cookson appreciates the thought that
“anyone can be a gentleman, it's not about class –
it's an attitude”.
Egerton, on the other hand, doesn't seem to
believe that the fabled gentleman, as portrayed
in the film, truly exists. “The whole idea of being
a gentleman seems to be a global perception of
Britishness, but it just doesn't exist. They may
exist but they're off locked in towers or running the
country. Most British people are just like me and
Soph. It's an idea that's slightly outdated, but one
that's still popular and romantic”.
As for the film's tagline, "Manners Maketh
Man", Egerton says “it's a universally great thing
and I believe it. My mother always taught me that,
although not so concisely, manners are incredibly
important”.
As for the villainous Gazelle's legs, prosthetics
with razor sharp swords where her walking gear
should be, Cookson reluctantly confirms that it was
all an illusion. “Well, they are just green screen legs,”
she reveals, while Egerton rubs salt
into the wound. “What'd you
think, they just chopped off
her legs for four months then
reattached them?”
Sure I did. Movie magic is
a marvellous thing.
The whole idea of being a
gentleman seems to be a global
perception of Britishness,
but it just doesn't exist.
Rising UK stars Sophie Cookson and Taron Egerton talk about joining
KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE with Ryan Huff.