STACK Jul #129

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038 JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
visit FEATURE DVD&BD
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
Service does 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
rubs salt into the wound. “What'
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 andTaron Egerton talk about joining
KINGSMAN:THE SECRET SERVICE with Ryan Huff.