Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

  I don't know how well this movie would stand up to repeated viewings, but it was pretty decent in the theater.  The same director and writer that created Kick-Ass re-teamed to make another comic book property.

Harry Hart (Colin Firth) is a Kingsman, one of an elite unit of spies operating outside the parameters of government control.  After one of their number is killed investigating the disappearance of a scientist (Mark Hamill), Harry sponsors an unlikely candidate for the open slot:  Eggsy (Taron Egerton), a troubled youth who nonetheless possess an incredible range of skills perfect for joining a covert espionage agency.  Eggsy proceeds through the training program, but it may not be quick enough to stop billionaire tech magnate Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) and his deadly right-hand woman Gazelle (Sofia Boutella) from putting their evil plan into action.

My chief complaint with this movie is the excessive use of CGI in all the fight scenes.  It made them look grainy, like they were blurred around the edges.  I don't know if that was on purpose to convey a sense of speed but it put me off.  Everything else was solid.  It made me believe in Colin Firth:  Action Hero and that is not a label I thought to ever apply.  Samuel L. is campy and hilarious as the Big Bad, with his speech impediment and aversion to the sight of blood, but never loses the sense of menace.  There were a lot of very bold choices made with regard to action sequences that I much appreciated.  The comedy tended more towards the broad end of the spectrum, but there was only one joke near the end that I found to be eye-rollingly tasteless.  It didn't feel necessary and it detracted quite a bit from the proceedings, but I am willing to forgive.  As I said, I don't know how it will stand up to multiple watches, but it's a decent start to the movie season.

Usually, February is still a dumping ground for movies no one has any faith in *cough cough Jupiter Ascending cough* but you can occasionally find a gem.  This might turn out to be this year's Lego Movie.