Kingsmen (Poll thread) (and spoiler thread if you care)

#1

If you haven’t seen the film Kingsmen, it’s basically a comic book movie where a working class London kid ends up part of a James Bond-esque spy agency saving the world. It’s a decent romp with some excellent action scenes and the cast do a pretty good job

At the end of the film, the hero is in the bad guy’s lair and finds a Swedish princess locked up. He asks, if I rescue you, can I have a kiss. She says, “More than that - we can do it. In the butt.” And indeed, the final scene of the film is her on all fours while the Q character chuckles and turns off the camera he’s watching them on.

Apparently, this short sequence has become the main bone of contention when discussing the film, and in any comment thread about Kingsmen it descends into arguments about whether or not this ruined the film with a childish and misogynistic joke. Some people say they enjoyed the film but refuse to recommend it to other people based on it, others say that in a film full of gratuitous violence it’s barely registers as controversial.

So:

  • The anal sex bit spoils an otherwise enjoyable film
  • The anal sex bit is fine, it fits the tone and I can’t see why anyone would find it odd
  • The whole film is for idiots, watch some Tarkovsky or something

0 voters

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#2

Really enjoyed the film overall. Don’t think that bit would stop me recommending it, but it probably would have been a slightly better ending without it.

#3

I found the whole “it’s privileged white men who have been keeping the country safe” really really obnoxious - more than any bum sex joke.

Found the whole thing hugely derivative.

I will concur that it had at least two exhilarating comedy fight scenes.

Harumph.

#4

It’s like watching love actually with your gran and forgetting that scene where Frodo starts humping gavin and stacy

#5

Pretty good lark, obviously a first in a franchise film (lots of training and so on). But interesting in its way, and pretty ridiculous all the way through. A lot of it was Bond, only more so (heads exploding, massacre in a church etc), so having the Bond-gets-the-girl ending pushed too far made sense in that respect.

#6

…

#7

Not seen it but the amount of adverts I’ve seen for the new one has put me right off it

#8

Really wasn’t a fan, didn’t find it particularly funny in the slightest. Even that church fight scene was massively overhyped.

#9

I honestly don’t know what the fuss is. Seriously.

I remember before going to see it having the Kermode/Mayo team say “the bit at the end leaves you with a bad taste in the mouth” and I was expecting something truly shocking, like maybe the bit at the end of requiem for a dream with the dildos and that but it was just two consenting adults doing it up the arse.

considering the fact that at the beginning yer man from Coupling gets sliced into two right down the fucking body it seemed like the only controversial part of it might have been the fact it was from a POV?

Either way, the movie was a nice bit of James Bond send up mixed in with funny swearing and that. Nothing to get too excited about. Can’t quite believe they’ve managed to make another one tbh.

#10

I’m more put off the new one because of the fucking meerkat advert

#11

oh theyve done one of those too? the marketing budget must have been huge! i’ve seen about 3 different other tie ins, it’s a bit baffling

#12

Every time I see those ads, I just think “Come on Julianne Moore, you’re better than this”.

#13

Oh yeah so that’s what inspired this thread, apparently in the sequel at some point the hero has to finger the bad guy’s girlfriend because of some microchip in his finger or something.

#14

The main character was explicitly working class. He becomes ‘posher’ as the film goes on (wears a suit etc), but the film points out that ‘class’ has nothing to do with Class, it’s all how you treat people, maaan

And the new one has Halle Berry and Pablo Pascal!

#15

The new film sounds horrendous (thread)

#16

Yeah, I’m also a joyless old grump who found it hard to get past this. A secret bunch of posh white men are using money they haven’t earned and power no one gave them, without consequence, to ‘keep us all safe’. They let a working class boy join, but it’s ok because it turns out he’s actually posh after all.

Not read the comic, but Mark Millar is usually brilliant. Maybe I’m reading far too much into it.

#17

Wish he was in it more, he was great in the one scene he had. Also like the way the disabled woman is the deadly assassin and not just the computer nerd or whatever

#18

It literally ends with “oh, but he’s actually from posh lineage, so it’s ok!”

#19

Does it? Must’ve missed that.

#20

Jack Davenport - the man that time didn’t get to do Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.