Eddie the Eagle Written by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton Directed by Dexter Fletcher U.K., 2016 Fresh off of the success of Kingsman: The Secret Service, few would have expected Matthew Vaughn to pluck the young star from that film (Taron Egerton) and produce a film about Great Britain’s first Olympic ski-jumper. Yet as an …
While officially the script to Kingsman: The Secret Service is credited to director Matthew Vaughn and fellow scribe Jane Goldman, the truth of the matter is that the film represents a reunification of sorts between the veteran British director and comic book author and ‘enfant terrible’ Mark Millar. Their first foray into cinematically transposing a comic book was with 2010’s Kick-Ass,
There’s a hilarious moment in the classic ‘80s comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles when Steve Martin has finally had enough of John Candy’s inane anecdotes. “When you’re telling these little stories,” he instructs Candy, “here’s a good idea… have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!” If only the makers of the new spy actioner Kingsman: The Secret Service had taken that advice. Despite all of its self-satisfied smugness, Kingsman neglects to give us a coherent story, consistent tone, or anything worth caring about. It’s ironic that a film trying so hard to be inventive and outrageous ends up being such a derivative bore.