"Kingsman: The Secret Service" has just had its London premiere, and the spy action-comedy, directed by "Kick-Ass" helmer Matthew Vaughn, is getting rave reviews. Heck, it's been getting rave reviews for months. But there's one issue that some filmgoers seem to be having with "Kingsman"- the amount of violence in the film.
Now, "Kingsman" has an R-rating in the United States, for "sequences of strong violence, language and some sexual content." But in the UK (via Digital Spy) the film was cut down and had much of the violence removed, to knock it down from an 18 to a 15 rating.
You'd think that'd be enough to pacify most people, but when speaking to star Colin Firth, the Independent took him to task for potentially using the film to glorify violence.
Here's what Firth had to say in defense of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" and the violence within the film.
"That's a question that has to be kept alive. The simplest approach would be to say there should be no violence in any storytelling whatsoever but the trouble is, you're taking away a great deal of Shakespeare, Greek drama, Punch and Judy, Westerns."
Later, the actor added, "I think this is more in that category. [Kingsman] reminds me more of the old Batmans with the word bubbles saying 'Pow!' or even Monty Python where the violence is actually absurd. I don't think it's glamourous, I think it's silly."
Would you consider a violent film- even one that approaches violence the same way Adam West approached the Batusi- to be glorifying that violence? Or just one of many films that happens to have a pretty high (and intense) action component? Well, critics don't seem to care- the film's currently riding high at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. That bodes particularly well for "Kingsman," don't you think?
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