Fish and Cherries Productions

Kingsman: The Secret Service was ridiculously good fun, with an emphasis on “ridiculous.” Everything is too over the top not to enjoy, from the incredibly stylized action to the visual stylistic choices of the effects and designs and ending at the ridiculous lisp that Samuel L. Jackson some how manages to pull off. I can honestly remember just about everything in the movie because it was so distinct. While watching it, I remember thinking that this looked like an amazing comic book movie, but then I saw in the credits that it was a comic book movie based on a piece by Mark Millar (a man that I have a contentious relationship with and will get to at a later date). In fact, the guy who directed this also directed Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, two other comic book movies the embraced stylishness, going over the top, and just being fun in general (Well, maybe not so much Kick-Ass).

Going for an R-rating might turn some people off, but I think it works to the movie’s benefit because it opens the door for a lot of impressive and brutal fight scenes. But it doesn’t go towards grittiness like other films in the genre do and instead delivers some incredibly well choreographed fight scenes enhanced by great cinematography. One of the standout moments is an elaborate fight scene in a hate church that goes on for several minutes, but is done in no more than ten long take shots. There’s plenty of over-the-top violence in it, so it’s as galling as it is cathartic (the church is based on a certain other “religious” group that likes to picket funerals, so it’s hard not to feel some satisfaction). Judging on that, I can surmise that this movie is bound to offend some people’s sensibilities with the type of violence and occasional promiscuity it serves up. But when all is said and done, it’s a dick flick (opposite of chick flick) and as such, it’s bound to have some tropes that manipulate teenage testosterone. Honestly, though, it’s a lot smarter and less insulting than some of the other dick flicks out there. I’d rather watch our main hero get into an amazingly choreographed fight against the kickass villainess with the bladed prosthetic legs than cringe during a fight against a Decepticon displaying its robot testicles any day.

I’d love to gush about this longer, but then this will turn from a Reel Snippet into a full-on essay. I’ll just wrap up by saying that with smart, semi-subversive writing, a great parody sense for spoofing some classic James Bond tropes, and clever characters that I’d love to see more of in cinema today, Kingsman gets two huge blade-prosthetic thumbs up from me.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was quite the riot and living proof that slapstick can be great comedy. It’s funny that a movie about such a complete asshole can be so charming, but Chevy Chase pulls it off with amazing comic timing and a great script. The humor is very audacious, but not in the intense gross-out way that a lot of comedic flops nowadays tend to go. The situation will also ring a cord to people who have huge family gatherings and have to watch as the different personalities, be they overbearing, abrasive, or downright senile, bound off of each other. It’s not exactly a traditional Christmas classic in the same way as It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, but it’s definitely a Christmas classic I missed out on in my youth and one I’ll be happy to revisit in the Christmases yet to come.

Guardians of the Galaxy was, as expected, a lot of fun and a great direction for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to go. It’s interesting because apart from being a new, untested property, Guardians also has the least continuity connection with the rest of the movies (apart from one significant plotline), which was refreshing, but at the same time I sorely missed some reference to the Asgardians or having the only human scene have a Stark Industries billboard in the background. It’s also a new direction because this is the first straight up comedy in the franchise; while Iron Man and Thor definitely straddled the line between action and comedy, Guardians of the Galaxy dives in head first and decides it doesn’t want to come up for air. Sadly, though, the comedy water didn’t penetrate all of its internal organs, as the villains are both lacking in humor and personality. They’re cool, but that’s about it. While we’re on the subject of weak characters, I felt that Gamora was underutilized and didn’t really live up to her reputation as the deadliest woman in the universe. The rest of the main cast is great fun, though I have to give the award to Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. That man truly nailed the part. With all that said, I’m worried that there’s a bit of a quirkiness to the directing, writing, and editing that may put people off a bit, though I personally enjoyed it. All in all, though, if you can get past that, you’ve got a great experience that I will personally recommend (could’ve used more “I am Groot,” though). Now, Marvel, if you could now do a Captain/Ms. Marvel and Black Panther movie, that would be great. Don’t keep me waiting now.

Neighbors has some entertaining laughs, but overall left me feeling very uncomfortable. The setup has some openings for a very zany comedy, but starts taking some dark turns and even though it’s still played for laughs, it’s hard to root for either side because each of them has done their share of reprehensible things that should have gotten them arrested. On top of that, it’s wildly inconsistent with its characterization, particularly with Zac Efron, whose character starts out as reasonably likable and even the more sympathetic party before taking a dive into outright villainy. The other side isn’t much better, being petty at best and instigators at worst. All in all, it’s hard to believe that either side got the ending it deserved. Like I said, there are some good laughs, but if either side had acted remotely intelligently, there wouldn’t have been a movie, so it’s really nothing to write home about. Even though that’s technically what I’m doing right now.