Kingsman: The Secret Service Blu-ray Review

Spy movies certainly aren’t dead, but they aren’t what they used to be. The Bond films today are practically dramas, with the fun and loose attitude of the Sean Connery and Roger Moore films almost nonexistent. Matthew Vaughn was bothered by this, and Kingsman is the product of that nostalgic thought. Vaughn and his crew’s sensibilities of the spy films of yesteryear created a film that encompasses the spirit and class of those films in the present day perfectly.

I loved Kingsman when I saw it back in February, and that love doesn’t look like it’s going to die. My second viewing of Kingsman was a blast. The action may be a little stiff, but it’s also chaotic and violent as hell so I’m not complaining. Roxy deserved more love as a character with Matthew Vaughn even saying that they had to cut out a lot of her, but the other characters are so well realized that I’m willing to turn the other cheek. The tone may be a little all over the place, but the film always kept this fun-loving energy that makes it hard not to love. Kingsman isn’t perfect, but it’s still well worth your time if you’re a spy and action movie fan.

Kingsman boasts an absolutely stellar presentation on Blu-ray. While some scenes come off a little soft, the picture is mostly crystal clear. The colors are what steal the show. The soft greens and browns of the tailor shop, the sky’s roaring blues during a parachute jump midway through the film, and a quite colorful final act make for a visually stunning experience. Audio is great as well, with Matthew Vaughn’s wonderful song selection bursting in the background only to be overcome by the frenetic action that annihilates the foreground. Your senses are in for a treat.

The Bonus Features on the Kingsman Blu-ray are:

“Kingsman: The Secret Service Revealed” (1:31:41) is a complete behind the scenes look at the creation of the film, from the comic-book origins to the editing room. Fans of the movie will be pleased with the pre-visual effects footage as well as seeing Matthew Vaughn direct his cast and crew to the tune of some solid interviews with said cast and crew.
Galleries of pictures from “Behind the Scenes” as well as closeups of “Sets” and “Props”.
“Theatrical Trailer” (2:22). The one below to be exact.

What’s offered in the Kingsman extras is greatly appreciated, but there’s plenty of room for more. The hour and a half long set of interviews with the behind the scenes footage was great and the photos were nice, but the lack of a commentary is a bummer as well as no deleted scenes. Matthew Vaughn said that they had to cut about 40 minutes. Why couldn’t that make its way on the Blu-ray?

Everything that’s on the Kingsman Blu-ray is great. The film is delightful, the presentation is beautiful, and there’s a great hour and a half long bonus feature as well as a batch of images to flip through. Those fans will be disappointed though to find an absence of deleted scenes and a commentary track. That extra push would have made this a top notch Blu-ray. Still, there’s still plenty to love here and fans of the film will be generally happy with what they find.