Movie Review: Kingsman: The Secret Service

The recently released film Kingsman: The Secret Service happened to come to my local theater, so I decided to pop in and watch it. I didn't really have any preconceived notions about this movie, so my mind was totally open to taking it for what it was. And it was weird...
But first I'll give a quick summary, for those who have not seen Kingsman yet. The movie centers around the character Eggsy, a teenager whose father died during a mission when he was young. The same spy agency that employed his father recruits Eggsy into training to become one of their members. Meanwhile, tech-genius Richmond Valentine is plotting to take over the world with his mastermind plan, and Eggsy and the spy agency are the only ones who can stop him.
Overall, this movie did not impress me. I found the entire plot to be mind-numbing and extremely predictable. It was just like any typical action movie, with a bad guy that the good guy needs to stop. I also didn't like how Kingsman seemingly switched its entire aura about halfway through the film. It begins as a decent action movie with some really well-done comedy thrown in, but suddenly morphs into an overblown comedic fail of epic proportions. In other words, this movie didn't know whether it wanted to be an outrageous comedy or an action spy movie, and it bridged the two very poorly. Adding to this, the comedy in this movie was another negative aspect of it for me personally. To a degree, it worked, but especially towards the end of the movie it was just ridiculous. As someone who is very picky when it comes to the use of comedy in movies, I was not impressed with many of the funnier elements that they decided to include. I can't go into detail here without spoiling the plot, but let's just say that there were several things that were blown way over the top for me.
So after all that negativity, let me note that this movie did have some positive elements too. First, I thought that the fight scenes were very well done. They were choreographed well, and were visually impressive. I also rather enjoyed the character of Galahad, played by Colin Firth, and for me he was the only character that I really enjoyed in this film.
So, on an overall scale of things I was fairly unimpressed by Kingsman, and was disappointed with most of the aspects of it. Although it does have some positive elements, they are far outnumbered by the negatives. Perhaps if you have a different outlook when it comes to over-the-top comedy in movies you will enjoy this film more than I did, but for me personally I would not recommend Kingsman.

Rating: R

Genre: Spy/Action/Comedy

Run Time: 129 minutes

Release Date: February 13, 2015

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Book Review: Hysteria

Before I really get into reviewing the book Hysteria by Megan Miranda, let me preface by saying that this was quite a page turner for me. Does this fact automatically mean that I enjoyed it as a book? Not exactly, I'll get into all that later in my review. But Miranda has a certain way of writing that really got me caught up in the "what's going to happen next?" of this book. I probably read Hysteria in only three or four days, tops, due to this.
Okay, so what is this book about? It's written from the first person perspective of Mallory, a high school student who has killed her boyfriend Brian. Mallory's parents decide to send her to a prep school called Monroe, where she meets several people who know the secrets that surround Brian's murder. This ultimately puts her in grave danger, as someone is out to get her. The events relating to Brian's murder are unknown to the reader at the beginning of the book, and gradually the pieces are put into place as the plot progresses.
So, I don't really know where to start with Hysteria. To begin I will highlight what I did really like about this book. First of all, as I stated above, the pacing was done very well and I couldn't seem to stop reading. At the end of each chapter, something else is introduced into the plot that you just can't close the book on. The plot was yet another strong point of this book, in my opinion. There was some unnecessary baggage attached to the main storyline of Hysteria, but the meat of the book directly involving Brian's murder was a really unique concept for a plot. A third aspect that I also really enjoyed about Hysteria was the way that the main character of Mallory was written. Also, the relationship between her and her mother, her best friend Colleen, and Reid were all well-developed and believable as well.
Okay, so now for what I did not like about Hysteria. First of all, I felt like some of the characters were very predictable and one-note. For as developed as the main characters in Hysteria were, some of the minor characters didn't fit well within the overall context of the plot. For me, this was specifically the characters of Jason, Krista, Taryn and Bree. The plot of this book was a really intriguing, unique one that I feel was hurt by having rather juvenile-acting characters like these in the story. Also, the romantic aspects of this book took away some from the plot for me. At times it worked, but occasionally the romantic interests of Mallory, the main character, didn't really help to bolster my interest in what was happening.
So overall, this is a good book. Although it certainly has its issues and in my opinion fell short of its potential, I really did enjoy it and I read it rather quickly. I would most likely recommend Hysteria to anyone who enjoys a good teenage mystery/thriller, but don't expect to be super scared. Even though the plot makes this book a page turner, it's not necessarily a blood curdling thriller that offers a lot of plot twists or hair raising surprises. What Hysteria does offer is a decent young adult mystery that is a good read if you've got a little extra time on your hands.
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: YA Mystery/Psychological Thriller

Pages: 326

Year Published: 2013

My Rating: ★★★☆☆