Kingsman The Secret Service was a brilliant film based on a comic by Mark Millar that showed a different take on the spy genre. It both brought back the feeling of the original James Bond films that has been lacking in recent entries, and yet managed to set itself apart in a meaningful way. The film deserved the praise it got, but one scene in particular stood out above all others. That scene is the church scene. I had intended to write this piece some time ago, but after real life events occurred in the USA, I delayed this until now.
The church scene in Kingsman is an example of perfection in cinema. Every part flows beautifully into the next and has the perfect start and conclusion. The slow start begins with Harry walking away from the church goers, until Valentine’s device is activated. The music kicks in slowly and builds up along with the intensity of the device is increased by Valentine. The choice of using Lynrd Skynrd’s song Freebird is an inspired one as it fits perfectly. The intensity of the scene reaches its breaking point with when the song’s vocals start and the action begins.
The action itself is wonderfully choreographed and has been referenced in other shows films and tv shows like family guy and so on. It stands out as both an amazing work of action, but also a deconstruction of said action scenes,. Harry is an unstoppable killing machine in this scene, but he is going up against people who are not and are being forced into their actions. His allies ( and enemies) are genuinely surprised by what is going on, and the other kingsmen are desperately trying to get through to him. It is when the scene ends and the music stops though, that the brilliance is seen.
The scene doesn’t end with a one liner, and Gallahad walking away. Instead he is horrified by what he was forced to do, as are his allies who cannot even speak due to their shock. As he looks around, he sees people who were going to church, and even if they were fundamentalists, this wasn’t deserved. Harry was essentially mind raped into committing mass murder and is realistically horrified when he comes to.
There is no sugar coating what was done. For all the film did to set itself apart, this was the best example. We see the realistic results of Harry’s actions and the impact it had on him. From start to finish, the scene had everything set up perfectly. It is an example of the best of cinema today.