I'm not certain how many of you watched the Democratic Presidential Nominee debate last night but it was very interesting and insightful. And while that was going on, President Vladimir Putin of Russia was and still is assisting President Assad remain in power in Syria by providing significant military aid. I was watching some WWII documentaries and noticed some parallels between Hitler and Putin in regards to their political machinations in conjunction with using armed forces as a negotiating tool. For Putin, Crimea was Hitler's Austria, Eastern Ukraine is becoming Hitler's Czechoslovakia, and Putin's aid to Assad is similar to Hitler's assistance to Franco in Spain's civil war. So my question and everyone else's question should be, what is going to be the move Putin does that is similar to Hitler's invasion of Poland, which is essentially what started WWII. Something for everyone to mull over as history does tend to repeat itself since as we can see people do not learn from past mistakes of themselves and others. So I recently watched a big blockbuster film from last year, Kingsman: The Secret Service. When it initially was released I thought it looked rather dreadful and ridiculous, but I was very wrong. The film was funny, witty, and had a fresh new take on the spy genre which is so often dominated by James Bond types. The film follows a secret group of elite men and women who fight in the shadows to protect the world from maniacal tyrants and terrorists. One man believes that in order to solve climate change a majority of the human population needs to be killed, and thus he begins his crusade to save the planet....even though he is personally averse to violence and blood. One of the main spies played by Colin Firth takes a young man under his wing, who is not of high status, and teaches him not only the ways of spy life, but also what makes a man and more specifically a gentleman. Colin Firth as Harry, was brilliant as he is already a remarkably talented actor. Not only could he pull off the spy routine, but he added a good amount of depth as well through what I would call as ordinary moments. Eggsy, the main character, was a surprise for me. I half expected some idiotic punk, but Taron Egerton pulled off the role quite splendidly, and his character did have some depth to it as well (for as much as a spy, action thriller can have I suppose). It was a great, fresh take on the James Bond type. Samuel Jackson was a fun villain as Valentine; that's all I can say, and I think that's all that needs to be said. Then of course there were roles by Mark Strong, Michael Caine, and Jack Davenport, and even though they were static characters they did phenomenal jobs. Mark Hamill had a fun little cameo as well. The main attraction of this film that director Mathew Vaughn forged was the action, and at times very stylistic action especially towards the end. I wouldn't necessarily say that it was mind blowing, but it was very violent which is unusual for a spy film, but I thought it was a nice touch. The story and characters were interesting, and my attention was held throughout the entire film. The screenplay was also written quite well too, and the cinematography was well done. It was a very enjoyable and fun film, and something worth watching again and recommending as well.
Kingsman clip
Kingsman interview
Rebels season 2 trailer
