One of the most high-octane and over-the-top action movies of the 2010s is currently dominating on Hulu. Ian Fleming’s James Bond franchise might be going through a major facelift, but that hasn’t stopped it from influencing countless spy franchises. Matthew Vaughn released his interpretation of 007 in 2014, inspired by Mark Millar’s comic book series, The Secret Service. Daniel Craig’s James Bond might not go in for exploding pens and over-the-top gadgets, but Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service has all of that in spades, alongside one of the best one-shot fight scenes in modern cinema.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is currently streaming on Hulu, and subscribers are obsessed with the hit action movie. Kingsman is currently the eighth most popular film on the platform. Matthew Vaughn’s action-packed blockbuster introduced mainstream audiences to Taron Egerton as Eggsy, who is recruited into the super-secret spy organization, known as Kingsman, by Harry Hart (Colin Firth). Together, they must fight back against Richmond Valentine’s (Samuel L Jackson) plan to cull most of the population to save the planet.
Kingsman: The Secret Service was an instant hit when it opened in theaters in 2014. The film was well received by critics, holding a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences enjoyed the action-filled spy adventure even more, bestowing it with an 84% rating. Recent reviews from users of the site have labeled Kingsman as “relentless,” “explosive,” and having “all the classic spy movie elements and AMAZING visual fight scenes.” The film was also a strong box office hit, grossing over $415 million worldwide.
Will There Be Another ‘Kingsman’ Movie?
Kingsman‘s success at the box office enticed 20th Century Fox to take a risk on a sequel. Matthew Vaughn returned three years later for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. The film featured an even bigger cast, which included Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry, and Elton John (for some reason). However, the film suffered a lot of the typical sequel problems, including forgetting what fans loved about the first movie, and leaning too heavily into the wackier aspects of the franchise. The Golden Circle holds a very divisive RT score of 51%, with a slightly stronger audience rating of 64%. However, it still managed to pull strong box office numbers, grossing $410 million. This, again, enticed 20th Century Fox to greenlight another entry in the franchise, although the next one wasn’t a sequel.
In 2021, audiences were taken back in time to the founding of the Kingsman program, with the aptly titled The King’s Man. Despite having an all-star cast, including Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Harris Dickinson, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Daniel Brühl, and Rhys Ifans, the film flopped with critics. The King’s Man holds a measly 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Most surprisingly, given how action-packed the franchise was up to that point, The King’s Man‘s biggest problem is that most of its runtime was frustratingly boring. Grossing just $125 million worldwide, the prequel killed any chances of another entry in the franchise. At the time of writing, there appears to be no interest in a fourth Kingsman movie.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
