Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Title:                                 Kingsman: The Secret
                                          Service (15)
Release Date (UK):          29th January 2015
Director:                           Matthew Vaughn 
Starring:                           Colin Firth, Taron 
                                          Egerton, Michael Caine
Duration time:                  129 minutes

Synopsis
Gary "Eggsy" Urwin (Taron Egerton) hasn't had the best upbringing. He lives on a rundown council estate with his mother, her abusive boyfriend and his younger sister. After a bad decision results in him being jailed, he is offered the opportunity by Harry Hart (Colin Firth) to change his life around and to train as a replacement agent for recently murdered agent Lancelot. 







My Review
This has been, hands down, the best film I have seen in a long time. Such a fantastic watch, and such a fantastic debut for Taron Egerton.

Now - any film starring Colin Firth is a must see for me and I can wholeheartedly say that he did not disappoint in this film. He was brilliant, as was everything else about this movie. Taron Egerton did a fantastic job in the role of Eggsy and I loved his portrayal of a character who hasn't had the best upbringing but also won't let that affect who he is as a person. I absolutely loved the mentor/student chemistry that Egerton and Firth displayed and I also loved the chemistry between villain Richmond Valentine (Samuel L Jackson) and his assistant Gazelle (Sofia Boutella). 

I absolutely love spy films as I find them totally mind-blowing and this was no different. I thought the plot and the characters were very unpredictable and I loved the comedy aspects of this film - I found myself hysterically laughing every few minutes (also loved the reference to the students of St Andrews, haha!). 

I think what made this film different to any other was the diversity. Sophie Cookson plays the part of Roxy, the lucky candidate who ends up replacing Lancelot after competing in the final two against Eggsy. Kingsman has never had a successful female candidate and although she does come from a traditional background unlike Eggsy, I think it's great that there was some female power even though there weren't many female characters. I also liked the message behind this film that was that you shouldn't let your background or your upbringing determine who you are as a person, just like Eggsy didn't. 

The only thing I didn't like about this film was the violence as I don't do violence but this is probably just a personal thing and violence was to be expected with the rating and genre of the film.

Overall, I'd rate this film a 4.5/5.

Chloe x

Cyberbully (2015)

Title:                            Cyberbully            

Release Date:             15th January 2015 (Channel 4)

Director:                      Ben Chanan

Starring:                      Maisie Williams

Duration Time:            Approximately 1 hour

Synopsis

The Channel 4 thriller "Cyberbully" which aired in the UK on 15th January 2015 was designed to make internet users - mainly teenagers - think about their actions online. The TV film tells the story of a girl named Casey Jacobs (Maisie Williams) whose life is essentially tracked online and quite literally, through her webcam. The film starts when a very personal tweet about Casey is posted from the account of her ex boyfriend, Nathan. Her best friend Megan suggests that Casey gets revenge on Nathan by hacking his Twitter account with the help of a guy named Alex. Little do we know, Alex turns out to be another hacker who appears to be keeping tabs on Casey's life through the use of the internet. He has access to everything - the topless photos she sent to Nathan when they were together, evidence of her harassing former fellow school pupil, Jennifer Li, and videos she made in which harsh comments are made about other people. He begins to speak to her under Alex's name, and threatens to release the topless photos unless she does as he says. While Casey is being tortured by the secret hacker, he really just wants to teach her a lesson. He claims to help other victims of cyberbullying by reaching out to the bullies and teaching them that this is not okay. Casey doesn't understand this as she believes she is being bullied too by this guy, and this provokes some serious thinking from the audience - is Casey the cyberbully or the victim of cyberbullying? Casey tries to deal with the hacker on her own, by trying to negotiate in order to stop her topless photos and videos being released.

My Review
This film proved to be a real eye opener for me. It's target audience seemed to be teenagers - of which I am - and I really think it provided an insight into just how dangerous the internet can be. If any TV film is to be shown in schools to give warning to teenagers, it surely has to be this one. While parts of it were creepy, and one part was supposed to be a jump scare (I did not find it all that scary, to be honest) I think teenagers of all ages could learn an important lesson.

I have not watched "Game of Thrones" (I know, what a crime!) and hadn't seen her in any other role prior to this but I have just checked her IMDB page and there is no way she is 17?! I'm 17 and that puts a lot of things into perspective. I often find myself cringing at the acting in these kinds of TV films but I thought Maisie's acting was insane. She carried the one hour weight of the film on her shoulders and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It wasn't predictable at all, and I honestly had no idea about what was coming around the corner. 

"Cyberbully" did give me chills and did terrify me - the thought that someone could hack into any computer that easily does frighten me. I am so carefree on the internet, I mean, I'm hiding behind a computer screen so how could anyone possibly know it's me? I think that's the attitude that many people have but this film proved me wrong. 

I think the message at the very end of the film was very powerful. Casey eventually, after talking to the hacker for the duration of the film which takes place in real time, decides to stop speaking to him. She closes her computer down and the bully becomes nothing. This is a message that I think will help everyone being bullied in today's society - if you stop talking to bullies, they lose all their power and essentially become nothing. 

Overall, I rate this film 5/5. Excellent acting and a brilliant example of a situation that many people experience online nowadays!

Chloe x