It is sheer drudgery to get through the first 15 minutes of this film (I can't be sure, it felt like hours). Only when Sam Rockwell appears does the film have any vitality or purpose. The best comparison would be the beginnings of Ishtar or Joe Versus the Volcano, where the audience is browbeaten by the setups that, respectively, two cabaret performers are horrible at their jobs, and Joe has a dreary, fluorescent-lit basement job. And we, the audience, are driven to share their despair. Here, the audience is presented, a la 'Romancing the Stone' (a much better film, btw), with a live action performance of a meek writer's story. And, as exaggerated as it is, it just goes on too way long, over-egging the CGI and VFX cakes, as it were.
The problem is, it's not entirely clear how much is meant to be serious and how much is legitimate parody of ridiculous action from The Kingsman series (obviously a Matthew Vaughn inside joke), or even 007. It's probably better than those examples, but not good enough be be a good movie unto itself. Even the outrageous set pieces in the final half hour are so baroque as to suggest parody, but yet still oddly wish for the audience to take them seriously. The movie is, to its credit, honestly self-aware of its frivolousness. But it is hopelessly predictable in the sense that it's timing of seemingly unexpected twists is so obviously precise, that there is never really any jeopardy attached. We know how it will end. (And who will be there at the end... no spoiler).
So, does Sam Rockwell salvage the project? Partly. I enjoyed enough of what he does onscreen that every other bit of wasted talent and trop-ish casting could be forgiven. And yes, he dances.
The problem is, it's not entirely clear how much is meant to be serious and how much is legitimate parody of ridiculous action from The Kingsman series (obviously a Matthew Vaughn inside joke), or even 007. It's probably better than those examples, but not good enough be be a good movie unto itself. Even the outrageous set pieces in the final half hour are so baroque as to suggest parody, but yet still oddly wish for the audience to take them seriously. The movie is, to its credit, honestly self-aware of its frivolousness. But it is hopelessly predictable in the sense that it's timing of seemingly unexpected twists is so obviously precise, that there is never really any jeopardy attached. We know how it will end. (And who will be there at the end... no spoiler).
So, does Sam Rockwell salvage the project? Partly. I enjoyed enough of what he does onscreen that every other bit of wasted talent and trop-ish casting could be forgiven. And yes, he dances.