Move over James Bond.

Rating: 9/10 (19 October 2015)

When London oik Eggsy (Taron Egerton) winds up in serious trouble with the law, he calls the number on the medal given to him as a child by his dead father's old colleague Harry Hart (Colin Firth). As a result, he finds all charges dropped, and himself enrolled in the training program for elite spy agency The Kingsmen. Meanwhile, supposed philanthropist billionaire Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) is planning to take care of the world's ecological problems by severely thinning out the human population.
Unless Spectre (out next week) heralds a major turnaround for the Bond franchise (which I somehow doubt: the awful theme song already has me concerned), Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman will remain as my favourite British spy movie since License to Kill. It's got suave heroes, unbelievable stunt-laden action, natty high-tech gadgets, a megalomaniacal villain with a cool mountain-top lair, a deadly henchwoman with an unusual pair of weapons, and oodles of extreme violence, all delivered at a cracking pace with stunning visual effects by Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn. It also features the best use of Lynyrd Skynrd's Freebird in a movie since The Devil's Rejects (during an incredible fight sequence in a church). A well deserved 9/10.