Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Most people think so. 83% of audiences gave it a thumbs up, by Google's archived audience score. Critics gave it 68%.

The story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius. Wikipedia ↗

Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2015 British-American spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn, based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The film follows Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a talented but directionless young man from a London council estate played by Taron Egerton, who is recruited by Harry Hart, a suave secret agent codenamed Galahad played by Colin Firth, into the Kingsman — an independent, international intelligence agency operating at the highest levels of secrecy. As Eggsy undergoes a grueling selection process to become a Kingsman agent, the organization uncovers a global threat orchestrated by tech billionaire Richmond Valentine, played by Samuel L.

Jackson with a deliberate lisp, who plans to solve overpopulation through mass genocide triggered by SIM cards that induce uncontrollable violence. Kingsman was a deliberate subversion and celebration of classic British spy films, combining the elegant style and gadgetry of early James Bond with the irreverent violence and class commentary of Matthew Vaughn's earlier work on Kick-Ass. The church fight sequence, in which Colin Firth's character battles an entire congregation in a single extended take, became one of the most talked-about action scenes of 2015 and was praised for its innovative choreography.

The film earned $414 million worldwide on a $94 million budget and transformed Taron Egerton into an international star. Colin Firth's unexpected credibility as an action hero surprised audiences who associated him primarily with period dramas and romantic comedies.