Kingsman: The Secret Service - B-

Rated R, 129 minutes
Wes's Grade: B-

Charming, energetic "Kingsman" is glad to have Firth as its lead spy

"Kingsman: The Secret Service" is a charming, peppy spy action comedy film that effectively blends James Bond and the MTV set and is fast-paced, often terrific fun, even if it's also overlong and predictable. Guys, put this on your list to see, either alone or after you're fifty shades of blue in the face after seeing that movie with your certain someone. The movie tells the story of a veteran secret agent (Colin Firth) in a top-secret British organization known as the Kingsman, who leads a young protégé (Taron Egerton) into the world of espionage and leading the charge against a technology tycoon (Samuel L. Jackson) who promises to change the world, and not in a good way. "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is directed and co-written by Matthew Vaughn ("Kick-Ass" and "X Men: First Class") and is loosely based on a comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, should be at least a modest hit whether or not you fit into the fanboy crowd. The cast and some enjoyable action set pieces will keep you engaged throughout, which is nice considering this is an original film, though some of it's flawed. The talented cast, particularly Firth and newcomer Egerton, a British TV actor, are most memorable and sharing some nice spy teacher-student moments, and Oscar-winner Michael Caine and character actor Mark Strong deliver memorable supporting turns. Then there's Jackson, he's good but a casting choice that doesn't really work here: if you've seen the trailers you know by now he's the villain and has a distracting lisp, which is an unexplained and unfunny joke (at a recent screening, you could hear unintentional laughs each time he spoke) that is mostly just an annoyance. As for the plot, it's preposterous and entertaining and lacks the complexity of a Bond or le Carre; as fun as they are, the movie spends too much of the first act in the training sequences, rather than delving into what could've been an interesting backstory (and explaining that annoying lisp) of Jackson and his assistant Gazelle (the lovely Sofia Boutella), who is admittedly cool with her bionic steel legs she won't hesitate to cut you with. In addition, the climax goes on about 10 minutes too long, filled with some redundancies (lots of blood and bullets) and a few calculated plot twists. Even with its flaws, the winning "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is a serviceable action spy movie that works because of the charm of Firth, who's dashing as ever and can maneuver a special umbrella quite effectively, along with some of the busy special effects, blood (there's quite a bit for a spy film, hence the R rating) and gadgets that fill the movie and will certainly please the guys, who'll see this film sometime after Valentine's Day and the fifty shades of whatever finally dies down.