Putting the pugnacious into Pygmalion, Kingsman arrives to save the day.

Egerton is terrific throughout his “My Fair Lad” transformation from street kid to superspy through a lethal training programme. As his mentor, Firth retains his gentlemanly persona whilst bringing out his secret wild side with applaudable aplomb.

Slick camerawork, stylish editing, and superbly choreographed setpiece-driven action keep Kingsman moving in a fresh direction, combining seat-edge excitement and riotous humour.

This is a spy movie with an extra helping of balls and a side of ultraviolence. You haven’t seen anything like this before, Mr Bond.

Bold, brash and bonkers: Vaughn’s best work yet grabs you by the lapels and never lets up. Firth and Egerton give this endlessly inventive take on the spy genre a knockout one-two punch.

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine, Mark Strong, Sofia Boutella

DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn

WRITER: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn (screenplay), Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons (comic book)

SYNOPSIS: A veteran secret agent takes a young upstart under his wing through the agency’s ultra-competitive training programme just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

We greatly appreciate that a preview screening to this film was provided by FDA Multimedia and 20th Century Fox.