Kingsman – a new kid on the block for British spy films

Matthew Vaughn's homage to British spy movies salutes the many that have come before

Colin Firth, Kingsman
(Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox)

Matthew Vaughn's new spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service, just released in UK cinemas, pays homage to the tradition of the very British spy, but with a twist.

The film is based on a comic book and directed by Vaughn, best known as the director of Kickass and producer of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It tells the story of a veteran agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth) who recruits a street kid Eggsy (Taron Eggerton) for a covert spy operation called the Kingsman, just as a new global threat to humanity emerges in the form of an evil software plutocrat played by Samuel L Jackson.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More