Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn. It is the first instalment in the Kingsman film series and is also based on the comic book series of the same name, written by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, published by Millarworld and based on concept by Millar and Vaughn. The film follows Gary "Eggsy" Unwin's (Taron Egerton) recruitment by Harry Hart (Colin Firth) into Kingsman, a secret spy organisation. Eggsy joins a mission, in brutal and comedic fashion, to tackle a global threat from Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a wealthy megalomaniac and eco-terrorist wanting to deal with climate change by wiping out most of humanity. Mark Strong and Michael Caine play supporting roles. Kingsman: The Secret Service premiered at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon festival on 13 December 2014, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2015 and United States on 13 February 2015, by 20th Century Fox. The film received generally positive reviews from critics with praise for its stylised action sequences, direction, acting, antagonist, visual style, musical score and dark humour, although some scenes were criticised for being over-the-top. The film grossed over $414 million worldwide, becoming Vaughn's most commercially successful film to date. In 2015, the film won the Empire Award for Best British Film. A sequel titled Kingsman: The Golden Circle was released in September 2017, while a prequel titled The King's Man was theatrically released on 22 December 2021.