Kingsman: The Secret Service

Much as he did with Kickass and X-Men: First Class, writer-director Matthew Vaughn attempts to cram his gleefully sociopathic sensibility into the shape of a genre blockbuster in the entertaining mixed bag Kingsman: The Secret Service. The result is a highly watchable and often disturbingly tone-deaf spy spoof, a film that is deliriously over-the-top and yet not quite fun. At least Colin Firth has some fun sending up his own British upper-crustiness as Harry Hart, a.k.a Galahad, a loyal and extremely well-kempt superspy in a top-secret organization of wealthy tailors (don't ask). When the time comes to bring a new member on to the team, Harry recruits troubled teen Eggsy (likeable newcomer Taron Egerton) into the competition, which coincides with a plot by Samuel L. Jackson's lisping evil genius to wipe out the human race. It's juvenile, but there are enough exploding heads to hold your attention. D.B.