Over President’s Weekend, I watched the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, directed by Matthew Vaughn.  It is about an adolescent boy, named Gary “Eggsy” Unwin, who is recruited to train to become a potential secret agent for the Kingsman organization. His involvement with the secret agency all began 17 years ago when his father, an agent, was killed during a mission. One of the fellow agents, Harry “Galagad” Hart, felt it necessary to deliver a medal of bravery to the family, and tells them if they ever need any help, they could call the number on the back of the medal and deliver a secret message. Once Eggsy is older, he begins to get into some trouble around the neighborhood and even is sent behind bars for stealing a car and taking it for a joyride.  Out of desperation, Eggsy calls the number on the medal and is immediately released without charges. Harry then explains to Eggsy what the secret organization is and Eggsy’s father’s involvement with it.  With another member recently killed, there is an open position that needs to be filled so Eggsy agrees to apply.  Along with the other recruits, Eggsy goes through a series of different tasks as a form of training.  After each task, one recruit is eliminated until there is only one left.  Eggsy and a girl named Roxy are the final two, but Eggsy is unable to complete the final task.
   

Meanwhile, the Kingsmen have been investigating billionaire tech genius, Richmond Valentine, who is connected to the disappearances of several famous people from around the world.  In disguise, Harry dines with Valentine and learns about Valentines’ views. Valentine believes humanity is akin to a virus, global warming is equivalent to a fever, and wants to do something before the virus kills the host.  Harry later discovers that Valentine is planning to broadcast a worldwide signal to cause everyone to become overly aggressive, so that the human population can be decreased dramatically.  After revealing his plan, Valentine kills Harry. 
   

Eggsy returns to the Kingsmen headquarters, and with the help of Roxy and Merlin, the training director, they plan to take down Valentine and stop the plan.  The three of them are able to successfully stop the plan and Eggsy becomes an official Kingsman.
   

This movie exceeded my expectations.  When I first saw the trailer, I thought the movie was aimed for a younger audience, but it was actually rated R.  It had a lot of underlying messages about politics and was a lot more violent than I expected.  I guess its not that surprising that I enjoyed the movie, given that it was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also directed X-Men: First Class and Kick Ass, which I also enjoyed. It perfectly combined the genres of movies that I enjoy.  I’m glad that I went against my initial thoughts of the movie and  decided to watch it. 
        

  The things I liked the most about this movie was that it combined comedy, action, and global policy.  It included some new ideas that I hadn’t really thought about before, such as how humans are like a virus to Earth.  The acting by Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson was very well done as well.  Samuel L. Jackson added a comedic accent by talking with a lisp.
      

 I would recommend everyone who enjoys action, comedy, and/or global political issues to watch this movie.  Director Vaughn did a great job creating a spy movie that was different from any other James Bond movie or Jason Bourne movie.  This movie adds more humor than the other films I just listed to cover up some of the messages about politics, but in a way that worked.  This movie is currently in theaters, so you can still go and watch it.