Ever wondered what would happen if James Bond was let off the leash (and I’m not talking about the ‘darker’ version seen in the recent films)? Kingsman, the spy movie from Matthew Vaughn, could be seen as homage to the classic Bond films as it has the cheesy clichés such as the gadgets, the suits and the typical Bond bedding the woman at the end of the film.

That’s where the clichés more or less end as Kingsman is full of gory scenes similar to Kick Ass, humour last seen in Austin Powers and British slang straight out of Green Street.

The story follows Eggsy played by Taron Egerton, a teenager from the apartment blocks of London, who finds himself on the wrong side of the law after a joyride goes awry. Luckily he has a medal with a super secret number to call if he ever gets in trouble, which results in Harry Hart (Colin Firth) turning up to get him release and offer him the chance to be something else. Queue badass scene where a guy in a suit shows up some punks and convinces Eggsy to sign up to Kingsman.

The next hour or so is your typical training montage as we see Eggsy gain the skills to be a spy and compete for the single spot available against the other Oxford educated posh mugs.

At the same time, Harry Hart is investigating Valentine, a tech billionaire played by Samuel L Jackson who has found that saving the world has become a frugal task which must be handled in a whole different way.

Kingsman contains some great one-liners, comical scenes and action set pieces all bundled into one which makes this movie a fun and slick session, that I would say breathes new life into the spy genre. After seeing a lot of films reboot themselves as dark and gritty, Kingsman is witty with over the top violence that does what movies were intended to do – take the question ‘What If…’ and blow it wide open with some crazy imagination – rather than being so realistic it’s boring.