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Violent and comic 'Kingsman' an edgy 007 parody

The joyously silly and ultraviolent black comedy "Kingsman: The Secret Service" captures the spirit of 1960s Cold War spy movies, even with its horrific Kentucky church massacre scene.

More about that in a moment.

Imagine "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" directed as a hard R-rated spy spoof with its tongue shoved so far into its cheek that it explodes. That's "Kingsman."

Light James Bond knock-offs have been around for five decades ("Our Man Flint" being the best, "The Last of the Secret Agents" being the worst), but none has been constructed with the visual bash and panache of "Kingsman" director Matthew Vaughn.

Working from a surprisingly straightforward and pop culture smart screenplay by Jane Goldman and himself (based on 2012's "The Secret Service" comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons), Vaughn directs a visually explosive 007 parody with prerequisite trimmings: superbly tailored suits, diabolically devised weapons, megalomaniac ubervillains, super-nasty henchwomen and spies with excellent taste in wine and spirits.

An added bonus: a classic mentor/protégé subplot between suave Kingsman agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and a working-class screw-up named Eggsy Unwin (impressive newcomer Taron Egerton).

Unwin's dad used to be a Kingsman, part of a group of British independent agents named after the Knights of the Round Table, and who owe no allegiances to governments.

When Unwin's father dies protecting his fellow agents, Harry gives little Eggsy a token and phone number to call if he ever needs help.

Seventeen years later, an adult Eggsy needs help. His mum has fallen in with an abusive and creepy boyfriend who leads a band of modern-day Droogies. Eggsy has landed in jail. He makes the call that changes his life.

Harry whisks the troubled young man into a secret world with its secret London subway system, secret mansion headquarters and floors of secret weapons below, all headed by Michael Caine's Arthur.

Only one of several candidates will be accepted as a Kingsman (two are women), so Eggsy goes through a harrowing training course under agent Merlin (Mark Strong).

The following conventional training segment marks the weakest part of Vaughn's feature, but things pick up quickly as Samuel L. Jackson's gleefully murderous, jillionaire tech genius Richmond Valentine plots to take over the planet.

He gives away millions of free phones, pads, laptops and other devices programmed with a signal capable of turning unsuspecting, regular people into homicidal maniacs.

Valentine's weapons test turns out to be the movie's most disturbing and unabashedly brutal segment as members of the hatemongering congregation at Kentucky's South Glade Mission Church turn savagely against each other with horrifying zeal.

A visiting Harry Hart also falls under the influence and participates in a hyperbolic, stylized massacre shot, edited and produced like "Matrix" fight scenes restaged by action guru Guy Ritchie.

This visceral centerpiece announces Vaughn's rebellion against Hollywood's obsessive reliance on the financially safe PG-13 rating.

Vaughn finds the proper mix of violence and comedy in several fiercely choreographed fight sequences, the best involving Valentine's henchwoman Gazelle, played by Algerian dancer Sofia Boutella as an acrobatic assassin whose legs have been replaced by spring-loaded, swordlike powerbocks, making her the most lethal, over-the-top spy movie henchperson since Harold Sakata's Oddjob in "Goldfinger."

"Kingsman" hardly qualifies as a vehicle for actors, but Firth proves he has a license to thrill as Harry Hart, a walking spy reference book armed with a bulletproof umbrella (from John Steed's "Avengers"?) horn rim glasses (from Michael Caine's "The Ipcress File"?) and a poison-tip shoe knife (from Sean Connery's "From Russia With Love"?).

Watch for up-and-coming actor Taron Egerton, too. His cool transformation from street kid to Kingsman agent (just like "My Fair Lady," he observes) marks a major highlight in the movie, one that could very well end like the 1960s 007 screen crawl: "Eggsy Unwin will return in 'Kingsman 2.'"

Harry (Colin Firth), an impeccably suave spy, helps Eggsy (Taron Egerton) up his game in the violent comedy “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”

“Kingsman: The Secret Service”

★ ★ ★

Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Taron Egerton, Sofia Boutella, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn

Other: A 20th Century Fox release. Rated R for language, nudity, sexual situations, graphic violence. 100 minutes

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