KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE [2014]

Director Matt Vaughn returns to his pip-pip roots with the highly entertaining action/comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service, loosely based on Mark Millar & Dave Gibbon's comic book series of the same name.
It's the tale of a young council estate delinquent who is recruited by his mysterious upper-class uncle for a British spy organization that goes against an American eco-terrorist.  Vaughn calls back his crude, comic book ultra-violence of Kick-Ass and meshes it with his wide-eyed coming-of-age wonder of X-men: First Class then stuffs it with a suave snarkiness that's both satirical and dedicated to the '60's British spy films it's taking the piss out of.  It's pretty uneven at times but it hardly deters from the bat-shit crazy fun that's to be had especially with Colin Firth & Michael Caine having a ball doing what they do best, while Sammy Jackson is an absolute hoot as the super villain with a lisp.

3½ James Bonds, Jason Bournes & Jack Bauers out of 5

Layer Cake (2004)

A successful drug dealer who likes to keep the lowest of profiles gets an order from his boss to do a dumbass task, one that will put him squarely on the radar of the kinds of people he hates. It's a British crime drama with too much unnecessary plot that leads to a pointless ending, but the journey to get there is fun. Michael Gambon is fantastic and it's the only time I've ever enjoyed watching Daniel Craig act.

3 make hay while the sun shines out of 5

Kick-Ass (2010)

A regular guy tries to emulate his comic book heroes in the real world; will he stop the bad guy and get the girl or get his ass dusted? It’s hard to care, really.
Chloë Moretz makes it worth watching and Nic Cage channelling his inner Adam West era Batman gives him his best role in over a decade.
It’s a film that’ll appeal to the summer blockbuster fan who likes chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, but check the ingredients and you’ll find that it’s just a chocolate flavoured coating masking a cheap marshmallow.

2½ batons to the balls out of 5

X-men: First Class [2011]

Matthew Vaughn crafts a highly entertaining little comic book tale with the latest installment of the hit & miss X-men movie franchise.
It's a hammy spectacle edging closer to Raimi's comic book style rather than the style Bryan Singer established with the original X film. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender turn in some great performances but not good enough to make us forget Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen.
Vaughn does manage to fit in enough style from the '60's but never really enough to make it feel outdated. A lot of dialogue is forced and silly as is the music which is quite distracting when heavy Limp Bizkit style rock music kicks in, in what should be a movie taking place in the '60's.
Not a film to write home about but still a fun time out and by far my favorite since the first X film.

3 Leland Palmers? out of 5