Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

IMDb plot summary: A spy organization recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Caine.

I'm torn here. There are parts of this that are really super duper fun -- it's silly, the gadgets are super fun, Colin Firth is delightfully dry, Samuel L. Jackson is delightfully ridiculous -- but it's also ramping up some really unpleasant stuff. Like I'm not a huge fan of not one, but two, horrifying mass murder scenes filmed like exciting action sequences and set to rock anthems. That's a bit much, even for me. I'm not a huge fan of so obviously granting our hero a random woman as a reward at the end. I'm not a huge fan of how the Kingsmen make such a big deal about not taking a life but they want to recruit someone who'd be 100% willing to shoot an innocent dog, no questions asked (does this not seem like the exact kind of person you wouldn't want?). It's kind of like going on an awesome date with a cool, funny, good-looking person who every so often just kicks you in the shins. After a couple of kicks you start thinking, "Hmm. Maybe this date isn't going so well after all." I think I can ignore the shin-kicking enough to remember our time together fondly, but not enough to want to get together again.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Kingsman: The Secret Service > Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Kingsman: The Secret Service < Say Anything...
Kingsman: The Secret Service > Men in Black
Kingsman: The Secret Service > Source Code
Kingsman: The Secret Service < Watchmen
Kingsman: The Secret Service > Blazing Saddles
Kingsman: The Secret Service < An Education
Kingsman: The Secret Service < Army of Darkness
Kingsman: The Secret Service < Queen of Katwe
Kingsman: The Secret Service < 2012
Kingsman: The Secret Service > The Nice Guys

Final spot: #818 out of 2763. That seems a bit high, but we'll let it sit for now.