Eggsy joins a mission, in brutal and comedic fashion, to tackle a global threat from Richmond Valentine Samuel L. Jackson , a wealthy megalomaniac and eco-terrorist wanting to deal with climate change by wiping out most of humanity. Mark Strong and Michael Caine play supporting roles. The film received generally positive reviews from critics with praise for its stylised action sequences, direction, acting, antagonist, visual style, musical score and dark humour , although some scenes were criticised for being over-the-top.
In , Lee Unwin, a probationary secret agent, sacrifices himself in the Middle East to save his superior Harry Hart. Blaming himself for Lee's death, Harry returns to London and gives Lee's son Gary "Eggsy" Unwin a medal engraved with an emergency assistance number. Seventeen years later, Eggsy is a rebellious chav , having dropped out of training for the Royal Marines despite his cunning and athletic talent.
Harry explains that he is a member of Kingsman, a private intelligence service founded by the British elite, who lost their heirs in the First World War and put their money toward protecting the world. The organisation is named for the tailor shop in Savile Row used as a front for their operations.
Codenamed "Galahad", Harry nominates Eggsy to replace agent "Lancelot", who was killed by the assassin Gazelle while trying to rescue radical climate change scientist Prof. James Arnold from kidnappers. Kingsman's technical support operative "Merlin" discovers Arnold working as though nothing has happened. Hart attempts to interrogate Arnold at Imperial College London , but a microchip in Arnold's neck explodes, killing him and putting Harry in a coma.
The detonation signal is traced to Gazelle's employer Richmond Valentine, a billionaire philanthropist who has offered everyone in the world SIM cards with free cellular and Internet access. Hart, after recovering from his coma, poses as another philanthropist to meet Valentine. Eggsy befriends fellow Kingsman trainee Roxy, while the elite other boys make fun of him.
