The elders speak of a time before every movie was a comic book adaptation, but most laugh it off as hearsay and buffoonery.

To its credit, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” ditches the superhero fare we’re all used to by now in favor of stylish, James Bond-esque spy action. However, even if it is executed fairly well, there’s nothing new or refreshing about it.

Basically, it’s “Harry Potter,” except the kids at the secret academy are learning to be Agent 007, instead of wizards. Tonally, it’s more Roger Moore than Daniel Craig, with nonsensical spy gadgets all over the place.

“Kingsman” isn’t lacking in star power, either, with Colin Firth, Michael Caine and Mark Strong rounding out the spy academy’s faculty. Samuel L. Jackson affects a lisp he can barely contain as the villainous and excellently named Richmond Valentine, whose master plan is as convoluted and silly as you’d expect.

Our protagonist is a delinquent-turned-spy played by Taron Egerton, who looks the part well enough and gives an adequate (if not noteworthy) performance.

He’s the kind of kid who opts out of a pub fight only to steal his rival’s car and do doughnuts in the street, which instantly made him endearing to me.

The whole thing has an in-your-face, too-cool-for-school attitude that we’ve seen with other comic adaptations such as “Kick-Ass,” though it’s quite a bit more restrained in edginess than that movie.

The action scenes are extremely entertaining, with some flashy editing and cinematography giving them an identity. Undeniably the best part of “Kingsman” is when Firth’s character singlehandedly takes on every member of the film’s stand-in for the Westboro Baptist Church.

Oh, and the part when a bunch of snobby rich people’s heads explode is pretty great, too.

Unfortunately, while “Kingsman” is quite a bit less misogynistic than those old Bond films, it still misses the mark on its treatment of women.

Spoiler alert: Even though a girl is ultimately chosen to be the newest member of the spy academy, she takes a backseat in the action as the plot justifies the male protagonist doing all the cool spy stuff. Not to mention the immature sex-as-a-prize-for-heroism thing it randomly does at the end.

“Kingsman” is wonderfully fun popcorn-action with a decent premise, but it has a few too many shortcomings for me to recommend anyone run to the theater to see it.