Matthew Vaughn’s latest film Kingsman: The Secret Service is attempting to capitalize on the massive popularity of films within the secret-agent genre over the past several decades, but the director assures viewers that his R-rated film “isn’t your ordinary spy tale.” Unlike classic serious spy films such as The Bourne Identity and the James Bond series, or spoof spy films such as the Austin Powers franchise, Kingsman attempts to “walk the 2,000 foot high tightrope” that is finding the balance between hardcore and humorous.

Kingsman is based on the Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons comic book The Secret Service, which revolves around a covert international group of gentlemen that acts outside of any government control. It stars Colin Firth as longtime agent Harry Hart, newcomer Taron Egerton as the spy-in-training Eggsy Unwin, and Samuel L. Jackson as Valentine, the spy film staple villainous billionaire whose desire to save the world from itself leads to him wanting to eliminate a significant portion of the population.

When Vaughn and Millar were trying to figure out how to properly adapt the comic to the big screen, Vaughn said that they revisited their youth and used their childhood imaginations to “find the sweet spot for each scene.”

“You’d play these roles and you’d imagine that your pen did something special at school or your pencil case could blow up the teacher. Your imagination with spies went bananas,” said Vaughn, who admitted that the walking the line between serious and ridiculous in the film was like “walking a tightrope 2,000 feet up knowing that one step, you’re off.”

While he doesn’t think that the film takes too much from iconic spy films of the past, the 43-year-old director still calls the film “a post-modern love letter to all the spy films” he grew up on. Vaughn also managed to include a tribute to his mother, who died during the making of Kingsman, in the film by having Firth’s central character frequently try to instill the lesson, “Manners maketh man.”

“My mother drilled me all day long about being polite, manners, how to eat — all this stuff, which at the time I was like, ‘This is (stupid). This will never ever help me or benefit me,’ ” said Vaughn. “I remember when I was writing the screenplay laughing, thinking all those years of being told off is paying off.”

Vaughn proved his ability to successfully turn a Mark Millar comic book into an R-rated action film in 2010’s Kick-Ass, which debuted at No. 1 in the box office during its opening weekend and took in $19.8 million. Kingsman: The Secret Service releases in theaters this Friday, Feb. 12.