Director Matthew Vaughn delivers another crazy, out of this world, action-packed film in the Kingsman franchise. Actors reprising their roles from the first film include Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Edward Holcroft, and Sophie Cookson. They are joined by newcomers: Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Elton John, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal and Jeff Bridges. Kingsman: The Golden Circle takes the Kingsman agents to the United States to join forces with Statesman after a ruthless crime syndicate known as “The Golden Circle” destroys the Kingsman’s headquarters. This film really starts off with a bang! With the first scene, Matthew Vaughn treats us with a car chase worthy of The Fast and the Furious franchise. The music is loud and crazy and fully conveys what is going on before the viewer’s eyes. The film maintains pretty quick pacing for the rest of the story. After meeting our villain, the viewers are led into the thick of the plot with the heroes journeying to the United States. Taron Egerton brings back all of Eggsy’s pizzazz from Kingsman: The Secret Service while also showing us that he is more mature and professional. Showing Eggsy’s character growth is a great choice by Vaughn because this rarely happens with characters in action franchises. The same goes for Mark Strong; we see a more emotional side of Merlin this go-around. Edward Holcroft, as Charlie Hesketh, is front and center during both the trailers, but I didn’t even recognize him. He plays the role of Poppy’s henchman well. It’s great that Vaughn is keeping with the mechanical appendage theme: Gazelle had her legs in the first film and Charlie has his “Winter Soldier” arm. The introduction of Statesman is hilarious and fun. Over the top, as always, Channing Tatum does a great job as Agent Tequila. He has a delightful Southern charm as well as a bad boy personality. The other Agents, Ginger Ale (Berry), Champagne “Champ” (Bridges), and Whiskey (Pascal), are also entertaining on screen. Of the Statesman, Agent Whiskey gets the most screen-time, and boy does he deliver. He is better than Indiana Jones with the whip and more versatile than Wonder Woman with the lasso. Speaking of which, Statesman has some cool weapons and technology. Everything was über American and fit perfectly with the Statesman theme. Their technology is actually how we get to have Colin Firth back as Harry Hart. I won’t spoil how it is accomplished, but it fits right into the craziness of this film and is explained very well. This film does come with a few negatives though. Julianne Moore is interesting as the main villain, Poppy, but she is never really a threat. Her plan is as silly and deadly as Richmond Valentine’s, however, Moore doesn’t command the screen in this film like Samuel L. Jackson did in the previous one. While Statesman is a great introduction to the series, we barely get time with the other agents. Channing Tatum is on all the marketing for the film, but his role is basically an extended cameo. I felt we should have had more time with them and less with Harry. Lastly, Vaughn makes some questionable choices with a few characters, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I give Kingsman: The Golden Circle a Decent 8.3/10. This is an insanely over-the-top thrill ride from start to finish, but it doesn’t grasp the same magic as the original. Hopefully, Vaughn can recapture it in the third installment.
[…] sequels that he creates in his original films. That being said, The King’s Man is a step up from Kingsman: The Golden Circle but is nowhere near as good as Kingsman: The Secret Service. While there are many great scenes in […]