kingsman the golden circle movie review

Film Review: ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’

Eggsy returns — and so do a couple characters you thought were dead — in this over-the-top, aggressively stylized comic-book spy sequel.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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As if the original “Kingsman” weren’t cartoony enough, with its blade-legged lady assassin and gratuitous exploding-heads finale, the sequel has gone and pushed the franchise’s cheeky brand of absurdity even farther. The goofiness begins with the resurrection of two important characters, whose unequivocal deaths we witnessed in the first movie. First, there’s Charlie, a rival secret-service recruit played by Edward Holcroft, who lost his head in that notorious fireworks montage, now back with a bionic arm and a new boss (more on that in a minute). And then there’s Colin Firth ’s character, impeccably dressed spy-master Harry Hart, who took a point-blank bullet to the eye — and here lives to tell about it.

Firth was the second-best thing about the 2015 scally-spy movie, a super-stylized surprise hit from “Kick-Ass” director Matthew Vaughn that racked up a cool $414 million worldwide, and Harry Hart’s death was a loss. But his return is a cheat, and it basically erases any sense of peril in “ Kingsman: The Golden Circle ,” which begins with a demented new villain named Poppy (Julianne Moore, all smiles) blowing up all but two of the old Kingsman clan.

Are they really dead? Well, the geo-targeted missiles certainly look accurate, but if Harry Hart can walk away from a fatal head wound — and if Charlie can survive losing his head altogether — don’t be surprised to see any or all of them resurface in a sequel. Later, when a major character blows himself up in their honor, not only does that gesture seem like a waste (you want to tell him to wait, since Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman will surely find a way to bring them back, especially right-hand woman Roxy), but it also raises the question of whether he’s really gone.

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Basically, Vaughn is playing with gravity here: When you change the fundamental rules of action-movie storytelling as radically as the “Kingsman” series does, then these adventures may as well be taking place on the moon, where a normal human can jump tall buildings. It blurs the stakes and makes it impossible to know what, if anything, the risks of operating in such an otherwise-lethal world are.

Same goes for Harry’s “retrograde amnesia”: He may not be dead, but he’s forgotten who he is, remembering only his youthful ambition to be a lepidopterist (or butterfly collector). Now his minders — Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges and Channing Tatum, cashing paychecks to play members of Kingsman’s yankee counterpart, Statesman — need to recreate a past shock or trauma to “reboot” his brain. Did the movie need to kill off nearly everyone (except Mark Strong’s Merlin, who’s still there to provide tactical support) simply to introduce Statesman, which operates behind the cover of a successful whiskey brand, as opposed to Kingsman’s posh Saville Row suit shop (the costumes are tip-top, as always).

So, if Harry’s the second-best thing about “Kingsman,” what’s the first, you ask? Well, that would be Eggsy himself, as played by model-handsome Welsh actor Taron Egerton , whose jawline is so sharp you could practically chop wood with it. He’s not terribly convincing as an action hero, and even less so in dramatic scenes, but he sure is purty to look at. While not shy on carnage, the earlier “Kingsman” focused on Eggsy’s transformation from a streetwise hood into a dapper young super-spy — basically, the movie was “My Fair Lady” meets James Bond, as Eggsy learned to dress smart, talk properly and save the world, taking his shirt off just often enough to remind what the movie was really selling.

Egerton’s chin seems even squarer now, as if that were possible, and he’s aging faster than the two-year interval would suggest, meaning it will be increasingly hard for future installments to play the boyish-charm card. Here, we find him agreeing to meet the king and queen of Sweden for dinner, since his girlfriend (the entirely bland Hanna Alström) happens to be their daughter — which, one supposes, puts this Kingsman in line to the Swedish throne. Narratively speaking, nothing about their romance works, although it’s cute to see Vaughn try something new, as it completely alters the dynamic we’re accustomed to when spies are asked to seduce super-babes for queen and country: In this case, Eggsy must call Princess Tilde to ask permission before planting a tracking device (which must be inserted into a mucous membrane) into a vixen’s most private of parts.

But let’s back up. The reason any of this is happening is that Poppy, the world’s most successful drug dealer — whom Moore interprets as Martha Stewart crossed with a demonic 1950s housewife, and whose base is a Mayan ruin she has updated with American-style movie theater and soda hop — wants to legalize her wares. To force the policy upon the president, she introduces an ingredient into her product that will infect and ultimately kill every drug user in the world unless they get her antidote in time — which makes no sense, and which the president seems to believe would be doing him a favor, effectively ending the war on drugs in one fell swoop. (Vaughn clearly assumes most of his audience does drugs, normalizing the behavior by revealing Eggsy’s girlfriend and Channing Tatum’s character as potential victims, if they don’t act fast.)

Silly doesn’t even begin to describe this plot, which also involves killer robot dogs and an extended Elton John cameo — basically, an excuse to dust off his most flamboyant costumes and to score over-the-top action scenes to “The Bitch Is Back” (Poppy’s theme, but also sorta Elton’s, once he busts out the kung fu) and “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting.” There’s also Charlie with his bionic arm, a Statesman agent named Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) with an electric lasso and a few too many scenes in which people get put into Poppy’s industrial meat-grinder … and then cooked … and then eaten.

It is all aggressively stylized, abusively fast-paced and ear-bleedingly loud, relying so heavily on CGI that nothing — not one thing — seems to correspond to the real world. That might have been different had the 2016 U.S. presidential election turned out differently, since the idea seems to have been for Emily Watson, who appears as the Hillary Clinton-coiffed chief of staff to Bruce Greenwood’s American president, to play the commander in chief herself.

That, at least, would have pitted a female president against a strong female villain (an over-generous way of describing Poppy, who’s like one of the perky Red Lobster zombies from Robin Comisar’s twisted “Great Choice” short), whereas this is just bonkers and might actually serve best as a send-up of past spy movies. It’s not like anyone has ever accused James Bond of being realistic, but the “Kingsman” series has gotten so outlandish that “Moonraker” suddenly looks plausible by comparison.

Reviewed at Fox studios, Los Angeles, Sept. 5, 2017. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 141 MIN.

• Production: (U.K.-U.S.) A 20th Century Fox release, presented in association with Marv, of a Cloudy production. Producers:

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle Review

22 Sep 2017

141 minutes

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Matthew Vaughn clearly had too much fun making Kingsman to leave its prim-but-deadly Savile Row secret service hanging in the wardrobe. A bespoke Bond pastiche, tailored to amplify to maximum comic effect that series’ preposterous plots, snobbish undercurrents, cold-blooded violence and (to the understandable distaste of many) smutty sexism, it was also such a success that a sequel was positively demanded.

As ultraviolent as the first film, and as ultrasmutty.

But Kingsman wasn’t just about turning up 007 all the way to 11. There was at its core a smart spin on Pygmalion , with Colin Firth ’s starchy superspy Harry tutoring the chavvy Eggsy ( Egerton ) in the ways of properly refined espionage. With that arc complete, Eggsy doesn’t have anywhere so interesting to go in The Golden Circle , in terms of character development at least. Neither the culture-clash elements — which arise once Eggsy seeks out the brash, honky-tonky Statesmen — nor his attempts to stay faithful to his royal Swedish girlfriend Tilde (a returning Hanna Alström) quite fill that Pygmalion -shaped hole.

The not-so-surprising return of Harry, now one-eyed and amnesiac, at least revives the central relationship; albeit in an inverted form, with Eggsy struggling to ease his former mentor back into the spy game. But character definitely takes a back seat to the action in this instalment.

Thankfully, though, that action is bloody terrific. From an opening black-cab scrap and chase through the streets of London, to the climactic assault on the villains’ secret base (a lost, ancient Cambodian city given a ’50s kitsch Americana renovation), Vaughn keeps things impressively kinetic, gymnastic and focused. Presented in seemingly single takes, each brutal fight sequence involves a (presumably VFX-assisted) single camera fluidly whirling, pivoting and crash-zooming through the carnage, usually to an effectively ironic pop-song backing. Then there’s the gleeful incorporation of the kind of outlandish elements you’d expect from this double-OTT universe: a giant mincing machine, a laser lasso, a bubbling pot of molten gold, a wildly spinning cable car on Monte Bianco’s Skyway, an actual Elton John, and killer robot dogs with drill-bit teeth.

As with the first film, the sexual content is similarly heightened and despite the reaction to that anal gag, which was both coarse and jarring, Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman are hardly contrite. Hence The Tracking Device Scene — we'll spare the details here — which involves some shockingly invasive tactics on Eggsy's part, and seems calibrated to offend (though it is leavened a little by Eggsy Facetiming Tilde beforehand to seek permission to perform this squirmy act of infidelity).

Meanwhile, Vaughn and Goldman have a blast with the introduction of the American contingent, brazenly flirting with cliché. Where the Kingsman front is a tailor’s, the Statesman crew are hidden away in a Kentucky bourbon distillery. Where the Kingsman codenames are based on Arthurian legend, the Statesman handles are all booze-related. So we have Tequila, played by Channing Tatum with tobacco-spitting brio (until, that is, he’s weirdly and frustratingly side-lined for most of the movie); Ginger Ale ( Halle Berry , not doing much as the Yankee equivalent of Mark Strong ’s chair guy Merlin); Whiskey ( Narcos ’ Pedro Pascal , coming on like Burt Reynolds playing Indiana Jones); and big boss Champagne — or ‘Champ’, as he prefers to be called ( Jeff Bridges doing a benevolent Boss Hogg).

Then, of course, there’s the off-kilter villain, this time represented by Julianne Moore as illegal-drug-trade monopoliser Poppy Adams. She’s underused, but provides brief bursts of quality as a ’50s-obsessed psychopath who’s unhinged in a gently perky way — turning Keith Allen into a hamburger, or holding the world’s drug-users, recreational or otherwise, to ransom with a deadly toxin.

There are a lot of toys for Vaughn to play with here, and for the most part he plays well, but there’s not quite enough to justify the unwieldy 141-minute run time. Harry’s return feels stretched and laboured and the whole “Glasto” episode (including the aforementioned Tracking Device Scene) is something we honestly could have lived without. But Vaughn clearly can’t get enough of his Kingsmen. After all, he’s having too much fun.

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Review: In ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle,’ the Natty Spies Are Back

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By Jeannette Catsoulis

• Sept. 20, 2017

“Kill Elton John!” is a line you’re unlikely to hear in the average spy caper, but “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” aims far above average. Like its 2015 predecessor , this latest visit with the British agents-cum-Savile Row tailors swings for the fences without caring whose head — or torso, or dignity — is shredded en route. Even if it belongs to Sir Elton.

In a plot as sloppy and extended as over-washed elastic, the singer’s cameo as the feathered-and-sequined pet of a drug-dealing villain named Poppy (Julianne Moore) is a ludicrous highlight. A homesick sociopath, Poppy has styled her Cambodian lair to resemble Eisenhower-era America, including a diner where those who displease her are churned into Hamburger Helper. (So that’s what the first film was lacking: cannibalism.)

Bigger, longer and — at an interminable 141 minutes — apparently uncut, “Circle” is an emotionally sterile lark, its wounds inflicted with brolly and bullwhip, a smirk and a shrug. Obliterating all but two Kingsmen in the opening reel, the story (by the director, Matthew Vaughn, and Jane Goldman) forces the leftovers into the protective arms of their American counterparts, cowboy spies with rolling hips and code names like Tequila and Champagne. Their presence, led by a strutting Channing Tatum, lends the action a homoerotic glaze that I choose to believe is intentional.

Yet in a movie as happy to resurrect characters as rub them out, nothing is of consequence, and the glibness grows numbing. As does the cocky masculinity: This is, after all, a man’s world, and women had better get behind or beneath them if they want to survive. Sir Elton will make it just fine on his own.

Rated R. Characters are minced, dismembered and distastefully probed. Running time: 2 hours 21 minutes.

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Screen Rant

Kingsman: the golden circle review, kingsman: the golden circle doubles down on slick action and spy genre riffs, but adds enough fresh and fun elements to provide an exciting sequel..

After losing Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and saving the world, Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) has settled into life as a full blown Kingsman agent, taking up the title of Agent Galahad from his fallen mentor. Now, Eggsy is living in Harry's old home with his girlfriend, the Swedish Princesse Tilde (Hanna Alström), and going about his business of working for a secret spy organization. However, Eggsy's old nemesis Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft) surfaces and complicates the new normal. When Roxy, aka Agent Lancelot (Sophie Cookson), discovers that Charlie is working with the drug cartel known as the Golden Circle, the criminal organization's leader, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), delivers a devastating blow to the Kingsman.

As a result, Eggsy and the remaining Kingsman agents are forced to track down their American counterparts, the Statesman. In Kentucky, they meet the Statesman's leader, Champ (Jeff Bridges), as well as agents Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), and their tech support, Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). In the depths of the Statesman headquarters, Eggsy also comes across the still alive Harry Hart, but he isn't quite the same mentor who taught Eggsy about Oxfords and brogues. When Poppy's evil plan is revealed, the Kingsman and Statesman must work together to save the world. However, with so much working against him and his allies - a changed Harry Hart, a potential double agent within one of the spy organizations, and a particularly incompetent U.S. President - Eggsy has his work cut out for him.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the sequel to 2015's Kingsman: The Secret Service , reuniting the creative team behind the scenes of co-writers Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, with Vaughn additionally returning to the director's chair. Vaughn also reteams with cinematographer George Richmond and editor Eddie Hamilton (though The Secret Service was edited by Hamilton and Jon Harris). The first film was based on the graphic novel, The Secret Service , from writer Mark Millar and artist Dave Gibbons, a twist on spy genre action films like James Bond. Although The Golden Circle diverges from the original Kingsman comic book source material, it continues the adventures of Eggsy and the independent intelligence agency.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle doubles down on slick action and spy genre riffs, but adds enough fresh and fun elements to provide an exciting sequel.

Like the unique fighting sequences in The Secret Service , The Golden Circle employs exceptionally dynamic action set pieces using a mixture of fast-paced close-ups - on everything from characters to weapons as they move around whatever setting in which the fight is placed - and slow-motion. This mix of shots works to break up the pacing of each action scene, which ups the energy and, ultimately, the enjoyment factor of these sequences. Plus, Vaughn again smartly chooses music for the bigger action sequences that work exceptionally well to set the tone and pace of these scenes. The combination of elements makes for truly breathtaking and exciting action set pieces that are incredibly fun to watch. There isn't one particular fight scene that will quite define The Golden Circle in the way that Harry's church massacre did The Secret Service  (though Eggsy's cab fight scene comes close), but Vaughn, Richmond, and Hamilton bring the same energy and fun to the sequel's action sequences - making them a major strength of the film.

Another strength of The Golden Circle lies in the film's villain: the charming and sweet, but psychopathic Poppy Adams. Like Valentine in The Secret Service , Poppy's character - and her entire world - is created out of contradictions. Moore plays Poppy with all the disarmingly upbeat confidence needed by a woman in power, but the character's plan to reach her ultimate goal and her business practices are nothing short of brutal. The dichotomy in Poppy's character is what makes her so fun to watch - and, to be sure, Moore's villain is incredibly fun to watch. Even her hideout is full of contradictions as it's stylized with plenty of '50s nostalgia, but uses a great deal of advanced technology, which is no better epitomized than in her pair of robotic guard dogs: Bennie and Jet. Darren Gilford's production design of Poppy Land is lush and perfectly reflects her character, elevating all the scenes of Poppy set within her world. The movie's third act, as written by Vaughn and Goldman, cheats Poppy, but for the most part the villain is a high point of The Golden Circle .

While Poppy is a well developed and fully fleshed out villain, the Statesman agents don't quite get the same treatment. To be sure, Tatum, Pascal, and Bridges play the parts of charming southern gentlemen exceptionally well, and work excellently as American foils to the likes of Egerton, Strong, and Firth. The three Statesman agents and their version of Merlin, Ginger Ale, are wonderful additions to Kingsman universe, but they're somewhat shortchanged seemingly to set up for the arguably superfluous third act plot twist (though this twist does  make way for a visually stunning, if emotionally empty, fight scene) or as a means of holding something back until a third Kingsman movie. The Golden Circle doesn't commit the major sin of shared movie universe building - introducing characters solely for use later on in the franchise - since all of the Statesman are integral to the plot of the film (and almost entirely enjoyable while on screen), but there is a sense that Vaughn and Goldman may have held back a little, at least partially to set the stage for a third installment.

For the most part, The Golden Circle is a solid second installment in the Kingsman franchise. It takes certain big risks, but makes sure to double down on the elements that worked particularly well in The Secret Service , such as including clever nods to classic spy movies - especially Bond - and frenetic action set pieces. Of course, not every risk in The Golden Circle pays off; there are some plot points and expository bits of dialogue that seemingly aim to be new spins on the tropes of the spy genre, but are too trite to fully achieve that goal. And, while one of  The Secret Service's biggest strengths was its freshness amid the genres of spy and action films, The Golden Circle - by definition of being a sequel - can't shine quite as bright in that respect. But, The Golden Circle  capitalizes on its sequel status by putting a new spin on certain elements from  The Secret Service , which works to make the world of Kingsman cohesive, even if it's not quite as original and fresh as the first film.

All in all, The Golden Circle is an excellent followup to The Secret Service and perfect for fans of the first Kingsman movie. It continues to develop the compelling characters of Eggsy and Harry as established in The Secret Service (with a particularly memorable turn for Strong as Merlin), while building out the world of the Kingsman to include the Statesman. It's clear from The Golden Circle  that Vaughn and Goldman aren't done with this universe of Kingsman and Statesman, which will no doubt please fans that enjoy their different brand of spy film, but the film makes sure to tell a, for the most part, standalone story - one that should be commended for managing to work in a stellar role for Sir Elton John (as himself). The Golden Circle proves that there is fun and enjoyment to be had in the further adventures of Eggsy and his new generation of spy film - and that the Kingsman franchise has serious potential staying power.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle  is now playing in U.S. theaters nationwide. It runs 141 minutes and is rated R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual material.

Want to talk about the film without spoiling it for others? Head on over to our Kingsman: The Golden Circle spoilers discussion !

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle

After the Kingsman's headquarters is destroyed and the world is held hostage, an allied spy organization in the United States is discovered. These two elite secret agencies must band togethe... Read all After the Kingsman's headquarters is destroyed and the world is held hostage, an allied spy organization in the United States is discovered. These two elite secret agencies must band together to defeat a common enemy. After the Kingsman's headquarters is destroyed and the world is held hostage, an allied spy organization in the United States is discovered. These two elite secret agencies must band together to defeat a common enemy.

• Matthew Vaughn
• Jane Goldman
• Mark Millar
• Taron Egerton
• Colin Firth
• Mark Strong
• 828 User reviews
• 359 Critic reviews
• 44 Metascore
• 2 wins & 14 nominations

• Kingsman Cab Driver

• Princess Tilde

• (as Tom Benedict-Knight)

• The King of Sweden

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• Trivia Tequila was to have a bigger role in the story, but due to Channing Tatum 's scheduling conflicts working on Logan Lucky (2017) , his role was reduced, and some of the scenes went to Whiskey ( Pedro Pascal ). Notably, Whiskey got the lasso instead of Tequila.
• Goofs The tracking device that Eggsy plants on Clara is said to be absorbed by a mucous membrane. Eggsy is forced to resort to sexual contact for this. But there are mucous membranes in the mouth and stomach as well. Simply putting the tracker into something she would eat or drink would have done the trick.

Elton John : Now, go off and save the world.

Harry Hart : If I save the world, can I have two tickets to your next concert?

Elton John : Darling, if you save the world, you can have a backstage pass.

• Crazy credits There is a statement in the closing credits: "A dope thanks to Samuel L. Jackson ." Jackson had played Richmond Valentine in the previous Kingsman film.
• Alternate versions In Singapore, before the film could receive an NC16 classification the film was edited in order to remove two utterances of religious profanity which was deemed to exceeded the BFC's set Classification Guidelines. Under these Classification Guidelines, "language that denigrates religion or is religiously profane" is not allowed for all ratings.
• Connections Featured in Conan: The Cast of 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' (2017)
• Soundtracks Take Me Home, Country Roads Written by Taffy Nivert (as Taffy Danoff), Bill Danoff (as William Danoff) & John Denver Published by BMG Rights Management UK Ltd., a BMG Company Published by Reservoir Media Music Performed by Matthew Margeson (as Matt Margeson)

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• Sep 20, 2017
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• Did they seriously invent a magical cure for being shot in the head?
• September 22, 2017 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• United States
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• Courmayeur, Aosta, Valle d'Aosta, Italy (snow sequence, Skyway rope)
• Twentieth Century Fox
• Cloudy Productions
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• $104,000,000 (estimated)
• $100,234,838
• $39,023,010
• Sep 24, 2017
• $410,902,662

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 21 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Digital

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Review

  A SOLID SEQUEL THAT SHINES

(not burns).

Back in 2015, moviegoers everywhere were introduced to director Matthew Vaughan’s visual spy action film Kingsman: The Secret Service . Adapted from the graphic novel Kingsman by Mark Millar (writer) and Dave Gibbons (artist), the film, which starred Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Caine, follows the journey of troubled youth Gary “Eggsy” Urwin as he gets recruited into the Kingsman, a British secret agent organization, and joins a mission to stop a global threat from the nefarious megalomaniac Richmond Valentine. Deriving from its comic book source material and Vaughan’s overall direction, Kingsman: The Secret Service was presented as a 007 spy satire, offering up a visual action-spy feature film with a splash of stylized violence. This mixture seemed does seem like an odd choice, but the film benefitted, with the movie getting praised from critics and casual moviegoers as Kingsman: The Secret Service grossed over $400 million worldwide ($411 million to be exact) against its production budget of $94 million. With its success, it was inevitable that a sequel would soon followed. Now, after two years since its released, 205h Century Fox and director Matthew Vaughan return to the Kingsman world with its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle . Does this next chapter proved to be a worthy sequel to its predecessor or it’s a overstuffed and unnecessary continuation?

After thwarting evil and saving the world, Eggsy Urwin (Taron Egerton) has settled into his life as a full-fledged Kingsman agent, taking the up title of Agent Galahad from his fallen mentor Harry Hart (Colin Firth). While not working a secret agent, Eggsy also finds the time to spend with his girlfriend, the Swedish Princess Tilde (Hanna Alstrom), who seems to be hitting at something more in their relationship. However, after a run-in with a rejected Kingsman hopeful Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holocroft), disaster shakes the young agent’s world when a drug cartel known as the Golden Circle, led by Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), delivers a devastating blow to the Kingsman organization. The remaining Kingsman agents, including Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong), make their way to Kentucky to meet the Statesman, an American secret service led by Champagne (Jeff Bridges), and finding a helping hand with fellow Statesman Agents Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). Joining forces with the Statesman, Eggsy is exposed to a different type of spy game, reuniting with his mentor, Harry, who’s alive and suffering from amnesia. As Poppy plans for world domination unfold in the form tainted drugs, Eggsy and the Statesman rush into battle, hoping to infiltrate Poppy’s plans and save the world from global disaster.

THE GOOD THE BAD

I remember when Kingsman: The Secret Service came out as I went to see in theaters and was hoping it to be good. Thankfully, it was one of those movies that the marketing campaign got right as I found the film, rifting on the spy genre with a touch of Vaughan aesthetics of stylized action, and graphic novel violence. Basically, I called it “James Bond + Kick Ass = Kingsman”, which many will agree. Regardless of the excessive and sometime cartoon-ish violence, Kingsman: The Secret Service indeed made its mark on the 2015 movies that year, finding a unique and fun take on the classic spy genre as well as a capable young actor (Taron Egerton) in the lead role of Eggsy, a strong British supporting cast (Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Michael Caine), and some memorable villains (Samuel L. Jackson and Sophia Boutella).

As I said above, after the success of Kingsman: The Secret Service , it was inevitable that a sequel would materialized soon after, continuing the adventures of Eggsy and the rest of the Kingsman organization. However, Kingsman director Matthew Vaughan, who directed X-Men: First Class , Stardust , and Layer Cake , decided to shelf that idea of a Kingsman follow-up for just a little bit as he released the inspirational “feel good” movie Eddie the Eagle in 2016 (which was really good btw). Of course, I was excited when the trailers dropped online for Kingsman 2 (or rather Kingsman: The Golden Circle ), hoping that the film continue the “look and feel” of the first film and didn’t end up as a mediocre and / or bad sequel film. So, what did I think of the movie? In truth, I actually liked it. Yes, there were some problems with the movie, but I found Kingsman: The Golden Circle to be a solid follow-up feature to its 2015 predecessor. It may not be the best and brightest sequel film out there, but in a sea of terrible and disappointing sequels, The Golden Circle shines (not burns).

With Matthew Vaughan returning to direct, of which The Golden Circle heavily benefits from that, this follow-up sequel to The Secret Service does feel very much so like a continuing adventure from the first one. What is mean is that Vaughan doesn’t reinvent the wheel with The Golden Circle , but rather tweaks what many liked about the first film and interjects that into this new movie. Basically, Vaughan keeps The Golden Circle like a Kingsman movie, so expect a lot of visual action set pieces with a mixture of fast-paced close-ups and some over-the-top violence sequences. The jokes and some of its crude humor are also very much in-tuned with the first movie, with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments to be had, within the context of spy-action drama violence. Additionally, much like what sequels films do, Vaughan and fellow screenplay writer Jane Goldman (who worked help co-write the script for The Secret Service) make The Golden Circle expands upon the Kingsman universe by introducing the Statesman, the American spy agency organization, and it’s sort of a fun to see “Americanize” version of Kingsman agents (the Statesman based of operation is masked underneath a whiskey distillery versus the Kingsman tailor shop façade) and seeing their unique spy gadgets (like Whiskey’s lasso). Thus, the movie introduces this concept and I do hope that they continue to expand the Kingsman universe in future movies (if another does get greenlit).

Filmmaking wise, The Golden Circle looks great, with Vaughan and his team utilizing a lot of stylish and dynamic sequences for most the more dramatic and visual scenes of the movie. Like before, there’ a lot of quick close up shots that are mixed with slow-motion camera works that help break up the crazy fighting / action scenes to give several crazy (and frenetic) energy during those sequences. So, kudos for the film’s cinematographer (George Richmond) and editor (Eddie Hamilton), both of which worked on The Secret Service , for return to the project and keeping up the visual style of the Kingsman world within The Golden Circle . Also, the film’s production design (Darren Gilford) and concept artist team also must be acknowledged for the usage of some creative design layouts for The Golden Circle . This includes the 50s style layout of Poppy’s hideaway lair, which is called “Poppy Land”, as well as the Statesman distillery façade. Lastly, while the movie’s score, which is composed by Henry Jackson and Matthew Margeson, is good, Vaughan (again) makes sure to smartly select several musical songs some of the feature’s bigger action sequences that work with the pace and tone of what’s being presented on-screen, especially the film’s opening sequence (the car chase scene with Eggsy and Charlie) as well as the film’s third act piece that takes place within Poppy Land. While both scenes don’t blow out Harry’s church massacre scene from The Secret Service , they are set some pretty neat and fun sequences to watch and listen to (if you know what I mean).

Unfortunately, while The Golden Circle does shine, it doesn’t shine brighter than its predecessor with several problems within this sequel spy adventure. While the movie doubles down on what made The Secret Service great, it can be a bit repetitive on what’s going on this new movie. Granted, The Golden Circle is indeed a follow-up tale, continuing Eggsy’s spy journey as a Kingsman agent, but the film has certain bits and beats that are somewhat ripped from the first feature (another evil plan that affects people around the world). For the most part, The Secret Service banked its freshness to the spy movies with its more stylized action violence to sort of “shake up” the status quo within the genre. That being said, The Golden Circle tries to repeat that same effect, but it just doesn’t quite reach the same originality and / or freshness that the first film achieved. Additionally, there are some sub-plot material within the movie that aren’t quite fully realized as Vaughan (and Goldman) intended.

The cast in The Golden Circle sees the return of several main character from The Secret Service , finding the characters of Eggsy, Harry (Galahad), and Merlin return to save the world once again. Actor Taron Egerton, known for his roles in Eddie the Eagle , Legend , and Sing , returns to the character of Eggsy Unwin, main protagonist character in both Kingsman films, finding the character to be a bit more of a seasoned Kingsman agent and continuing his journey as he matures in both the spy world and as an individual young man. Egerton performance is also great, providing enough youthful charisma and fun bits to make the character of Eggsy endearing to watch from start to finish. Next, Colin Firth, known for his roles in The King’s Speech , A Single Man , and Pride and Prejudice , returns as once presumed dead Kingsman agent Harry “Galahad” Hart. I kind thought the whole “bringing back the Harry Hart character” angle was a bit unnecessary at first, but Firth’s performance is great and sort of does working within the character relationship between Eggsy and Harry (as mentor and mentee). Lastly, character actor Mark Strong, known for his roles in ( Sherlock Holmes , The Imitation Game , and Tinker, Tailor , Soldier, Spy ) continues to be a great supporting character as the Kingsman tech support agent Merlin. His character as a more stronger presence in The Golden Circle than in the first film and even shares a counterpoint connection with new Statesman character of Ginger Ale. All in all, the return of these three actors (Egerton, Firth, and Strong) and of their respective characters makes The Golden Circle a solid one endeavor, with each one bringing a sense of fun and charisma to the spy-action proceedings.

Of the new characters in The Golden Circle , perhaps the best is lies within the movie’s villain…the sweet and charming, but psychopathic drug cartel “Queenpin” antagonist Poppy Adams. Played by actress Julianne Moore, known for her roles in Still Alice , The Big Lebowski , and The Hungers Game: Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 , the character of Poppy Adams, much like Samuel L Jackson’s Valentine in The Secret Service, is a fun baddie to watch on-screen and watch her villainy unfold. Moore seems to be having fun in the role, playing up the character’s upbeat / confidence attitude persona that’s blend together with her ruthlessness (if sometimes disturbing) villainy.  In short, Moore’s Poppy Adams is a terrific villain for The Golden Circle and a great strength for the movie.

While the movie’s antagonist is well-developed (and a fun one to watch display her villainy), the Statesman agents, the American secret agent organization, get a bit shortchanged in some areas. Perhaps the strongest represented Statesman character of the bunch is in the character of Whiskey, who is played by actor Pedro Pascal. Known for his roles in The Great Wall , Narcos , and Game of Thrones , Pascal does a fine job as strongest represented Statesman agent, finding his character of Whiskey to be a fun addition to the Kingsman team (in the field). The other three Statesman agents, consisting of Statesman leader Champagne (or Champ as he likes to be called), the hotshot bad boy Tequila, and whiz tech genius Ginger Ale, aren’t as fully rounded. To be sure, the actors playing them, Jeff Bridges ( Tron , True Grit , and Iron Man ), Channing Tatum ( Magic Mike , 21 Jump Street , and Logan Lucky ), and Hallie Berry ( Cloud Atlas , Monster’s Ball , and several of the X-Men movies), give their respective characters their right amount of nuances and charming to make them appealing and likeable (a certain Americanize counterpoint to the Kingsman agents), but they aren’t fully realized enough and could’ve played a larger part in The Golden Circle. An example of this is found with Tatum’s Tequila, who was heavily promoted in the film’s marketing campaign, but isn’t that much in the movie (I think principal photography for The Golden Circle was around the same time as Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky , so maybe that’s why). Granted, the introduction of the Statesman organization (as well as these characters) are indeed a welcome addition within the context of this cinematic universe, so it’s their involvement within The Golden Circle is kind of good and bad as maybe Vaughan and Goldman are holding out to develop these Statesman characters further in a possible future sequel (at least that’s what I think).

Additionally, some previous characters from The Secret Service return to reprise through roles, including Edward Holcroft (Wolf Hall and London Spy) as Charlie Hesketh (a rejected Kingsman applicant who is now a bad guy in The Golden Circle ) who is like Sophia Boutella’s Gazelle from The Secret Service ), Hanna Alström ( Sami Blood and Vita lögner ) as Princess Tilde (the princess from the end of The Secret Service, but who is now Eggsy girlfriend in the new movie), and Sophie Cookson ( The Crucifixion and Gypsy) as fellow Kingsman agent Roxy. Whether big or small roles in the movie, it’s kind of neat to see these characters return for this follow-up film. Also, in smaller roles consist of some familiar / recognizable faces like Michael Gambon ( Layer Cake and several of the Harry Potter movies) as the new Kingsman leader Arthur and Keith Allen ( Eddie the Eagle and Trainspotting ) as one of Poppy’s flunkies Charles. Lastly, and perhaps the biggest scene stealer of the entire movie, is the cameo-like appearance of iconic musician artist Elton John. Playing himself in the movie, the famed Elton John has some of the best lines in the film and is definitely a welcomed (and surprised) appearance to show up in The Golden Circle .

FINAL THOUGHTS

Eggsy and the surviving members of Kingsman join forces with Americanized Statesman agents to thwart Poppy’s master plan in the movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle . Director Matthew Vaughan returns to the Kingsman world, expanding upon Eggsy’s journey with another “saving the world” mission of secret agent spies, over-the-top violence and crude humor. While the movie doesn’t really break new ground (or originality) and does follow a certain formula from the first film as well as not utilizing enough of its new characters, the movie is still a solid and entertaining sequel that will surely please many fans of The Secret Service . Personally, I liked it. Sure, the movie had its faults, but I could overlook them (some of them at least), finding The Golden Circle a good follow-up sequel to the 2015 film. Thus, I would say that I would “recommend” this movie, especially fans of the original movie and those looking for pure movie escapism. Judging by the end of The Golden Circle , it’s clear that director Matthew Vaughan left the door open for a potential future installment in the Kingsman installment. Whether or not that will involve Eggsy or a new generation of Kingsman (or possible Statesman) agents is still unclear. All in all, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a fun follow-up sequel and proves that the series has some staying power in the cinematic world.

4.0 Out of 5 (Recommended)

Released on: september 22nd, 2017, reviewed on: september 24th, 2017.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle  is 141 minutes long and is rated R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual material

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I really enjoyed the original film, so I plan on seeing this one anyway, but I probably won’t be heading off to the theatres to see this. Your review is very balanced by the way, as most of the reviews are not to positive about this film. It was refreshing to read, and I really enjoyed it 😊

Thank you (wow…you think its a balanced review. I’m honored). Yeah, this movie has been getting a lot of mixed reviews. Its kind of fun to see who liked it and who didn’t.

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle review

Taron Egerton leads the cast for Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman 2. Here's our review...

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This review contains a spoiler that’s been long revealed in the promotions for the film. But if you’ve avoided the promotions, you might want to skip the review.

When Kingsman: The Secret Service exploded on to screens back in 2014 it was a bolt out of the blue, with a large part of its appeal down to originality and its ability to take conventions the spy genre possessed and turn them upside down, throwing over the top violence and a dark, yet obscene humour around with such abandon that the resulting film was a fast paced delight from start to finish.

The problem, then, was always going to be making a second film that possessed the same freshness, knowing that audiences would have certain expectations and indeed, writing a sequel review is usually a case of stating that it’s more of the same with a few tweaks here and there. However, with The Golden Circle the filmmakers are more than aware of those trappings and have chosen to subvert them, alongside their continued shredding of secret agent clichés, with the result making for a solidly entertaining film, that’s at times great, but unfortunately counter-balanced by the weight of what it’s trying to achieve.

There are so many ideas packed in to Golden Circle ’s lengthy 141 minute run time that it feels like it would have been better served being split across two films, especially with a second act that, for understandable reasons, has to take its time with a very important central issue. We’ll come to that shortly.

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The film opens with a fantastic car chase/fight involving director Matthew Vaughn’s usual flair for combining action with a pitch perfect soundtrack, and gives Eggsy – played again by Taron Egerton – a brutal encounter with an old nemesis that adds an immediate level of investment in the film and makes you feel right at home with the Kingsman universe again. Eggsy is also, quite unconventionally, pursuing a serious relationship with Princess Tilde (and no, there’s not a controversial follow up gag to match her statement from part one) while struggling with his dual lifestyle, calling upon help yet again from Merlin and Roxy.

It’s not long though before sinister events unfold, this time courtesy of Julianne Moore’s colourful and brilliantly Americana villain (whose cooking skills are bound to flip a few stomachs) and our protagonists find themselves crossing the Atlantic for support, where they stumble upon their American counterparts, who own a whiskey distillery and all have drink related codenames to boot. Things start quite briskly, with the exciting prospect of Channing Tatum’s agent Tequila joining the fray, especially given his grand entrance, but it’s not long before he’s shelved and things take a turn for the existentially bleak.

Harry Hart’s return comes with a story to explain just why he’s back, that I don’t want to spoil here. However, Vaughn and fellow screenwriter Jane Goldman don’t want the return of Harry to be considered too much of a cheat, so take time to draw out the process of just why and how he’s back, and invest quality time in this. But it feels like too much of a tonal shift for the Kingsman universe and weighs down the mid-section of the film quite heavily. It’s also hindered when added to a subplot involving a tracking device, that’s vulgar fun, but feels like it slows things down.

Consequently, poor Eggsy really does have too much to deal with, as he’s caught up with a sexual moral conundrum, issues with Harry, his continued bond with Merlin and is put on assignment with a Burt Reynolds-esque lothario, Whiskey (Pedro Pascal, Game Of Thrones ‘ Red Viper), while having to save the day. It’s no wonder the film feels a little cluttered.

Once some of the threads have played out though, it’s back to business as usual and when The Golden Circle hits the right notes, it’s as exhilarating and joyous as you’d expect. It’s thanks in large part to Taron Egerton’s mix of vulnerability and ballsiness that make Eggsy a hero to root for, alongside the ever excellent Mark Strong, whose Merlin gets some of the films’ best moments both comically and dramatically.

On top of the opening, action scenes throughout continue to innovate and excite in a way that only Vaughn seems capable of creating and the introduction of techno-whips, fused with (at one point) a unique take on Cameo’s Word Up will have you fighting the urge to stand up in your seat and cheer our heroes on. There’s also a whole host of new gadget related joy, that won’t be spoilt here that continue to make the Kingsman universe a great place to immerse yourself in.

While Kingsman: The Golden Circle might suffer from the difficult second album syndrome, there are enough shocks and surprises to keep you invested and if not every aspect hits its mark, there’s a perfectly understandable reason as to why certain decisions were made – there’s also never going to be a way to top the original’s Firth-fuelled church bloodbath, ever.

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The world building towards a third chapter is welcome, even if it hinders the progress at times and hopefully the box office will be enough to give us the concluding third chapter, as The Golden Circle provides another slice of original insanity, peppered with colourful characters, great performances and yet another soundtrack to purchase.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is in UK cinemas from September 20th.

Duncan Bowles | @duncanbowles

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Film Review – Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

In February of 2014, many were shocked at how entertaining  Kingsman: The Secret Service was, gaining more and more fans as each week passed at the theaters .  Now, Matthew Vaughn and Co. are back to deliver some more of the heightened fun that we all loved from the first film in  Kingsman: The Golden Circle .  This time, however, the Kingsman will have some help from their American cousins, the Stateman!  The following review will be spoiler free.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle  is once again directed by Matthew Vaughn and contains all the stars from the original such as Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong and also contains some fresh new faces like Pedro Pascal , Julianne Moore, and Channing Tatum .

After saving the world, the Kingsman must quickly jump back into action after Poppy (Moore) destroys their headquarters and other properties.  Leaving them with no other options , the Kingsman manage to team up with the Statesman, an American underground spy agency.  Eggsy (Egerton), now somewhat of a veteran agent, must use everything at his disposal before Poppy enacts a plot that could put the fate of millions of people at stake .  Thankfully, Eggsy gets a little help from an old friend.

Matthew Vaughn has been reluctant to return to franchises in the past, most notably with  Kick-Ass 2 .  In this case, the X-Men: First Class  director quickly expressed interest in directing the sequel to  Kingsman , as long as it grossed enough money to warrant one (which obviously, it did).

However, although Vaughn wanted to return, he ran into a conflict as he was very interested in also directing a remake of the cult classic   Flash Gordon .  Luckily, Vaughn opted for this film instead.

The production for Kingsman: The Golden Circle  wasn’t a smooth ride , unfortunately.  Production had to circumvent one of Egerton’s other projects, a starring role in Lionsgate ‘s new  Robin Hood  franchise.  Filming became even more unwieldy once more top-notch actors signed on, forcing Vaughn to be clever in shooting.  In fact, the release date of the movie was changed multiple times , moving from mid-July back to October then forward again to its current release date.

image via DNA India

Taron Egerton is a Star, and He Needs to be in More Films

As in the original, Egerton is the best part of this film .  If you can believe it, he saunters around with even more swagger and style this time around, revelling in his role as the anti-Bond.  Hollywood continues to search for another male to put front and center, but they shouldn’t look any further.  Egerton oozes charisma unlike any other young actor today, and he proves that statement here.

He somehow even manages to be the emotional core of the film .  Although  The Golden  Circle  gets weird and downright insane , Egerton is there to keep it somewhat grounded in a quasi-sense of reality where you feel like you could still lose any one of these characters despite the fact that baseballs double as hand grenades in this universe.

Egerton has that “it’ factor.  No matter what he does, you just can’t help but love him.

image via Highsnobiety

World Building that Actually Works

Matthew Vaughn even succeeds in building on the world that he established in the original  Kingsman .  The Stateman are a fun little touch to this film, adding some wild west flavor to the heightened, frenetic action.  Vaughn obviously loves playing with satire , and the Statesman are an obnoxiously silly exaggeration of the American way.

Most sequels have that issue where they add multiple new characters to the mix, making the entire movie feel bloated without giving any one character their due.  Thankfully, Kingsman 2  manages its incredibly talented cast well, allowing the central bonds to remain in place for the most part.

image via Digital Spy

Lacking the Oomph that Made the Predecessor So Great

As with the original,  Kingsman: The Golden Circle  is clearly a riff on the Bond films, becoming self-referential almost to a fault.  However, whereas  Kingsman  was similar to a film like  GoldenEye ,  Kingsman 2  shoots its metaphorical wad, getting closer to  Moonraker .  This notion isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own, but one can’t help but feel like it’s all too much.  This film is the classic example of too much of a good thing .   The Golden Circle  suffers from the common disease known as “sequel-itis.”

Everything gets bigger.  The villain is more over the top, the gadgets are more absurd, and the action even climbs to greater extremes.  However, these elements do not add up to a better time.  The script has become way more unwieldy , failing to capture the fun and excitement of the sleeper hit of 2014.

In essence,  Kingsman 2  is like a greatest hits album.  It plays off of fans’ favorite parts from the first film, adding them into the middle of a far less interesting plot.  You’ll perk up once you hear “manners maketh man” or when the same musical cues from Henry Jackman’s great score start to play.  But, they aren’t in service to anything inventive .  For all this film’s creativity, it feels surprisingly stale .

image via We Got This Covered

This movie feels like it’s just wacky for the sake of being wacky, quite literally winking at the camera as chaos ensues.  That’s not to say that there isn’t fun some set pieces in this film (because there certainly are), but none of it holds the same weight.  For lack of a better term, the story to this sequel is just dopey .  Every character is clearly having fun, but for what purpose?

Final Thoughts

In the end,  Kingsman: The Golden Circle  is like an aging baseball player .  Every so often, you see glimmers of the greatness that it once was, but one can’t help but notice the player in his current form, the one that’s a step slow.  You won’t hate watching him, but you eventually admit to yourself that he’s just not the same.

But enough with the extended metaphor .   Kingsman: The Golden Circle  is a shell of the original, even if there’s still some fun to be had.  It gets a  C+ .  This sequel isn’t terrible , but a more inspired final product would’ve been appreciated.

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A current young professional in the Richmond, Virginia area, Nick founded MovieBabble in October of 2016 when he was a bored college student with nothing else to do. (And he kicks himself every day that his story isn't better.) Nick is also a member of the Online Film Critics Society, the Internet Film Critics Society and the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association. You can follow him on Twitter @nkush42

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[…] were huge in either the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s.  They graced us with their charisma, becoming larger than life.  However, in one way or another, these individuals have been less than […]

I liked the first Kingsman but it never resonated with me to the degree that it did with others. I was not really excited for the sequel and, after seeing the reviews for it, I think I’ll give it a miss.

I think it’s best that you wait until it’s on HBO or Netflix. There’s nothing about it that warrants heading out to the theaters.

Very interesting read. I’ve been looking forward to watching this (and some little part of me hoped that it would be one of those films with a kick as sequel like POTC) but I know in my heart of hearts that it just won’t compare to the first no matter what. My one gripe is that they chose to show Colin Firth in the trailers when I would’ve so much liked to have gone into the film wondering will we/won’t we see him – it would’ve been a nice surprise but maybe that’s just me. Never mind though, whenever I see Taron Egerton is anything I just want to cry cause he’s so cute and I 100% agree he needs to be in more things – his depiction of Eddie in Eddie the Eagle was second to none. I look forward to watching Kingsman soon and writing my own review to see if I agree with you!

I like you idea of hiding Colin Firth in the trailers. His presense definitely didn’t pull more people into seeing the movie

I really liked the first one. I watched it several times. I’ll still go see this one.

Compared to the first one, this one is pretty disappointing. Go in with tempered expectations and you’ll be just fine!

I definitely agree with your general impression of the film but I think it still warrants a higher rating. The editing is still top notch above anything but Baby Driver this year and it’s still a lot of r-rated fun.

I think with this film there’s a disconnect between the level of fun and filmmaking. I would watch it again because of the characters, but it just wasn’t cohesive as a story.

I would actually disagree with the editing. I found that Vaughn tried to string together shots with 2008-level CGI to make it look like one take that just didn’t really work for me.

I know the original tried to play up Eggsy as a blue collar anti-Bond but I never thought that angle worked–as one critic pointed out, the ending apparently says blue-collar guys can be good spies if they just reinvent themselves to look suitably white collar. Of course I also thought Egerton has all the charisma of a block of feldspar.

I think it was less of the idea of blue-collar guys turning into white-collar to become spies isn’t necessasily the case. If you remember from the first film, everyone else was born with silver spoon, making Eggsy an outlier. While he makes it, his friend Roxy also makes it at Kingsman. The two had very different backgrounds but still ended up suceeding in the profession. Even Colin Firth says that being a Kingsman is not a matter of one’s birth right. Anyone can do it.

That’s a good thought you have there, but from my point of view, the story of Eggsy is more of a coming of age story about a man finally living up to his potential.

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Movie Review: ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’

Comical, corny and chaotic, the second installment of the “Kingsman” franchise, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” uses the momentum from the first film to deliver a high-octane and extremely entertaining visual experience. Director Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was a surprise hit with audiences following its release in 2015.

The film combines parodies of classic elements of James Bond films with a charming modern underdog storyline, creating a captivating, if at times kitschy, film. Fortunately, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” does not lose any of the original film’s charm, presenting audiences with another top-notch spy thriller — a genre that has dominated the 2017 film calendar.

Picking up where the first film left off, Eggsy Unwin, played by Taron Egerton, is now an established agent working for England’s secret intelligence organization, Kingsman. But when their headquarters are destroyed and almost all of their agents killed, lone surviving agents Unwin and Merlin, played by Mark Strong, must figure out a way to save the world from Poppy Adams, a power-crazed drug lord played by Julianne Moore. Fortunately, the Kingsmen receive some assistance from their American cousins, the Statesman spy organization.

The partnership between the Kingsman and Statesman makes for an interesting addition to the franchise. Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal all play American secret agents bearing the names of different alcoholic beverages as pseudonyms: Tequila, Champagne, Ginger and Whiskey, respectively.

Each new agent brings an important element to the movie, from Tequila and Champagne’s humor to Ginger and Whiskey’s professionalism. The only downside to the addition of the new Statesman team is that the audience does not get to see enough of it. Besides Pascal, the roles of Tatum, Berry and Bridges seem compressed, which should not have been the case in a 141-minute script.

The outrageousness of “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” does occasionally work against itself. For example, one of the villain’s explanations for endangering the world comes across as very contrived and seems to be a last-minute addition to the script.

But this is a common detraction to the “Kingsman” series. Just like its successor, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” suffers from having an over-the-top villain who seems willing to do anything to make the world conform to a selfish, out-of-touch view.

At the same time, since the “Kingsman” franchise is in many ways a cheeky parody of the Bond franchise, Vaughn references the archetypal corny Bond villain with his own modern-day villains. Although Vaughn deserves a pass for this reason, the film would have benefited from greater focus on the character development of its villains.

The film deserves most of its credit due to its special effects team. Vaughn expertly uses his team to create a spectacular visual experience that is entertaining from start to finish. The movie begins with a car chase scene that rivals anything created by the “Fast and Furious” series.

With the camera panning in and out of aerial shots of central London and views within the car of Urwin fending off a villain, the opening sequence is extremely energetic and engaging. But the energy does not stop there as the Kingsmen and Statesmen go through a plethora of exhilarating gun fights and action sequences. To top it off, each sequence involves some new, albeit showy, high-tech gadget, reminiscent of classic Bond films.

There is no doubt that the film’s action sequences are over-the-top, bordering on overkill. The film might be criticized for the excessiveness of its visual effects.

But ultimately, overkill is what works for the “Kingsman” franchise. Audiences that did not enjoy the first installment will surely despise the second. But Vaughn does not seem to care. Instead of creating a movie that follows the mainstream superhero-spy narrative, Vaughn doubles down on the gratuity and disorder that defined the first installment, which, in spite of its few setbacks, garnered something of a cult following. Fortunately for this following, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle is another chaotic, yet fascinating masterpiece that parodies the Bond franchise to perfection.

• colin firth
• kingsman: the golden circle
• matthew vaughn
• taron egerton

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle review: "Played safe, and lacks the edge that made the first film memorable"

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Fun, fleeting entertainment if you’re after more of the same, but fails to carve out any fresh ground.

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A sequel to 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service was an inevitable but welcome prospect. After all, that film did for spies what Kick-Ass did for comic-book superheroes, and raked in more than $400m worldwide. Director Matthew Vaughn and writer Jane Goldman adhered only loosely to Mark Millar’s comic source material first time out, and here they have free rein to go in whichever direction they want.

It’s a shame then that it’s played so safe, lacking the edge that made the first film memorable. It starts well enough, with a deliriously OTT scrap inside a London cab, as Eggsy (Taron Egerton) fends off a familiar assailant. Inventively shot and breathlessly paced, it’s an energising opening that’s brimming with Bond-turned-up-to-11 gusto, swagger and gadgetry.

There are a couple more brash set-pieces to enjoy later, but it’s a while before the pace picks up again, and the main plotline – our hero is forced to go rogue when a crime syndicate targets his fellow Kingsmen – is the well-trodden terrain of recent 007 and Ethan Hunt missions.

The Firth Amendment

Teaming up with Kingsman’s tech support, Merlin (Mark Strong, ever-reliable), Eggsy follows a clue that leads him to a whiskey distillery in the American South, a front for the US-equivalent of Kingsman. Led by Jeff Bridges’ Champ and Channing Tatum’s Tequila, the Statesmen are a welcome addition to the fold, though it’s hard not to mask the impression that Bridges and Tatum were only available for a couple of days’ shooting.

It’s through the Statesmen that Eggsy discovers his presumed-dead former mentor, Harry Hart (Colin Firth), seemingly alive and well. The role fits Firth like a made-to-measure Oxford shoe, but the manner of his return is a bit of a letdown, given the secrecy that has surrounded it. It’s another ‘too safe’ moment in a film that should have taken more risks.

Julianne Moore is great fun as Poppy, a drug kingpin – Vaughn describes her as “Martha Stewart on crack” – holed up in an Americana-styled lair in the Cambodian jungle. But her masterplan stretches credulity in this comic-book world’s internal logic. Nabbing the biggest laughs of all is a very well-deployed Elton John. Mercifully, this is one sequel that hasn’t gone darker. The cast uniformly emit full-beam charm, so it’s never a chore to be in their company.

More problematic is the lack of any real arc this time around. The lad-to-lord transition of the first film is sorely missed, as is the contrast between Eggsy’s working-class background and the highfalutin Secret Service. The Transatlantic team-up just doesn’t offer the same zing. As a result, The Golden Circle often feels precisely tailored when it should’ve been cut a little looser.

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.

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• DVD & Streaming

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

• Action/Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• September 22, 2017
• Taron Egerton as Eggsy Unwin; Colin Firth as Harry Hart; Julianne Moore as Poppy Adams; Mark Strong as Merlin; Halle Berry as Ginger Ale; Pedro Pascal as Whiskey; Channing Tatum as Tequila; Jeff Bridges as Champagne; Edward Holcroft as Charlie; Hanna Alström as Princess Tilde; Bruce Greenwood as President of the United States; Emily Watson as Chief of Staff Fox; Elton John as himself

Home Release Date

• December 12, 2017
• Matthew Vaughn

Distributor

• 20th Century Fox

Movie Review

Downsizing is a common worry in our hyper-competitive world. Still, few businesses have experienced the ruthless cuts that Kingsman has.

Kingsman—a high-class London clothier that also serves as a super-secret freelance spy outfit—recently suffered a series of unfortunate (and quite literal) terminations, courtesy of villainess Poppy Adams and her illicit drug cartel. Most of Kingsman’s superspies were axed (or, rather, blown up). And picking up the pieces isn’t possible; given the itty-bitty pieces they were blown into. The erudite English agency is, for all intents and purposes, gone.

Only one traditional agent—Eggsy, a relatively new member of Kingsman—was left unscathed, joined in the land of the living by Merlin, the Kingsman’s IT wizard.

Hey, it’s hard to save the world most days. But save it with a skeleton workforce? Yeah, forget it. Even the founders of Kingsman seemed to know when to call it a day. When Eggsy and Merlin pursue Kingsman’s last-ditch “Doomsday” scenario—what to do, apparently, if most of the agents have been killed by a nefarious drug kingpin—it leads to a bottle of well-aged Statesman whiskey. Nothing to do now but drink one’s cares away, apparently.

But as Eggsy and Merlin empty the bottle, drinking tearful toasts to their fallen comrades, they discover a telltale Kingsman symbol hidden at the bottom. Is it possible that this American whiskey distillery might hold the key to their salvation? Could this quaint Kentucky alcohol emporium hide an incredible spy network, too?! AND COULD THAT STATESMAN HOUSE HARRY, EGGSY’S BELOVED MENTOR, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS APPARENTLY SHOT IN THE HEAD AND KILLED IN THE FIRST MOVIE???!!!

Eggsy’s beloved mentor once said that “manners maketh man.” I believe that Kingsman’ s creators have a different motto: “Unbelievably dubious moments maketh movie.”

Positive Elements

Eggsy and his creative cadre of covert cutthroats are certainly out to do some good here (even as they do some pretty bad things along the way). In this case, that means saving perhaps millions of lives.

Eggsy cares deeply for his friends (both inside and out of Kingsman) and, especially, his girlfriend, Princess Tilde. He wants to do right by her, and when it looks like his duty as a spy might force him into a compromising situation (more on that in Sexual Content), he protests mightily and tries to handle it as ethically as the (admittedly ludicrous) scenario allows him to.

Naturally, he risks his life at times, as do others. Indeed, one character makes what appears to be the ultimate sacrifice. (‘Course, considering that this film brought back at least two apparently dead people, you never know.)

Spiritual Elements

We see a wedding in a church. One of Poppy’s evil henchmen is given a new robotic arm, which Poppy has nicknamed “Arm-a-geddon.” Someone says, “God help us all.” A song lyric includes the words, “almost heaven.”

Sexual Content

As mentioned, Eggsy is in a steady, sexual relationship with Princess Tilde. When Eggsy’s about to leave for “work,” Tilde suggests she’ll reward him later: “If you save the world, you know what that means,” she says.

But to save the world, the forces of good will have to track the girlfriend of an evil Poppy henchman. And to do that, apparently, they’ll need to use a condom-like sheathe (meant to be worn on the finger, actually) and put it in contact with a particular mucus membrane (accessed through her vagina).

Two agents are tasked with the duty, and both flirt with the woman. But she takes a particular shine to Eggsy, leading him into her boudoir. Eggsy isn’t keen on sleeping with someone behind Tilde’s back, so he calls Tilde for permission: Tilde withholds that permission unless she receives a promise from him that they’ll be in a permanent, committed relationship from then on. Eggsy balks and Tilde hangs up.

But duty still calls, and Eggsy eventually makes out with the woman (who’s shown in her bra and panties). We see his hand near her underwear. Before sexual contact is made, the camera zooms closer still, CSI-style , then provides an internal glimpse of the tiny tracking device being inserted into the woman’s anatomy.

When Eggsy excuses himself to urinate, the woman invites him to do so over her.

A male spy lies around and dances in underwear. Another guy strips off his shirt. Elton John—a captive of Poppy’s—blows an air kiss toward a male spy.

Violent Content

I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to work for Poppy. We see her introduce a new employee to the team: His first official duty is to take the guy who recruited him (he apparently violated some undisclosed policy) and stuff him into a huge meat grinder. (Shredded clothes shoot out one vent while ground meat piles out of another; his legs stick comically out of the top.)

Then the new guy has his teeth (painfully) filed down, his fingerprints (painfully) excised with a laser and is forced to endure a (painful) tattoo procedure, wherein a circle of pure gold is seared permanently into his skin. (Seems a odd that Poppy’s organization would take such literal pains to eliminate any identifying marks on employees, then brand them with a super-identifying golden hoop, but whatever.) When that’s all done, the guy returns to Poppy, who promptly serves him a burger that (it’s suggested) is made from the meat from the guy who’s just been shredded.

And that’s what happens to a fellow in Poppy’s good graces. Those who run afoul of Poppy are sometimes literally torn apart by her mechanical dogs (“Benny” and “Jet”) or stuffed into her aforementioned meat grinder. Other occupational hazards include being shot, stabbed or blown up.

She even treats her customers terribly: Her illicit products have been laced with additional drugs that unleash a terrible disease. First, the victim’s skin grows lined with blue streaks. Then, after a time, they lurch into spasms (which looks remarkably like dancing). Then they’re paralyzed: When that paralysis reaches a certain point, their eyes explode and blood oozes like a fountain out their noses. (We see the disease become gorily terminal at least three times.) We learn that millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, have been stricken with this semi-self-inflicted plague.

But Poppy’s far from the only one killing and hurting here. Eggsy and other good-guy spies shoot, stab and sometimes blow up others. Eggsy snaps someone’s neck in cold blood, and he may purposefully give someone a fatal overdose.

Several frenetic fight scenes involving fists, feet and all manner of fighting implements. We see arms (both regular and mechanical) ripped off. Someone gets sliced in half by an electrified lasso. Another person (besides the one already mentioned) is tossed in the meat grinder. Others are apparently skewered by a gigantic pair of scissors. Someone nearly drowns in a flooded room. Dogs are threatened with guns. Elton John knocks someone out with a piano lid and kicks another person in the face with a sequined platform boot. We see Harry’s horrific eye wound a couple of times.

Crude or Profane Language

Characters utter about 75 f-words, another 20 s-words and pretty much every other swear word you might know, including “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “h—,” “p–s,” “pr–k,” “d–k,” “f-g,” as well as British crudities such “bloody” and “b-llocks.” God’s name is misused at least four times, once with “d–n,” while Jesus’ name is abused twice.

Drug and Alcohol Content

In The Golden Circle , an illicit drug cartel goes to war with a prominent whiskey distillery. So yeah, there’s a little drug and alcohol content here.

Let’s begin with the drugs. Poppy apparently grows, manufactures and distributes everything from marijuana to meth to heroin to crack cocaine, and we see her products occasionally. A bag of weed sits on a table where Eggsy and his friends are gathered. One of Eggsy’s friends apparently smokes a bong. Princess Tilde tokes a joint.

Poppy is furious that her product is outlawed. She fumes over the addictive properties of alcohol and sugar in comparison to the comparatively “benign” substances she peddles—losing sight of the fact that she’s made her drugs 100% lethal, I guess. Her master scheme is to force the United States to legalize drugs. And as the film goes on, the telltale blue streaks on people’s faces, makes it clear how many people use Poppy’s wares, from expected victims like one of Eggsy’s friends (“I told you that s— would kill you,” someone tells him) to high-level government officials (who says she needs chemical help to work the 20-hour days demanded of her).

Meanwhile, the Statesman whiskey company—a multi-billion-dollar operation, we’re told—sells its wares without legal constraint, and whiskey flows through the organization’s veins. Agents are codenamed everything from Champagne to Whiskey to Tequila (their IT specialist goes by the moniker Ginger Ale); whiskey is present and quaffed at every meeting; the organization’s secret hideout is accessed by a massive whiskey barrel.

[ Spoiler Warning ] Poppy’s activities trigger some ancillary villainy. The President of the United States secretly wants to allow those afflicted with Poppy’s disease to die, thus eliminating the country’s drug problem. “Let the junkie scum go down in flames!” he says. An agent within Statesman also wants Poppy’s plan to succeed: Without drugs to dilute the market for mind-bending substances, he reasons, the stock for Statesman should go through the roof.

Eggsy and Merlin get drunk drinking a bottle of Statesman whiskey in honor of their dead friends and coworkers. Harry and Eggsy quaff a martini. Eggsy drinks a couple of drinks at a Kentucky bar—glasses of whiskey the waitress calls “martinis.” People chew tobacco. Champagne, leader of the Statesman spy organization, dips his finger in whiskey and brushes it against his upper lip regularly—an effort, apparently, to smell the liquor all the time.

Other Negative Elements

Eggsy escapes from a tight spot through a disgusting sewer tunnel, returning home covered in brown, smelly filth. (He asks for a kiss from girlfriend Tilde, who almost acquiesces.) Later, in another tight spot, he excuses himself to urinate, and we see him sitting on a toilet (though fully clothed and just talking). Someone talks about a bowel movement.

If I had one word to describe Kingsman: The Golden Circle, what would it be? Good? Bad? Terrible?

Let me bypass all those descriptors in favor of another: frustrating .

Look, I have a certain soft spot for James Bond movies. I watched the television versions of them with my dad. My grandma was a huge Bond fan. And so in spite of the films’ gratuitous content and questionable morals, subconsciously I associate the superspy with good family times.

The Kingsman movies are, on one level, witty Bond homages, filled with nods to 007 and his array of improbable-but-insanely-cool gadgets. The fight scenes are well-choreographed exercises in outlandish extremes. And sometimes, these movies offer unexpected messages in maturity.

But here’s the thing: Both Kingsman movies stuff in insane amounts of objectionable content. Sure, that’s partly to augment the Bond-turned-up-to-11 vibe, but it also undercuts whatever positives we might plumb here. It’s nice when Harry tells his younger protégé, Eggsy, that he sees in him a fine man who’s reached his potential. Much less nice is watching Eggsy snap the neck of a villain after the villain has clearly been subdued. In the real world, this would be cause for a murder trial. In The Golden Circle , it’s just good fun, I guess.

The language here is abysmal. The violence is insane. A sex scene turns extraordinarily, if rather clinically, intimate. And then, if that wasn’t enough, The Golden Circle dares to moralize in the midst of this controlled chaos. It wants to preach not just on the perils of drug use, but about the war on drugs itself—even as it’s not exactly sure what it wants to say about it. Drugs are terrible! But maybe not so bad! Everyone does them! And what about alcohol, huh?

Kingsman’ s makers may have forgotten that, whatever charms these movies have, it’s in complete and utter escapism, which is wholly defeated by their incoherent moralizing.

Kingsman movies are inherently messy in every which way they can be. The Golden Circle ups the anty and creates another mess of its own making. This film has a license to ill.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – sneering spy spoof sequel

Requiring Taron Egerton to act proves a stretch too far for this unpleasant, poorly plotted follow-up

T his is a code-red warning. I repeat, code red. You may be in the mood for a piece of trashy fun this weekend. You might have embraced the slick anarchy of the first Kingsman movie. But on no account let that persuade you to part with your money for a ticket to this sour-spirited and glib sequel. Taron Egerton returns as Eggsy, newest recruit of the elite secret agency Kingsman. He does a decent job of the two key requirements of the role: wearing suits and hitting people. But an early plot twist requires him to emote, at which point the whole house of cards tumbles down.

I didn’t think it was possible for someone to both grieve and smirk at the same time, but apparently it is. In fact, the whole film is a knowing sneer of a movie that shrugs off its plot holes along with a particularly unsavoury attitude to violence and a tendency to use female characters as the decorative punchline to jokes. Most annoying is that the film ignores the basic rules of physics, with a profoundly stupid cable-car action sequence that gave me the absolute rage.

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‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ review

'kingsman: the golden circle' can't stack bodies high enough to match the original.

Matthew Vaughn spun the spy genre in a new direction with 2015’s surprise hit  Kingsman: The Secret Service , but does the sequel measure up to its predecessor? Read on for our  Kingsman: The Golden Circle review!

For almost as long as there have been spy movies , there have been films that subvert the traditions of the genre. Some go the comedy route, toying with the tropes of classic secret-agent stories, while others attempt to give the old-school aesthetic of James Bond adventures a modern overhaul, filling the screen with slick visual effects, gritty action, and over-the-top characters.

Despite all of these variations on a theme, few films have been as successful as 2015’s  Kingsman: The Secret Service at giving audiences something truly unique in the well-worn genre.

Director Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the Kingsman comic book series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons was an expertly shot, hilariously raunchy, brutally violent, and brilliantly cast “R”-rated adventure that took just about everyone by surprise — to the tune of $414 million worldwide and glowing reviews . It’s also the film that made Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth a bona fide action hero , putting the star of The King’s Speech  at the center of one of the most thrilling fight sequences of the year .

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The fantastic action sequences that were such a thrill to behold in  The Secret Service were no fluke.

All of those accomplishments made a sequel a foregone conclusion, but they also created some pretty big (and impeccably stylish) shoes for this year’s  Kingsman: The Golden Circle to fill. This weekend’s follow-up to  The Secret Service does manage to raise the bar in some areas, but it’s the elements the movie lacks this time around that keep it from replicating the success of that first, wild film.

Directed once again by Vaughn and co-written by Vaughn and his frequent collaborator, Jane Goldman,  The Golden Circle  brings back Taron Egerton as “Eggsy” Unwin, a talented young agent in the secret global spy organization Kingsman. Set four years after the events of  The Secret Service , The Golden Circle pits Eggsy and a small group of Kingsman agents who survive an attack on their organization against a powerful drug cartel run by criminal mastermind Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore). Forced to seek assistance from Statesman, an American version of their organization , the team is eventually reunited with one of their greatest agents, Harry Hart (Colin Firth), who miraculously survived taking a bullet to the head the last time Kingsman saved the world.

If there’s one thing Vaughn proves beyond a doubt in  The Golden Circle , it’s that the fantastic action sequences that were such a thrill to behold in  The Secret Service were no fluke.

The Golden Circle lacks any single set piece as memorable as Firth’s expertly choreographed, masterfully acted takedown of an entire congregation of crazed bible-thumpers in The Secret Service , but it opts instead for quantity of action by packing in noticeably more fight sequences than its predecessor. There’s a sense of reckless momentum that runs through  The Golden Circle , propelling its characters from one stylized gunfight or explosive brawl to the next. Vaughn is clearly comfortable assuming the audience is familiar with the characters at this point, and dispenses with anything that doesn’t serve to set up the next fight scene.

With a running time of just over two hours for  The Golden Circle , that’s a lot of blood-spattered headshots and choreographed brawls, so it’s fortunate that Vaughn is so skilled at making ultra-violence so entertaining.

Although Julianne Moore’s wacky kingpin is entertaining, neither her character nor her character’s primary henchman — played by returning cast member Edward Holcroft — come close to holding your attention as well as Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Boutella did in the first film, and the absence of that energy creates a void in  The Golden Circle . Moore is a tremendously talented actress, but whether it’s a lack of screen time or simply an ill-fitted role, her villain never musters much in the way of menace and the film suffers for it.

Given how much inspiration the  Kingsman films take from James Bond’s big-screen adventures — which are often defined as much by their villains as their super-spy hero — it makes sense that  The Golden Circle suffers for its lack of a truly effective villain, but it’s disappointing all the same.

At times during  The Golden Circle , it seems as if Vaughn realizes something is missing from the film, and compensates by cramming in a long list of high-profile supporting characters.

Channing Tatum’s rifle-toting Agent Tequila is frustratingly underused, while Elton John (yes, that Elton John) overstays his welcome with a role that goes far beyond a simple cameo and stretches what was initially a decent joke a bit too far. Returning actor Mark Strong feels shortchanged with his screen time as Kingsman operations expert Merlin after a strong introduction in The Secret Service , and a host of other characters — including those played by Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges — are introduced at various points only to seemingly disappear into the background or become bullet fodder (or worse) as the story speeds along.

One exception to the list of forgettable characters is Pedro Pascal’s whip-cracking, lasso-twirling Agent Whiskey.

The Game of Thrones and  Narcos actor makes the best of the screen time he’s given with a fun performance that’s memorable for all the right reasons, and his character’s skills as a rope-handler (whips and lassos are his specialty) provide some of the film’s most clever, eye-catching action sequences. Pascal’s character feels right at home in the over-the-top world of Vaughn’s  Kingsman films, and his action scenes — and dialogue — provide some of the film’s best moments.

As for franchise star Egerton,  The Golden Circle is willing to let Eggsy carry the film on his shoulders, and for the most part, he does a good job of it.

Firth doesn’t steal the show this time around.

The base level for action in  The Golden Circle  is ratcheted up a bit from the original film (which is no small feat, given how exciting  The Secret Service was), and Egerton doesn’t miss a beat as he’s called upon to pull off some impressive sequences. His chemistry with Firth is also quite good, and Vaughn is smart to have the two actors share the screen as often as possible.

Firth doesn’t steal the show this time around, but a sequence late in the film that has the two Kingsman agents cooperatively battling a common enemy is a masterpiece of choreography and camera work that does well by both actors.

Despite increasing the level of gore and raunchiness,  The Golden Circle  still feels noticeably tamer than its predecessor, which reveled in going off the rails whenever possible and busting the conventions of the super-spy genre. All too often, Vaughn’s sequel seems content to fall back on visual effects and an exponentially higher body count as a distraction from the movie’s flaws, but what’s underneath all of that visual spectacle simply isn’t as strong this time around.

In the end, there’s a lot that works well in  The Golden Circle , but given the wonderfully clever way Vaughn and his cast created something fresh and new out of a well-worn genre in  The Secret Service , it’s difficult not to expect something more — not the same, and certainly not less — from that film’s successor.

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‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service ’s lead actors return, reuniting with director Matthew Vaughn on the much-anticipated sequel. They’re joined by a pack of big name actors including Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore , Halle Berry, Channing Tatum , and Narcos ‘ Pedro Pascal. The presence of so much talent must have made it difficult to cut out unnecessary storylines. There are simply too many supporting characters squeezed into the mix, leaving the main plotline short-changed and feeling incomplete. Throw in Sir Elton John as a kidnap victim and even with a two-and-a-half hour running time, there’s no way to flesh out the story enough to fill in all the plot holes.

The villain at the heart of the action is Poppy (Moore), the narcissistic, sadistic leader of a drug cartel who longs to be acknowledged as one of the world’s shrewdest businesswomen. She’s built a secret hideaway filled with buildings that look lifted from the sets of Happy Days and Grease . Poppy’s office is in a vinyl and chrome diner and her henchmen patrol the grounds wearing leathermen jackets. Poppy’s desire for world domination )and admiration) via the illegal drug trade leads to a deal with the President of the United States, a deal which the President agrees to but has no intention of carrying through on. It seems Poppy has a plan to make drugs legal, but first she has to wipe out all the Kingsman.

Fortunately for Eggsy ( Taron Egerton ) and Merlin ( Mark Strong ), Poppy’s plan doesn’t involve getting rid of the American cousins of the Kingsman, the Statesman. A Kentucky distillery is their base and Eggsy and Merlin make their way to the U.S. where they team up with their American counterparts, each named after liquor. They also discover Harry ( Colin Firth ) is not dead and is being cared for by the Statesman while they attempt to cure him of his amnesia.

While saving the world from Poppy’s devious, demented plan takes up a fair amount of his time, Eggsy is also dealing with meeting the disapproving parents of his girlfriend, a Swedish princess. Eggsy’s also determined to get his friend and mentor, Harry, back into the spy game.

Pedro Pascal’s ‘Whiskey’ is wicked with a whip, Channing Tatum’s ‘Tequila’ pops in and out of the film much too quickly, and Halle Berry’s ‘Ginger Ale’ has to play second-fiddle to the men even though she can outsmart them all. Jeff Bridges is ‘Champagne,’ the leader of the Statesman who agrees to working with the agency’s British counterparts. The performances by the Kingsman newbies are fine, but none can replace the chemistry among the original 2014 Kingsman team.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle works best when Egerton and Strong are paired up, or when the Kingsman trio of Egerton, Strong, and Firth are front and center. Of the many supporting players thrown into the mix in this sequel, surprisingly it’s Sir Elton John who delivers the most enjoyable performance. Elton John even gets to kick a little ass in high-heeled boots and his trademark outlandish costumes.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle tries to do too much and loses much of what made the original film such a huge hit. The first film was a fun, frenetic, fish-out-of-water story; the sequel feels jaded and restrained.

MPAA Rating: R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual material

Release Date: September 22, 2017

Running Time: 141 minutes

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