It's safe to say that Mark Millar is one of the modern Hollywood's biggest creative voices.
His Graphic Novels Wanted (2003) and Kick-Ass (2008) were adapted to the big-screen to great success, Marvel used his Comic book story Civil War (2006) for the third Captain America film, Fox used his last story for Marvel, Old Man Logan, as the inspiration for Hugh Jackman's last Wolverine film, Logan (2017, James Mangold) and in 2015 the most Unexpected hit, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015, Matthew Vaughn), graced cinemas to both critical and financial success. But can director Matthew Vaughn top the previous Kingsman film? And can this franchise prove that it has staying power?
Is this film as good as its predecessor? Well... yes and no. There are parts that it improves on and parts that the creative team let slip. Is it a good film worth watching at the cinema is its own right? Definitely! It has great action, great characters and interesting story plots that will keep audiences intrigued.
Taron Edgerton (Eddie the Eagle, Sing) returns to the role that put him on the mainstream map and brings back the same level of charm and charisma that made audiences fall in love with him and his character. In this film, Eggsy is trying to balance his job as an International Spy and his relationship with Princess Tilde (Hanna Olstrom) from the first film, which was actually a very well portrayed romance as it's a fairly realistic interpretation of one (Well... as real as you can get in a Kingsman film). Although, there were some bits I wasn't too happy with some scenes Eggsy was in. In one bit of the film, he's trying to seduce a Golden Circle member (Poppy Delevigne) so he can plant a tracer on her through her vagina. There's nothing wrong with a sex scene in films but this one went a bit far by following Eggsy's hand down the girl's body and the shot literally goes inside of her... I thought that was a bit much. But Taron Edgerton did as good a job in this film as he did in The Secret Service.
Whilst Edgerton was the breakout star of the first film, many fans would say Colin Firth's (The King's Speech, A Single Man) Harry was the highlight of the whole thing. He had the best lines, the best wardrobe and the best fight scene. But, unfortunately, his character slips a fair bit in this film. Whilst I did like the idea of Harry as an amnesiac after being shot in the head. But he also lost a bit of his likeability. Gone is the stern father figure to Eggsy. Now replaced by a detached, cold character. Even when he's having a heart-to-heart with Eggsy about Tildy it still doesn't really work, which doesn't make sense because this is the one thing that Harry should be good at. I only hope that Harry returns to his former self in the third film.
One thing that really disappointed me about The Golden Circle was its treatment of The Kingsmen themselves. One of the things I was looking forward to for the Kingsman sequel was getting to know more of the Kingsmen. But, unfortunately, all but Eggsy were killed in the first third of the film. Even Roxy (Sophie Cookson), who fans got to know very well in the Secret Service and never got to see in the field, was unceremoniously killed off. But was even more of disheartening was the treatment of Merlin (Mark Strong), who had an arc in the film which was building up to him finally being in the field and then right before he gets his first taste of action he's killed. Although, I will admit that his death scene was quite emotional and handled fairly well. But I really wish that the film had given more screentime for the Kingsmen.
What I really liked the world-building in this sequel. It's one thing that sequels these days kind of fail to do. And the Statesmen are a great example of world-building. Much like how the Kingsmen are a good representation of British stereotypes the Statesmen really encompassed American stereotypes very well. I really liked how their HQ was a distillery, making them a bit more laid back than the Kingsmen and how their code names were alcoholic drinks. Kinda gave them something of a rebellious streak which I liked. That being said, I did have my disappointments with the Statesmen. I thought Channing Tatum's (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street) Agent Tequila would have a bigger role in the film but, unfortunately, he sidelined after about 10 minutes of screen time so a waste of potential there. But overall I really enjoyed the Statesmen.
Possibly the best new character in the film was Pedro Pascal's (Game Of Thrones, Narcos) Agent Whiskey. Pascal gives a really good performance here. From his Southern charm to his incredible action sequences. Agent Whiskey was up there with Harry as great Kingsman characters. However, then the film decides to just treat his character like crap. At the end of the film, it's revealed that Whiskey is indeed a traitor but only because he doesn't want to save drug users as his pregnant wife was killed by a gang of meth-heads. This didn't really bother me in terms of his character because it's a legit reason to want to sabotage the plan to save everyone. But Eggsy and Harry don't even try to sympathise with him or even reason with him. They just kill him off in the most horrific way possible. Granted the action sequence right before was very well done. I just felt his send-off was overkill.
I loved Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore)! She was such a great character. Whenever she was on screen the audience would just be engulfed by her personality. She did have quite a few similarities to Valentine from the first film, such as the physically disabled, yet dangerous, second-hand, strong personality and a desire to have her world-threatening plan come to fruition. But she had enough about her to divide her from Valentine. Whilst he was more of an eccentric entrepreneur she was more a goofy psychopath who gave off more of a cute and bubbly vibe whilst still having that fire behind her eyes. I really loved Poppy and I'm not sure how Vaughn can top her off in the third film.
What Kingsman: The Secret Service was well-known for was its unique style of action. Having long takes that get in close and follows the action. Making the audience feel like they're in the scene themselves. And Kingsman: The Golden Circle has no shortage action like this. Standouts were the very first scene, where the audience gets a terrific fight between Eggsy and Charlie (Edward Holcroft) in a taxi across London, the bar fight with Agent Whiskey, a very good callback to the bar fight from The Secret Service, with an American twist. And then the Finale at Poppy's Lair in South America which is extremely well choreographed and edited to Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright (1973). I would argue that it's almost better than the finale in the previous film. But, sadly, it was let down by the final fight between Eggsy, Harry and Agent Whiskey. Whilst this is a very entertaining and well-done fight in its own right, we just had such a huge finale sequence that it just felt like Vaughn was just keeping the party going even though it had just hit its peak. But nevertheless, there's a great display of action to be seen in this film!
First Thoughts
Taron Edgerton/Eggsy
Colin Firth/Harry
The Kingsmen
The Statesmen
Pedro Pascal/Whiskey
Julianne Moore/Poppy Adams
Action scenes
Conclusion
This film is a great 2 1/2 hour adrenaline rush! It has good characters, great action sequences, world-building and a decent story. However, it doesn't quite live up to the original. Mainly because it lets certain things slip, such as Harry's character traits and the entire Kingsman organisation, and takes some things too far, such as Eggsy's vulgar sex scene. But it's still a film worth seeing at the cinema!
Thank you for reading. What did you think of Kingsman: The Golden Circle? Please leave a comment down below. And if you liked this review then please subscribe for more content.
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