Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Director: Matthre Vaugh
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore
Review by Casey James
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the sequel to the 2014 spy action comedy, Kingsman: The Secret Service, directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. Most can agree that the first film was very fun, humorous, and had some heart to it. As expected from the predecessor and the trailers I was excited to see this one. With a wide range A-list cast (Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, etc.) Kingsman: The Golden Circle strived for what most sequels try to do: bigger and more of everything that made the first one work so well. However, I hate to say I was a little disappointed with how this one turned out as a few aspects didn’t work as much this time.
The trailers did an excellent job of not revealing much of the plot and for anyone who hasn’t seen it, I won’t explain too much, because nobody likes spoilers. From the previews, we could tell that Julianne Moore was going to be the villain of the film hence her detonating a missile that wipes out the Kingsman Mansion/Base. With most of the British organization gone, Eggsy and Merlin seek out the help of the “Statesman,” their American partner organization to help stop the plans of “Poppy” (Julianne Moore). For me, she didn’t live up to how good of a role Samuel L. Jackson played as the first villain, but was still unique in her own way.
Mansion/Base. With most of the British organization gone, Eggsy and Merlin seek out the help of the “Statesman,” their American partner organization to help stop the plans of “Poppy” (Julianne Moore). For me, she didn’t live up to how good of a role Samuel L. Jackson played as the first villain, but was still unique in her own way.
What didn’t work so well for me was how little screen time some of the biggest members of the Statesman group received. Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges are only in a few scenes with very unmemorable lines of dialogue and humor that they could have been utilized much better. The humor from The Secret Service was great and almost every punchline landed well, that I felt Vaughn and Goldman tried to implement even more in this one, crowding scenes with unnecessary jokes that failed to make myself and others around me in the audience laugh. This didn’t stop the film from being a fun “turn your brain off” time. With the few flaws Golden Circle had, I didn’t regret seeing it and will end up purchasing on Blu-ray in the future, just don’t expect it to be as good as the first!
Grade: B-
