*Originally written September 20th, 2017*
"Manners still maketh a man"
Kingsman: The Golden Circle was one of my most anticipated films of the year. The first was one of my biggest surprises of 2015, and with Vaughn returning to direct this follow up and the same crew also returning, I was pretty excited. I was a little disconcerted by the mixed reviews and the response on Letterboxd all seemed to range between 1 and 2 stars. That, said, I had a fucking blast with The Golden Circle, it was more or less everything I could have wanted or hoped for, while not topping the first.
Taking place a year after the first, The Golden Circle finds Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) seeking help from the American counterpart to Kingsman, the 'Statesmen' after an attack from an organisation called 'The Golden Circle' led by Poppy (Julianne Moore) a '50s obsessed megalomaniac.
I'll get the bad out the way first. There's no denying this sequel is overstuffed, even with its long run-time, they still pack a bit too much into this sequel. Some characters are massively under served. If you were hoping for Roxy from the first film to get an expanded role, then you will be massively disappointed. Channing Tatum's cowboy spy is also brushed aside for a huge chunk of the film, resulting in his role being nothing more than an extended cameo. It also follows a lot of the sames beats as the first film, with just a bit of tweaking.
Aside from that, this sequel is some of the most fun I've had in the cinema all year. It's a balls to the wall, violent, funny and just a fun time at the cinema. It knows what it is and unapologetically runs with it. It's gory, brutal and filled with crude humour, but at the same time it has genuine heart and feels like another loving letter to the spy films of the Roger Moore era.
Taron Egerton feels much more comfortable in his chav turned gentleman spy role. His character is much more refined and it explores him balancing his personal life and spy life a lot more. It was a nice touch to keep the princess he saves at the end of the first film as his girlfriend, especially after that misguided anal sex joke (Which they reference again). It would have been easy to just start fresh with another girl he could sleep with at the end of this film, but keeping the same one was a nice bit of continuity and subverted the norm of these types of films.
There was a big question at how Colin Firth would return as Harry Hart this time rounded, especially considering he suffered fatal gunshot wound to the head from Samuel L Jackson. The way they bring back is fine, I guess. It's not a massive surprise, but they had to get him back into the fold somehow. Anyway, his relationship with Eggsy was the heart of the first film and they did some nice stuff with it here. His character is a shell of his former self thanks to amnesia, but he still manages to have some great moments, especially during the final assault, but they never even try and top the church scene from the first, which is probably for the best.
Speaking of the action, there is a lot more set-pieces than the first and Matthew Vaughn has certainly improved as a director since the last time. The action chaotic, cartoony and brutal, but still so much fun to watch. There might be some not so great CGI mixed in, but the camera flows with action, making it kinetic and breezy while seeming like some long single takes with computer imagery enhancement. Like I said though, nothing comes close to the church scene from the first, but it didn't need to. The set-pieces stand on their own as fresh, fun and inventive, especially that final battle.
Julianne Moore is also clearly having a blast as the '50s obsessed villain with an agenda for making drugs legal and tries to do so by holding the world at ransom. It might be a bit similar to Richmond Valentine, but Moore is so much fun, with her '50s like always fake smiling mother who likes to grind people into hamburgers as punishment. She also has two robot dogs and a kidnapped Elton John (playing himself) for entertainment.
The other side characters also leave an impression. Halle Berry's Ginger is the most shortchanged out the new cast, but they open her role up for a more substantial role in the sequel, but she has some nice moments with Merlin. Mark Strong provides a surprisingly more meaningful role and gets some field work this time around and his story resolves with a genuine emotional punch. Pedro Pascal also has a lot of fun as a Statesmen agent with a lasso and an electric whip. He was definitely one of the coolest new additions of the sequel, I kinda wish they did something different with his character by the end though.
There is a scene in this that has been causing some controversy in the same vain as the anal sex gag from the first, but I didn't have as much of a problem with it, at least it served the plot this time and progressed the film. I guess you should probably know what you're in for at this point, at least it's a step forward from the first overall in that department. Probably could have done with a stronger and not wasted female role in Roxy though.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle might not be as fresh or new as its original, but it doesn't need to be. It's just fun enough to hang out in this over-the-top world with these characters again. I hope Vaughn continues with a third film to conclude this series, because these two films are some of the most fun cinema has ever been.
9/10 Dans
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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