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The Year of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” Continues In Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Movie Review)

First there was Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass in 2010 and then there was Kingsman: The Secret Service (Aaron Neuwirth’s review of it all here and mine) in 2014.  Needless to say I’m a big fan of both.   Now we have a September 22nd sequel titled Kingsman: The Golden Circle.  This is one film I can’t say enough good things about way before I even sat my butt down in the press screening’s theater seat this past week.  You see I was one of the lucky ones to be able to attend the Hall H Comic-Con panel in San Diego for this action spy flick this past July (see Jordan Grout’s coverage of it all here).  Not only did I get a unique tuxedo t-shirt and a rad Kingsman spinner, but I also witnessed the entire opening sequence, which is quite breathtaking, and two awesome clips that whet my appetite greater than the thought of Red Robin’s steak fries covered in that yummy sodium laced seasoning of theirs.  You picking up what I’m dropping?  While Kingsman: The Golden Circle may not include the exotic mummy, Sofia Boutella, this time around (for obvious reasons) it does have one hell of an all-star studded lineup.  If you choose to accept this mission, then let me fill you in on everything below.

Once again this newest Kingsman entry is co-written, co-produced and directed by Matthew Vaughn.   As stated up above Kingsman: The Golden Circle is officially the sequel to the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service.  It’s based on the comic book of the same name, created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar.  Also like the first flick, the screenplay was written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman.  Now remember what I said up above about the big, all-star names in this one?  Well I wasn’t pulling your proverbial leg.  The film stars Colin Firth (yes he’s back), the very awesome Julianne Moore, the stoic Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Halle Berry (one of my favorites), Sir Elton John, Channing Tatum and the Dude Jeff Bridges.  How’s that for one hell of a line-up?  No words are needed.  I know!

I’m operating under the assumption here that everyone has at least seen Kingsman: The Secret Service once.  If not, you need to stop reading this, drop everything you’re doing and order the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of it right here.  Therefore, I’m going to dispense with any coverage of the backstory here.   So in this newest entry, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, our matured heroes face a brand new challenge.  In a nutshell their headquarters are destroyed, agents are annihilated (think in terms of G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and “some” of the world is basically held hostage by yet another lunatic.  One thing leads to another and the Kingsman discover an allied spy organization in the US of A called Statesman.  This secret organization dates back to the day they were both founded.  Think of this as a Batman v Superman kind of tale.  Both are adversaries so to speak upon first meeting, but these two elite forces have to band together to defeat a vindictive common enemy in order to you guessed it…save the world.  Now let me tell you something about this common enemy.  She is ruthless.  Yes, I said she!  She is the forever radiant Julianne Moore.

Let’s talk about the bad first here so you don’t get sick of all my gloating right away.  Don’t worry as this will be very brief.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a very ambitious tale and it sets out to do a lot of things, which is not always a good thing.  However, isn’t that what a sequel is supposed to do in terms of trying to always outdo its predecessor?  It does, and I admit this, feel a bit bloated and ultra familiar at times.  I will also admit to the fact that certain sequences do run long, overstay their welcome and it can easily be trimmed down a bit in places.  Last but not least, certain cast members are barely in it, but that’s all folks.  That’s all the negatives I have to say about this one.  If you can get past these minor nitpicks, I think you’ll have a blast with this one as The Golden Circle tops the first entry in heart (emotionally speaking), comedy and most importantly, insane death defying action.  In other words it has all the right ingredients to keep you wanting more from hopefully a third installment.  Fingers crossed.  I know I’m game.

What I love most about this sequel is the fact that the rules of the Kingsman world are already established in the first one.  Therefore, having the utmost of fun is highly encouraged throughout this one since everyone’s ultra familiar with things.  While the stakes may not be as high as say ending the world’s population in the first one, the action definitely does not take a backseat at all.  From the opening, heart pounding intro to film’s pulse pounding, donut spinning conclusion The Golden Circle perfects its craft in providing you the most wild, insane and over-the-top fight sequences you have ever seen.  Think of that church scene from the first movie.  Now times that by four and you have the mayhem of The Golden Circle.  Nothing will prepare you for what you’re going to see and the possible fun you can have with it all IF you let yourself.  However, if you’re not out of breath at times from everything transpiring onscreen, then you better check yourself because you have no pulse.  This one brings on heart palpitations, but in a very fun way (if that makes any sense).

Next I want to chat briefly about the chemistry here.  If he didn’t before, no argument can be made here that Taron does not own his role as Galahad.  His smile, posture and charisma are larger than life and this guy just knows how to have fun while looking like a million bucks busting up the bad guys.  The tailor manages to fit him perfectly here.  And tell me folks.  Who here does not want to see Elton John taking down baddies with Colin Firth?  Crickets!  That’s what I thought.  This all-star cast is near perfect throughout as old relationships from the first film are developed further and new alliances are forged here.  If I had my way, the one actor I feel that was really underutilized here would be that of Jeff Bridges.  That’s not a slam to him as an actor, but they didn’t really give him too much to work with here.  Otherwise, I truly had a blast with the ensemble cast here and you can never have too much of the smiling, denim wearing Channing Tatum either.  He even gets to dance too.  I wanted more!  Truth be told it never felt crowded because all the actors were either eliciting the many laughs to be had here and/or keeping the action wild and crazy.  Last but not least, there’s always the forever beautiful Julianne Moore to take in here too.  She never looked better being so diabolical.  Even if you’re vegetarian, I don’t think anyone in their right mind could ever turn down one of her famous Poppy’s burgers.

All in all, the F-U-N factor outweighs any of the negatives here for me with Kingsman: The Golden Circle.  The case can be made that yes some dialog and emotional charged sequences dragged on and the movie could have been shorter, but we need to appreciate what we have here folks.  We have a second RATED-R entry to have insane fun with here.  Ever since the 80s and 90s left us these kind of films are rare these days.  Everyone’s so PC and uptight nowadays.  We need to get behind these kind of flicks and support them theatrically.  I mean would you rather have a watered down PG-13 feature where a bullet’s impact does not produce a single drop of blood?  Or would you rather be able to flex your muscles, let your hair down and drop an F-bomb whenever you want and throw a guy in a meat grinder for good grotesque measure?  I know what my choice would be.  What say you?  If it’s the latter, then don’t think about walking.  Instead I want you to run to the cinemas this week like your life depended upon it and seek out Kingsman: The Golden Circle.  It’s DNA is familiar enough from the first, but it’s action sequences are on a whole other unGodly level.  I mean you practically have a lightsaber lasso to contend with here.  I can’t wait to see how they top this one in a hopeful next entry.  Enjoy!

P.S. For those that are counting this is the year of John Denver and “Country Road” (previously Alien: Covenant and Logan Lucky).  I’m just sayin’

Brian White

Owner/Writer/Reviewer/Editor, Dreamer, Producer, Agent of Love, Film Lover, Writer of Screenplays and a Devoted Apostle to all things Ford Mustangs (the real ones with V8's!). Some of my favorite films include FIGHT CLUB, MOULIN ROUGE, THE DARK KNIGHT, STAR WARS alongside television shows such as SEINFELD, 24, SANFORD & SON and even the often loathed in the geek community BIG BANG THEORY. Outside of my three lives I live I also enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our three girls (of the furry kind).