Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Starring Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

The Story:
Now a full-fledged Kingsman, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is now in a relationship with a Swedish Princess, and works closely with Merlin (Mark Strong), who is the Kingsman's expert tech support man.  When an old enemy resurfaces, it brings about the destruction of the Kingsman, destroying their home base as well as the tailor shop they operated out of.  Eggy and Merlin go on a search for the culprit, and relies on the United States version of Kingsman - the Statesman - to assist.

The Statesman is run by an alcohol brewing company led by Champagne (Jeff Bridges), and gives the Kingsman his best men: Tequila (Channing Tatum) and Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), to find the evil drug lord Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), who ordered the hit on the Kingsman and hatched a plan to legalize all drugs in the world after unleashing a tainted drug on the market...oh, and also kidnapping Elton John.

The Synopsis:
Matthew Vaughn's original "Kingsman" was an action-packed spectacle that heightened the Bond mantra to a whole new level, including visually stunning action sequences and unique characters, none of which more unique than the original bad guy, played by Samuel L. Jackson.  It was a coming-of-age tale, where elder Kingsman Harry Hart trained the young, unprepared Eggy to become a Kingsman in his own right.  It was a huge success, and very entertaining.

The second film is equally as entertaining, with several exciting action sequences and a longer runtime (2 hours, 20 minutes) that seemed to fly by.  There's nary a beat missed as the first scene involves a thrilling car chase through London, and that's just one of the several elaborate action set pieces.  It's once again James Bond on steroids, with another fascinatingly unique villain.

This time, the Kingsman are decimated when their corporation is caught under surprise attack, and Eggy and Merlin have to track down the culprits without relying on their fancy gadgets and tools.  They find a "in case of emergency" safe that leads them to Kentucky and the Statesman, which is the Kingsman's American cousins.   Even though their ways are much different (Kingsman dress to the nines while the Statesman dress like they just came from a rodeo), they find common ground in stopping Poppy Adams from killing millions o people.

Poppy is the world's most wealthiest drug dealers, but being a drug dealer means she can't be visible and wants her moment in the spotlight.  So she designs a drug that has very adverse side effects starting with blue veins, then eccentricity, paralysis, and ultimately death.  She has a cure, but demands that all drugs be legalized.  There's a side story involving the President of the United States that detracts from the main story and is pretty much the only letdown in the film, except for one other issue...

Elton John.  He plays himself in the film, having been kidnapped by Poppy for her own personal amusement.  While he was funny at first, as the film moves on and his role becomes more important, it becomes less and less funny and more and more irritating.  His role was totally unnecessary, and it seemed like it was added in for low-brow laughs, which were given, but at the cost of entertainment.

Still, those are just two small grievances in an otherwise exciting film.  As I said earlier, the action is virtually non-stop, with several exciting set pieces (from a chase through London to a wintry showdown with numerous bad guys to the final exciting climax), and a mix of slow-motion camerawork with fast-forward moments.  The film did what it set out to do - be an entertaining, action-filled adventure.  The story is also an interesting take on modern culture and the legalization of drugs, where Poppy (in a delicious double entendre name) is the world's biggest drug dealer, but also taints her drugs with a poison that will kill them.  Most of the people infected are younger, but there's some surprising people who succumb to the poison, proving that "not all drug users are bad."

Taron Egerton, Colin Firth and Mark Strong return to reprise their roles, and the three men fit in the film as a finely tailored suit.  They never miss a beat and work well off each other, creating a commodore that's more family-based than work, and that's what really makes the film work.

Adding to the cast is several famous people who also perform brilliantly.  Julianne Moore is the perfect blend of Martha Stewart and Tina Fey, making you laugh as she uses a meat grinder in a way reminiscent of "Fargo's" wood chipper scene, but that's just the beginning of the gross-out moment as she makes the man's friend eat the burger she made from the ground-up meat, and all the while smiling like your mother who just made the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.  She relishes in her role, and her character turns a mountainside in Ecuador to her own private utopia - Poppy Land - with a 50's style diner, old-timey theater (where she forces Elton John to perform) and other classic buildings.  She steals the show, and is one of the few bad guys in film that I wouldn't mind see win.

The Statesman offers a group of well-known actors as well.  Jeff Bridges plays the head of the Statesman, and has the least amount to work with.  He basically spends the whole movie in his office and doesn't really go out in the field.  Channing Tatum is his top agent, but much like his role in "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," it's not as big as you'd expect).  Halle Berry plays Ginger Ale (get it?), who is the Statesman's version of Merlin, who operates their tech support.  The best Statesman, though, is Whiskey, played by Pedro Pascal.  He's the cowboy who uses an electrified lasso and packs double six shooters that he wields better than any wild west hero. 

This isn't your typical Bond-style film.  There's a lot of language, loads of vicious kills (including a meat grinder as well as aforementioned electrified lasso that literally splits men in two), and there's one particular scene that's uncomfortable, but necessary to get the assignment done.  It also answers the most important question the previous film left with, which would be a spoiler if I said anything more, but suffice it to say the question is answered in a realistic, plausible way (well, sort of). 

The Summary:
Once again blending exciting action, tongue-in-cheek humor, an excellent cast and perfect delivery, Matthew Vaughn delivers a sequel that - while not necessarily as good as the original - still holds up and serves as an entertaining way to escape reality for a few hours.

The Score: A