Kingsman: The Golden Circle

DO YOU KNOW WHO'S A DISH? TARON EGERTON IS A DISH. And we're back for the second installment of Kingsman, Kingsman The Golden Circle. Let's get stuck in. Eggsy is back, running the Kingman's Taylor business, got his girlfriend, his friends and his dog and manages to escape ex Kingsman Charlie. Though turns out he's the only one to escape, as we see in the trailer someone, Julianne Moore, bombs Kingsman and him and Merlin are left with their doomsday plan, The Statesmen. 

The style of the film is very much the same as the first. The dare I say it, iconic, church scene in the first is mimicked multiple times throughout Golden Circle. The following of arms, legs, faces, weapons as the action moves, sometimes in close quarters. Yes it's impressive camerawork and editing but it's a bit overwhelming. Though on the contrary because it's used so frequently it becomes the standard, and almost less effective. One of the things I enjoy about the film, and others of the same suite, is the framing of some shots. I noticed this in the trailer, there are some frames of the film that look straight from a comic strip, because they are. Kingsman's first volume was released in 2012 followed by Kingsman: The Red Diamond next year. I enjoy this and some of the landscapes and fantasy benefit from it.

Again, similar to the first, the sound was in your face. Loud and to the point. Fits the style and scenes well. Though I will admit most are forgettable. There's a beautiful rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads that you'll remember and of course a song from a flamboyant cameo but that's about it. 

Other than being a babe Taron Egerton is becoming a pretty decent actor. He's endearing and cool and Eggsy, shows a real range of character with everyone he interacts with. Deals with loss, albeit rather briefly and carries himself a little higher than the previous film. He shows growth and kills it with the stunt work. I found there was quite an interesting fighting style, especially for a man. I say that because we don't often see fight scene with the subjects using their entire bodies, I don't just mean kicking I mean uses legs as full force or restraints. Black Widow seems to  swing herself around with her legs all the time but it was great to see some men get in on the gymnastics too. 

There's not a great deal to say about many of the actors because there's so goddamn many of them. Let's reel through, Mark Strong was fantastic, got a decent level of depth to the character that I think strengthens the first films performance. Colin Firth is good but his character is not satisfying, not down to his performance but due to the character just being kind of sad to watch for the most part. Julianne Moore is sickly sweet as the villain Poppy, though the abstract environment and circumstance in which we see her dips in and out of the suspended disbelief of the world. Halle Berry is was good in what felt like 40 seconds of her, same goes for Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges who were in the film surprisingly little considering the ad campaign.

It felt a lot more American, not just because of Pedro Pascal's Southern drawl and lasso wielding showmanship. There's an arrogant president, with an unnecessarily heavy moral question lining the film regarding drug use and a wholly unnecessary novelty trip to Glastonbury to make sure the culture difference is seen. Trust me, going to Glasto did not need to happen, but hey you'll get a close up of a long bodied woman so there we are. 

It's bloated and long, fun yes, original not so much. Suffered from the ever common sequel trope of seeing what you liked in the first and shoving it down your neck in the second (see Gaurdians of the Galaxy 2) 6/10 


CINEMATES - A

Logan Lucky (2017)

In an ideal world, we all know I’d like to start calling Channing Tatum a dish, but let’s discuss the film first, shall we? Trying to make an action/comedy/feel good/crime movie can be either a complete flop, or an utter success. For me, Logan Lucky was the latter.

Logan Lucky is the story of the Logan Family. The first character we meet is Jimmy, a hard-working dad from West Virginia trying to do the best he can for his daughter, as and when he is able to see her. He is told by his ex that they will be moving away so he turns to his brother Clyde, and sister Mellie for support when he plots to steal funds from a speedway company. In order to do this they get in touch with convict Joe Bang, who is known for his successes in this area.

This story seems pretty heavy, but I was really surprised to see that it is actually quite a light, easy film, this however, does not make it any less gripping.

Around 120 minutes long, you have enough time to understand enough about the main characters, and empathise with their situation and warm to their characters. This isn’t so much the case for those in smaller roles, such as sister Mellie – it took me a while at least, to realise she was actually a sister, but this wasn’t necessarily problematic. Although a strong story, it seems to lack in some parts, and this is simply due to things not being clearly explained. For example, I won’t give it away, but something that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from this film because of how the story is set up happens, but I just don’t really understand why it did. Even with flashbacks, and later reflection from the characters, some points just don’t really add up, and perhaps this is something that desired more attention to detail.

As I said above, I think it is definitely a challenge to mix action, and comedy. But this film does it wonderfully. Whether it is the subtle comments made by the characters, or the bigger scenes displayed outrage at the fact that the next A Song of Ice and Fire books are not release (oh man, how I related to this), I think there is something there to suit everyone’s tastes.

The cast, really did do their job. Tatum, who plays Jimmy suited this role perfectly, he really did not struggle to fit this character, or consistently present this. I have never been too sure about Adam Driver, since the only (unfortunately) memorable performance of his for me, is Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens. Sadly, this put me off the idea of anything he is in, but he has gone back up in my good and I can firmly say his performance was impressive. Similarly, I can’t say I’ve ever been stunned by any of Daniel Craig’s performances until now, his character was convincing, and he was definitely suitably casted for the role of Joe Bang. This character – someone determined, criminal, yet extremely witty made this film for me. Probably my favourite part of this.

I can’t say much for the score or cinematography in this film, but honestly – for once this didn’t bother me, I can’t say that I missed there not being an obvious score, simply because there was so much going on. I mean, there was definitely one there, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.

Overall, this was a refreshing bit of cinema, and I’m glad I gave it a chance. Believe the hype it has, but it honestly is worth the watch. Great story, great cast, great film.

7/10.

CINEMATES - S