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