Movie Review: Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a dumb, fun action movie. While bigger, louder, and more action-y than the original, it lacks the fresh premise, emotional arc, and character development of the first movie. However, it does feature an impressive array of talent, and a celebrity who’s having the cameo of his life. Overall, it’s an entertaining romp that sets up possible future movies in the franchise.

As in the first film, the Kingsman face a diabolical villain with global reach and a sinister solution to a real-world issue. Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore) wants the war on drugs to end—and will sacrifice millions to achieve her goal. If you’ve seen the trailers, you’ll know that most Kingsman agents and their bases of operation are the first casualties. Cut off from their resources, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) travel to Kentucky, USA for assistance from their “cousins,” the Statesmen.

The Statesmen provide a lot of laughs, especially their codenames: leader Champagne (Jeff Bridges), Tequila (Channing Tatum), and Whiskey (Pedro Pascal). Like Merlin, Ginger Ale (Halle Berry) is the group’s strategist/hacker, hence the non-alcoholic designation. Differences between the two secret agencies are glossed over, since the screenplay’s focus is on Eggsy and his journey – especially after reuniting with his mentor, Harry (Colin Firth). Again, not a spoiler if you’ve watched the trailers.

A lot of the emotional beats from the first movie came from Harry and Merlin’s guidance of Eggsy as he navigates the Kingsman training and the upper crust backgrounds of his fellow candidates. This time, Eggsy's character is fleshed out via his devotion to his steady girlfriend (!). This new romance makes sense, since he’s graduated from the student/teacher dynamic with Harry. However, all relationships in Kingsman: The Golden Circle are given short shrifts in favor of fight scenes.

And boy, the fights are pretty great. It’s hard to choose a favorite – there’s the opening brawl inside a cab, the mandatory bar fight, the besieged safe point, and the Final Battle. Actually, I’d say the best thrills were delivered by a scene that had no fighting at all: the one inside the ski lift. It also ended with a terrific joke.

Yes, we’re here for the spy stuff! Gadgets! Hacking! Impossibly elegant yet brutal fighting! Unnecessarily gruesome deaths! Kingsman: The Golden Circle delivers it all! And as a bonus, it does leave you with a question: how do you feel about drug users? Should they be helped? Punished? Our answers in the past have led us here, in this moment, with crisis after crisis involving substance abuse. What solution could work?

Clearly not the one devised by the cartoonishly evil president (Bruce Greenwood) in the movie!

TL;DR: Crazy fights! Loud noises! Clever quips! Why ask for more? 

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This post brought to you by pizza!