Kingsman: The Golden Circle Review, and… Elton John!

Back in 2014’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, directed by Vaughn from a screenplay co-written with Jane Goldman and based on a comic by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, was a riotous spy spoof. Colin Firth made a surprisingly steely secret agent, while debutante Taron Egerton burned up the screen as his streetwise protégé–Eggsy. Packed with nifty, adrenaline-pumping action, it was fun and funny and successfully transcended its spoofy James Bond roots to create a world of its own. “Kingsman” became a deserved breakout hit.

New sequel “The Golden Circle”, again written by Goldman and Vaughn, one-ups the original film with the introduction of a team of American spies, a new villain and even more insane action.

The first film gave us the Kingsmen, a society of spies outfitted with British-isms that turned into weapons — armoured tailoring, high-tech London taxis and bulletproof umbrellas. The sequel does the same for American iconography, introducing the all-American Statesmen decked out in souped-up Stetsons and electrified lassos. These gimmicks are as broad, silly and enjoyable as the first film’s. (A shootout involving twirling six-guns is one highlight).

After losing Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and saving the world, Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) has settled into life as a full blown Kingsman agent, taking up the title of Code-named Galahad, Eggsy is now a full-fledged member of the Kingsmen.

Eggsy is living in Harry’s old home with his girlfriend, the Swedish Princesse Tilde (Hanna Alström), and going about his business of working for a secret spy organization.

However, Eggsy’s old nemesis Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft) surfaces and complicates the new normal. When Roxy, aka Agent Lancelot (Sophie Cookson), discovers that Charlie is working with the drug cartel known as the Golden Circle, the criminal organization’s leader, named Poppy, who’s played by Julianne Moore with a psycho June Cleaver sweet tooth for ’50s nostalgia. She is a icily saccharine as the sweet-smiling villain.

Poppy has laced her product with a virus that turns its users into dancing fools with blue spider veins. Why? Who knows. Wait! We do… it’s so she can get drugs legalised and to have her become a legitmet C.E.O who is respected in the wider world of corporate America. Oh, and she just wants to go home. Moore plays Poppy with all the disarmingly upbeat confidence needed by a woman in power, but the character’s plan to reach her ultimate goal and her business practices are nothing short of brutal – and, to be sure, Moore’s villain is incredibly fun to watch.

She is, joined by –deep breath– Halle Berry, Mr C Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal, and Michael Gambon (Minor role–replacing Michael Caine as the head of Kingsman and, believe it or not, breakout act of the year–Elton F***ing John. (When you watch the film, you will understand the swearing).

Mark Strong returns as Merlin (all teary-eyed by the end of the film, for the budding English actor, and his ultimate ‘own’ sacrifice he makes). We are not getting into how a certain character—psst!—returns from the dead. Okay, it involves our old friend, amnesia.

While Poppy is a well developed and fully fleshed out villain, the Statesman agents don’t quite get the same treatment. To be sure, Tatum, Pascal, and Bridges play the parts of charming southern gentlemen exceptionally well, and work excellently as American foils to the likes of Egerton, Strong, and Firth.

When Poppy’s evil plan is revealed, the surviving members of Kingsman and Statesman must work together to save the world. However, with so much working against him and his allies – a changed Harry Hart, a potential double agent within one of the spy organizations, and a particularly incompetent U.S. President – Eggsy has his work cut out for him.

They all seem to be having a blast, but… none of them are particularly stretched. Berry is particularly neglected, in a role that comes nowhere near making up for her part in the worst Bond film (possibly) ever seen on the screen!

The sequel gives us bucket loads of gimmicks but no really, interesting conflict to go on. Yes, We meet the villain (Julianne Moore) right at the start, and we see how she can literally blow all the Kingsman away by guided missiles, and say goodbye by the underused, Agent Lancelot, but don’t find out her plan until much later in the film.

Also, a couple of the big-name characters are introduced then pretty much disappear, especially Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges. Both the goodies and the baddies spend a surprising amount of time lounging about in their respective bases, without much narrative urgency.

With a cast that includes, Colin Firth, Channing Tatum and Julianne Moore, does this star-studded spy sequel… earn its license to kill?

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a fun (not the greatest follow-up movie) ever to follow in a franchise. But Matthew Vaughn’s bespoke secret-agent follow-up is a decent attempt and absurd to recreate the success of the first Kingsman movie.

For the most part, The Golden Circle is a solid second installment in the Kingsman franchise. Some parts are–too campy, tonally a barrage of idiotic plot twists, a funny Elton John star cameo, and over-the-top gags that are as entertaining as in the first movie.

The Golden Circle is an excellent follow-up to The Secret Service and perfect for fans of the first Kingsman movie. If it continues to develop the compelling characters of Eggsy and Harry as established in The Secret Service (with a particularly memorable turn for Strong as Merlin), while building out the world of the Kingsman to include the Statesman, then we are in for one helluva lot of fun and enjoyment to be had in the further adventures of Eggsy and his new generation of spy film – and that the Kingsman franchise has serious potential staying power.