Kingsman: The Secret Service was very much in tune with director Matthew Vaughn's other Mark Millar adaptation: Kick-Ass. Both films were refreshing bits of mud in the eye of their respective genres while also being genuinely great in their own right. Heck, Kingsman was arguably better at providing what people love about the genre it was satirizing than the real deal, considering that the bland disappointment that was Spectre came out around the same time. As is the case with sequels (especially with Kick Ass 2), this film doesn't reach the same level of the first entry even though its still a fun time in its own way and is probably more out there/over-the-top than its predecessor.
Of course, a lot of this ridiculousness is buoyed by stellar work from the cast. Taron Egerton continues to be a winning screen presence with plenty of charm and good humor. Colin Firth and Mark Strong bring an equal level of dignified class and raw awesomeness. Then, there's the Statesmen. To sum it up quickly, the stuff with them is pretty inventive despite their limited screentime. And then, there's Julianne Moore as the film's antagonist. Her performance is best described as Pablo Escobar by way of a 1950s sitcom mother. This unique persona combined with a delightfully pitch-black sense of comedy and a gleefully cartoonish arsenal. Arguably, she's a better/more memorable villain here than Samuel L. Jackson was in the first movie. Then again, Moore has the advantage of a jungle-50s hometown hybrid lair and two terrifying yet adorable robotic guard dogs. Also, Elton John just won Cameo of the Year in my book.
Once again, the action is a gloriously spectacle. Not only because of their outlandish nature on paper, but also because Matthew Vaughn continues to effortlessly display his chops as one of the most visionary artists in the realm of modern action cinema. Everything from the intimate camerawork to the to the excellent use of , his approach is like the best remix of what's come before with his own new, individual tools for good measure. His action setpieces feel like they were thought up by a 12-year-old on the ultimate sugar high and I mean that in the most positive way possible. Going back to Elton John for a moment, the climactic jungle battle set to one of his most electrifying tunes is so energetic and amusing, I'm confident in saying that it reaches the same insane heights as the first one's infamous Free Bird church brawl. Meanwhile, The Golden Circle continues the first film's streak of cheekily vulgar comedic style. Yes, in case you're wondering, they do indeed one-up the Princess Joke. Granted, I wasn't that shocked by it considering that I knew about it ahead of time and that I was too busy being startled by the fact that some misguided individual decided to bring their young child to this sublime cavalcade of violence and depravity. Nevertheless, I still admire the gumption of the cast and crew to use a portion of the $100 million budget to put something so shamelessly salacious to celluloid.
My only gripes consist of a few great characters from the first film being kind of wasted (lets just hope that what happens here is simply a red herring and they do come back in a potential third flick) and it does occasionally feel like its going through the motions. Still, that doesn't hold it back from being great fun and maybe a second sequel could bring more new interesting ideas to the table.
Ultimately, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is essentially what's expected of a sequel. It's bigger, bolder and even more brash than the first one (which is admittedly quite an impressive feat). Is it better than the first? No, because it doesn't feel as fresh or as, for lack of a better word, restrained as the original. Regardless, this is still an absolute hoot that puts a lot of other action movies out at the moment to shame.
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE gets a...
GOOD TIME out of TEN
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