Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Year: 2017
Rating: R
Length: 141 minutes / 2.35 hours
Back when I saw Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was familiar with Matthew Vaughn’s previous directorial work (like Kick-Ass (2010)), so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at how much sex and graphic violence was involved. I was quite impressed by the church fight sequence, but everything felt so over-the-top and ridiculous that I couldn’t take it seriously. Flash forward to its sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). This time, I came in with a slightly different understanding that made me enjoy this movie quite a bit more than its predecessor.
I think the fact that The Secret Service was somewhat derivative of the “coming of age” stories in films like Men in Black (1997) and Ender’s Game (2013) was why I wasn’t necessarily wowed by it. However, with the origin story out of the way, The Golden Circle managed to hit the ground running and proved to be an entertaining romp. Once I realized this franchise is based on the comic books of the same name, I was a bit more forgiving of its cartoonish action and characters. After all, the ridiculous nature of the villains in this series was turned up to the extreme during this outing.
In terms of the action, there were quite a few good set pieces in a similar vein of the church scene and bar scene in the first film, which I appreciated. The addition of a sister organization in the form of the Statesmen was an amusing development, and I enjoyed the numerous cameos by well-known actors, even if most of them felt wasted for how little they were included in this film. In the end, The Golden Circle ramped up the camp and delivered on an entertaining movie that was as hilarious as it was exciting.
A sequel that maximizes the ridiculous elements that worked in the first film, I give Kingsman: The Golden Circle 4.0 stars out of 5.
