LoginKingsman: The Golden Circle Reviews
An average movie
Posted : 5 years, 3 months ago on 6 January 2019 01:13
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this sequel but since I have seen all the other movies directed by Matthew Vaughn and since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, even though I have to admit that I did like 'Kingsman: The Secret Service', I never thought it was really so amazing and I wasn't surprised that this sequel was rather poorly received. Well, eventually, I really struggled to get into this movie. In my opinion, the main issue was that the damned thing was just too long. In fact, while watching this flick, I was thinking about an article I read on the internet claiming that movies, especially action movies, have been become way too long nowadays. Well, even though I didn't completely agree with this assessment, it definitely applied for this movie though. I mean, the plot was pretty generic, which actually made sense since it was pretty much parodying the James Bond franchise, but there is no way that it required almost 140 mins of running time. In fact, the original cut was apparently a whopping 220 minutes long which would have been just ridiculous and so boring to watch. As a result, there were just too many characters involved and, in spite of the overlong running time, many of them were actually wasted and showed up only in a couple of scenes (Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry). Furthermore, Eggsy had just way too many partners when it would have worked much better if he would have been on his own or maybe only with Harry, his mentor who was struggling to find back his game. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, at least, the action scenes did work and it was still watchable but, to be honest, by now, I'm pretty much done with this franchise.
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Kingsman: The Golden Circle review
Posted : 5 years, 8 months ago on 4 August 2018 06:33
Tragically horrendous followup to one of the best send ups of the spy genre in the last few years. Loaded with dumbed down humor, dull dialogue that lacks all the wit and charm of the first, an abominably bad villain, horrible pacing, and a bevy of excess plot lines that were ultimately pointless and terribly dull. This is not even to mentioned the wasted opportunities of indulging in the new characters by focusing on extraneous plot points and silly "side quests".
The actors do the best with what they have but it is not enough to save the film from falling into dire repetition or, worse, complete irrelevance. To top it all off the film is overly long given what it offers up. Failure defined. Shame.
The actors do the best with what they have but it is not enough to save the film from falling into dire repetition or, worse, complete irrelevance. To top it all off the film is overly long given what it offers up. Failure defined. Shame.
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Spy-Kids: The Golden Circle
Posted : 5 years, 9 months ago on 17 July 2018 09:52
Mientras que la primera película fue un genial homenaje al género de espías y con geniales escenas de acción super estilizadas, ésta secuela fue como ver "Spy-Kids".
Es una lástima, tenía una buena pinta y bien pudo haber dado todo para ser una digna secuela, terminó siendo una película de acción más con una historia muy burda. Bien la película cuenta con buenas escenas de acción y el ritmo adecuado para una película de su género, aunque eso no quita los errores que comete.
Sobre el aspecto actoral, es logro y un fallo, pues hay algunas Interpretaciones que son aceptables, otras dejan que desear, en especial la de Julianne Moore; una actriz de gran calibre, pero que nunca tiene suerte a la hora de interpretar a una villana. También eso pasa con los personajes, que algunos se ven interesantes y hasta cierto punto nutre su mundo al dar a conocer otra organización, otros se sienten desaprovechados, como el Agente Tequila que al ser puesto en el póster se podría esperar que tuviera mayor participación en la película, pero se la pasa gran parte de esta enfermo; peor es la villana que quiere matar a los drogadictos para que legalicen sus drogas. Eso no tiene sentido vea por donde se le vea. Y talvez sea bastante subjetivo, pero no entiendo que establezcan que ella posee el mayor cártel de drogas del mundo y que sea poco conocida.
Aunque es cierto que las escenas de acción son su punto fuerte, y que a veces usan una excelente dirección de cámara, no puedo evitar pensar que algunas se sientan gratuitas, como la escena del inicio que solo fue una excusa para establecer que fueron hackeados, la del bar y la pelea final.
El guión es bastante simple, que aunque en la primera película tampoco era la gran cosa, no llegaba al ridículo de esta entrega. Parece que quiere ser tomada en serio, pero no me puedo tomar en serio una película donde los contaminados por un veneno letal hacen bailes pedorros, un agente es salvado por Elton John y obtienen la cura de manera sosa. Llega al punto de que es bastante predecible, sabes que no morirán los conocidos de Eggsy, que el asilo de ancianos no se destruirá, hasta que hay un traidor (Porque claro, lo hubo en la primera película, ¿por qué no también en esta?). La subtrama de la secretaria no termina por aportar nada y la motivación del Agente Whiskey para traicionaron es sumamente forzada (Por no decir irónica, porque la mayoría de accidentes y altercados se relacionan al alcoholismo).
"Kingsman: The Golden Circle" es una secuela que pasa con mucha pena y casi sin gloria. Tenía todo para ser una buena secuela, pero le faltó un guión decente. Bien puedes pasar un buen rato con ella con unas botanas, siempre y cuando no seas crítico con lo que ves. Ó, en su defecto, ve la primera parte.
Es una lástima, tenía una buena pinta y bien pudo haber dado todo para ser una digna secuela, terminó siendo una película de acción más con una historia muy burda. Bien la película cuenta con buenas escenas de acción y el ritmo adecuado para una película de su género, aunque eso no quita los errores que comete.
Sobre el aspecto actoral, es logro y un fallo, pues hay algunas Interpretaciones que son aceptables, otras dejan que desear, en especial la de Julianne Moore; una actriz de gran calibre, pero que nunca tiene suerte a la hora de interpretar a una villana. También eso pasa con los personajes, que algunos se ven interesantes y hasta cierto punto nutre su mundo al dar a conocer otra organización, otros se sienten desaprovechados, como el Agente Tequila que al ser puesto en el póster se podría esperar que tuviera mayor participación en la película, pero se la pasa gran parte de esta enfermo; peor es la villana que quiere matar a los drogadictos para que legalicen sus drogas. Eso no tiene sentido vea por donde se le vea. Y talvez sea bastante subjetivo, pero no entiendo que establezcan que ella posee el mayor cártel de drogas del mundo y que sea poco conocida.
Aunque es cierto que las escenas de acción son su punto fuerte, y que a veces usan una excelente dirección de cámara, no puedo evitar pensar que algunas se sientan gratuitas, como la escena del inicio que solo fue una excusa para establecer que fueron hackeados, la del bar y la pelea final.
El guión es bastante simple, que aunque en la primera película tampoco era la gran cosa, no llegaba al ridículo de esta entrega. Parece que quiere ser tomada en serio, pero no me puedo tomar en serio una película donde los contaminados por un veneno letal hacen bailes pedorros, un agente es salvado por Elton John y obtienen la cura de manera sosa. Llega al punto de que es bastante predecible, sabes que no morirán los conocidos de Eggsy, que el asilo de ancianos no se destruirá, hasta que hay un traidor (Porque claro, lo hubo en la primera película, ¿por qué no también en esta?). La subtrama de la secretaria no termina por aportar nada y la motivación del Agente Whiskey para traicionaron es sumamente forzada (Por no decir irónica, porque la mayoría de accidentes y altercados se relacionan al alcoholismo).
"Kingsman: The Golden Circle" es una secuela que pasa con mucha pena y casi sin gloria. Tenía todo para ser una buena secuela, pero le faltó un guión decente. Bien puedes pasar un buen rato con ella con unas botanas, siempre y cuando no seas crítico con lo que ves. Ó, en su defecto, ve la primera parte.
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Kingsman: The Golden Circle review
Posted : 6 years, 6 months ago on 4 October 2017 05:13
Dumbed down humor, dull dialogue that lacks all the wit and charm of the first, an abominably bad villain, horrible pacing, and excess plotlines that were ultimately pointless make this sequel a complete let down. Shame.
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Kingsman: The Golden Shit
Posted : 6 years, 6 months ago on 3 October 2017 04:37
[English Version]
So, I have recently watch Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle and oh Boy, what a letdown it was.
Before I continue, I would say that I have good expectations about this film, since the first one (the secret service) give a pretty good impresion over all: Fun characters, fast paced action and very well choreographed (the already famous church scene), good acting, kick-ass ost, humor very well implemented, good handling of the drama, and yes, it had like their cliches and problems based on how they develop some scenes with some conveniences, but leaving that aside is a good rule of cool movie which also serves as a small tribute to spy genre.
So, before i tear apart this sequel, I will start with the positive side of things: The music is better than the first movie, the editing and transition of most of the scenes are good, most of the acting (both for the new, old cast and the cameo of famous singer Elton John) are pretty solid, the first minutes of the film are decent, the direction is ok, some action scenes are well done (I will touch this point later on) and....................That's it. Yeah, aside from all that, it's a complete mess of history.
Firstly, the plot is convoluted as fuck, with too many caracthers and thus too many subplots that don't contribute much to the story itself and there are given very little focus on (Eggsy's girlfriend subplot, the main villian's subplot, the traitor subplot, the rebuild of kingsman subplot,etc), the first one although had a very simple and direct plot was very well focused on what he wanted to be: A cool movie that only takes itself serious to some point, which brings me to the next: The constant changes of tone. The first movie was aware that it was ridicolous and only take itself serious to certain degre (given also good drama scenes), BUT HERE, they decide to make the thing 100% serious, which it doesn't work in a story where the main villian it's a crazy cartoon buinesswoman, whose plan it's to take over the world with poison alcohol........because movie (which also makes his way that she. This also makes the jokes somewhat anticlimatic, for example the phone call scene.
For the rest of the cast, they are not saved either: The ones from the previews movie don't learn anything from this adventure, the main villian is a joke that is meant to be taken seriously, the new cast have easy define personalities and little interraction with the main cast (which this last makes me worth shit the turn of the cowboy guy who was a traitor all this time).
And the final climax was so unsatisfactory, the way that they defeat both the main villian and this crew was not only anticlimatic, was also plagued by the worst jokes on the whole film, only to end in "It Just another day in the job" Like all of this epic adventure that suposse to mean something big for the main protagonista and the kingsman, doesn't have any impact whatsoever.
As for the visuals was a hit or a miss: Like I said before, the acting was great, the editing is good, the ost is good, but in other hand the special effects look cheap as hell, the directing made the pacing very slow for a movie that supose to be fast paced, the cinematography was oversaturaed with too many bright colours, and the action was inconsistent (some were good shot and others were difficult to follow).
To Conclude, The Golden Circle is a total mess of a sequel that doesn't stand up to the original or evene another works of the director.
Final Score: 3/10
[Spanish Version]
Asi que vi recientemente Kingsman 2: El Circulo Dorado y Oh dios, qué decepción fue.
Antes de continuar, debo decir que tenia buenas expectativas sobre esta película, ya que la primera (el servicio secreto) me dio una impresión bastante buena: Personajes divertidos, acción de ritmo rápido y muy bien coreografiado (la ya famosa escena de la iglesia) , buena actuación, banda sonora jodedora, humor muy bien implementado, buen manejo del drama, y sí, tenía como sus clichés y problemas basados en cómo desarrollan algunas escenas con algunas comodidades, pero dejando eso de lado buena película rule of cool que también sirve como un pequeño tributo al género del espía.
Por lo tanto, antes de destrozar esta secuela, voy a empezar con el lado positivo de las cosas: La música es mejor que la primera película, la edición y transición de la mayoría de las escenas son buenas, la mayoría de la actuación (tanto para el nuevo, el viejo elenco como para el cameo de famoso cantante Elton John) son bastante sólidos, los primeros minutos de la película son decentes, la dirección está bien, algunas escenas de acción están bien hechas (voy a tocar este punto más tarde) y ...................Eso es todo. Sí, aparte de todo eso, es un completo desastre de la historia.
En primer lugar, la trama es complicada como la mierda, con demasiados personajes y por lo tanto demasiados subtramas que no contribuyen mucho a la historia en sí y se les da muy poco enfoque en (la subtrama de la novia de Eggsy, la subtrama de la villana principal, la subtrama de la recontruccion de los cuarteles de kingsman, etc), la primera aunque tenía una trama muy simple y directa estaba muy bien centrado en lo que quería ser: Una película genial que sólo se toma en serio hasta cierto punto, lo que me lleva a la siguiente: Los constantes cambios de tono. La primera película fue consciente de que era ridícula y sólo se tomaba en serio a cierto grado (dadas también buenas escenas dramáticas), PERO AQUÍ, deciden hacer la cosa 100% seria, lo cual no funciona en una historia donde la principal villana es una empresaria caricaturezca y loca, cuyo plan es tomar el mundo con el alcohol envenenado ........ porque la película lo dice(que también hace que su camino que ella. Esto también hace que las bromas algo anticlimatico, por ejemplo, la escena de la llamada telefónica.
Para el resto del elenco, tampoco se salva: Los de la película anterior no aprenden nada de esta aventura, el villano principal es una broma que quiere ser tomada en serio, el nuevo reparto tiene personalidades fáciles de definir y poca interacciónes con el elenco principal (que este último me hace merecedor de mierda el turno del tipo vaquero que fue un traidor todo este tiempo).
Y el clímax final fue tan insatisfactorio, la forma en que derrotan tanto el villano principal y esta tripulación no sólo fue anticlimatico, también fue plagado por los peores chistes de toda la película, sólo para terminar en "Solo es otro dia en el trabajo" Como toda esta aventura épica que supone significar algo grande para el protagonista principal y a la organizacion de Kingsman, no tiene ningún impacto en absoluto.
En cuanto a lo visual, fue un acierto o fallo: Como dije antes, la actuación fue genial, la edición es buena, el ost es bueno, pero por otro lado los efectos especiales parecen baratos como la mierda, la dirección hizo el ritmo muy lento para una película que se supone que es una historia con un ritmo rápido, la cinematografía estaba saturada de demasiados colores brillantes, y la acción era inconsistente (algunos eran buenos disparos y otros eran difíciles de seguir).
Para concluir, el Círculo Dorado es un desastre total de una secuela que no se opone al original ni a otras obras del director.
Nota Final: 3/10
So, I have recently watch Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle and oh Boy, what a letdown it was.
Before I continue, I would say that I have good expectations about this film, since the first one (the secret service) give a pretty good impresion over all: Fun characters, fast paced action and very well choreographed (the already famous church scene), good acting, kick-ass ost, humor very well implemented, good handling of the drama, and yes, it had like their cliches and problems based on how they develop some scenes with some conveniences, but leaving that aside is a good rule of cool movie which also serves as a small tribute to spy genre.
So, before i tear apart this sequel, I will start with the positive side of things: The music is better than the first movie, the editing and transition of most of the scenes are good, most of the acting (both for the new, old cast and the cameo of famous singer Elton John) are pretty solid, the first minutes of the film are decent, the direction is ok, some action scenes are well done (I will touch this point later on) and....................That's it. Yeah, aside from all that, it's a complete mess of history.
Firstly, the plot is convoluted as fuck, with too many caracthers and thus too many subplots that don't contribute much to the story itself and there are given very little focus on (Eggsy's girlfriend subplot, the main villian's subplot, the traitor subplot, the rebuild of kingsman subplot,etc), the first one although had a very simple and direct plot was very well focused on what he wanted to be: A cool movie that only takes itself serious to some point, which brings me to the next: The constant changes of tone. The first movie was aware that it was ridicolous and only take itself serious to certain degre (given also good drama scenes), BUT HERE, they decide to make the thing 100% serious, which it doesn't work in a story where the main villian it's a crazy cartoon buinesswoman, whose plan it's to take over the world with poison alcohol........because movie (which also makes his way that she. This also makes the jokes somewhat anticlimatic, for example the phone call scene.
For the rest of the cast, they are not saved either: The ones from the previews movie don't learn anything from this adventure, the main villian is a joke that is meant to be taken seriously, the new cast have easy define personalities and little interraction with the main cast (which this last makes me worth shit the turn of the cowboy guy who was a traitor all this time).
And the final climax was so unsatisfactory, the way that they defeat both the main villian and this crew was not only anticlimatic, was also plagued by the worst jokes on the whole film, only to end in "It Just another day in the job" Like all of this epic adventure that suposse to mean something big for the main protagonista and the kingsman, doesn't have any impact whatsoever.
As for the visuals was a hit or a miss: Like I said before, the acting was great, the editing is good, the ost is good, but in other hand the special effects look cheap as hell, the directing made the pacing very slow for a movie that supose to be fast paced, the cinematography was oversaturaed with too many bright colours, and the action was inconsistent (some were good shot and others were difficult to follow).
To Conclude, The Golden Circle is a total mess of a sequel that doesn't stand up to the original or evene another works of the director.
Final Score: 3/10
[Spanish Version]
Asi que vi recientemente Kingsman 2: El Circulo Dorado y Oh dios, qué decepción fue.
Antes de continuar, debo decir que tenia buenas expectativas sobre esta película, ya que la primera (el servicio secreto) me dio una impresión bastante buena: Personajes divertidos, acción de ritmo rápido y muy bien coreografiado (la ya famosa escena de la iglesia) , buena actuación, banda sonora jodedora, humor muy bien implementado, buen manejo del drama, y sí, tenía como sus clichés y problemas basados en cómo desarrollan algunas escenas con algunas comodidades, pero dejando eso de lado buena película rule of cool que también sirve como un pequeño tributo al género del espía.
Por lo tanto, antes de destrozar esta secuela, voy a empezar con el lado positivo de las cosas: La música es mejor que la primera película, la edición y transición de la mayoría de las escenas son buenas, la mayoría de la actuación (tanto para el nuevo, el viejo elenco como para el cameo de famoso cantante Elton John) son bastante sólidos, los primeros minutos de la película son decentes, la dirección está bien, algunas escenas de acción están bien hechas (voy a tocar este punto más tarde) y ...................Eso es todo. Sí, aparte de todo eso, es un completo desastre de la historia.
En primer lugar, la trama es complicada como la mierda, con demasiados personajes y por lo tanto demasiados subtramas que no contribuyen mucho a la historia en sí y se les da muy poco enfoque en (la subtrama de la novia de Eggsy, la subtrama de la villana principal, la subtrama de la recontruccion de los cuarteles de kingsman, etc), la primera aunque tenía una trama muy simple y directa estaba muy bien centrado en lo que quería ser: Una película genial que sólo se toma en serio hasta cierto punto, lo que me lleva a la siguiente: Los constantes cambios de tono. La primera película fue consciente de que era ridícula y sólo se tomaba en serio a cierto grado (dadas también buenas escenas dramáticas), PERO AQUÍ, deciden hacer la cosa 100% seria, lo cual no funciona en una historia donde la principal villana es una empresaria caricaturezca y loca, cuyo plan es tomar el mundo con el alcohol envenenado ........ porque la película lo dice(que también hace que su camino que ella. Esto también hace que las bromas algo anticlimatico, por ejemplo, la escena de la llamada telefónica.
Para el resto del elenco, tampoco se salva: Los de la película anterior no aprenden nada de esta aventura, el villano principal es una broma que quiere ser tomada en serio, el nuevo reparto tiene personalidades fáciles de definir y poca interacciónes con el elenco principal (que este último me hace merecedor de mierda el turno del tipo vaquero que fue un traidor todo este tiempo).
Y el clímax final fue tan insatisfactorio, la forma en que derrotan tanto el villano principal y esta tripulación no sólo fue anticlimatico, también fue plagado por los peores chistes de toda la película, sólo para terminar en "Solo es otro dia en el trabajo" Como toda esta aventura épica que supone significar algo grande para el protagonista principal y a la organizacion de Kingsman, no tiene ningún impacto en absoluto.
En cuanto a lo visual, fue un acierto o fallo: Como dije antes, la actuación fue genial, la edición es buena, el ost es bueno, pero por otro lado los efectos especiales parecen baratos como la mierda, la dirección hizo el ritmo muy lento para una película que se supone que es una historia con un ritmo rápido, la cinematografía estaba saturada de demasiados colores brillantes, y la acción era inconsistente (algunos eran buenos disparos y otros eran difíciles de seguir).
Para concluir, el Círculo Dorado es un desastre total de una secuela que no se opone al original ni a otras obras del director.
Nota Final: 3/10
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Goofy, insanely fun spy satire
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 29 September 2017 10:06
Disclaimer: It's tough to review Kingsman: The Golden Circle without divulging what some may consider to be spoilers. Even though the details in question were spoiled in the trailers, a spoiler warning is nevertheless in place.
Even though sequels have materialised for two of Matthew Vaughn's previous motion pictures, 2017's Kingsman: The Golden Circle denotes the first time that the filmmaker has returned to personally direct a follow-up to one of his own movies. A bold but distinctly organic-feeling sequel to 2015's Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Golden Circle is a goofy, enjoyable return to this world of post-modernist spy movie satire masterminded by comic-book writer Mark Millar. It's filled with flashy gadgets, bawdy humour, energetic ultraviolence, and an array of Oscar-winning actors in supporting roles - and Vaughn's directorial confidence undeniably bolsters the material. In short, fans of the first movie are sure to find some worth in this insanely fun follow-up, but it won't change your mind if you disliked the original surprise hit.
Now comfortable in his role as a world-saving secret agent, Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) also endeavours to have a private life outside of his work, maintaining a relationship with Princess Tilde (Hanna Alström). But when the Kingsman are mysteriously destroyed in a coordinated attack, only Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) are left alive. Following their doomsday protocol, the pair are led to America where they meet with their U.S. counterpart, the Statesman. Run by Champagne (Jeff Bridges), the Statesman offer much-needed assistance to Eggsy and Merlin, with agents Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), Ginger Ale (Halle Berry) and Tequila (Channing Tatum) reporting for duty. In addition, Eggsy is reunited with his presumed-dead mentor, Harry (Colin Firth), who now suffers from amnesia. Evidence behind the Kingsman's destruction points to Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the deranged leader of a major drug cartel who grows tired of hiding in the jungles of Cambodia to oversee her operation. Lacing her products with a highly lethal toxin for which only she holds the antidote, Poppy holds the whole world hostage, seeking to force the immediate legalisation of all drugs.
The Golden Circle is a full meal, dealing with the destruction of the Kingsman, settling in with the Statesman, Harry's ostensibly hopeless amnesia, Poppy's intricate scheme, and many other plot machinations, earning its beefy 140-minute runtime which is certainly excessive for a spy film. Its predecessor was long enough at 129 minutes, but this is even longer. Indeed, The Golden Circle is plotted much like a Roger Moore James Bond film - that is, it gets caught up in tangents that ultimately feel superfluous, taking too long to get to the story's final destination. In particular, there is a mildly amusing but definitely overlong subplot that only serves to satirise the clichéd old spy trope in which the hero must seduce the villain's girlfriend - it's dead weight despite a few funny moments. Nevertheless, the movie benefits from a goofy sense of humour, and Elton John is even included, playing himself. John may not be much of an actor, but he's a total hoot here, and the singer gets in on the action.
There was a palpable father/son bond between Eggsy and Harry in the original film, and this is furthered in The Golden Circle - the film initially deals with how Eggsy deals with the loss of a father figure, but with Harry's amnesia, the script visibly evokes dealing with dementia and Alzheimer's. It's surprisingly poignant, adding an emotional undercurrent to the mayhem, even if the movie can't really find anything new to do with Eggsy or the other characters. Still, The Golden Circle does enough to advance the franchise at large to prevent it from feeling too meaningless in the grand scheme of things. In addition, Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman again manage to find time for acerbic socio-political satire between the broader gags. Hell, the President of the United States (Bruce Greenwood) actually sees Poppy's scheme as an ideal way to win the war on drugs once and for all. Plus, Poppy's Cambodian headquarters - an ancient temple remodelled into a nostalgia-tribute to 1950s America - represents a sly visual commentary on American-style colonialism that really deserves more credit.
Nobody can stage action quite like Vaughn, and he has a ball here, going absolutely bonkers in the major action sequences which easily surpass anything seen in the last 007 movie, the limp Spectre. The action starts early, opening with a dazzling fight scene inside a car set to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy," and the sense of creativity scarcely wanes. Whereas the original movie hit a high bar with the astonishing church shootout at the end of its second act, The Golden Circle saves the best for last. The extended assault on Poppy's jungle HQ is a total gas, combining thrilling fisticuffs with ultraviolent gunplay, backed by a selection of Elton John hits which really tops it all off. There are a fair few catchy tunes throughout, even making terrific use of "Word Up" by The BossHoss, amplifying the sense of goofy fun. And best of all, the set-pieces aren't cut to ribbons - Vaughn uses his trademark swirling tracking shots, allowing you to see and enjoy every frame of the mayhem without struggling to figure out what's going on. Vaughn retains his proclivity for enhancing the action with obvious CGI, but this is part of his comic-book style, and it distinguishes the film from many of its contemporaries. What matters is that The Golden Circle is genuinely thrilling throughout its action set-pieces, serving up more of what you loved about the first movie.
Moore is hugely appealing and eminently watchable as Poppy, projecting a buoyant, optimistic attitude while something more sinister bubbles underneath. She's a treat. Egerton can do this type of material in his sleep now, and he remains a charismatic hero, while Strong provides excellent support. Firth was the surprise standout of the original movie, reinventing himself as an agile action hero despite being in his 50s, and his return here is very welcome. Although some may feel that his survival comes across as cheap and unrealistic, can you really complain too much when Firth is this much fun? Besides, the movie is one big cartoon, who really cares about realism? In spite of what the marketing would have you believe, Tatum and Bridges have very little presence in the movie, amounting to extended cameos which will presumably lead into another sequel or even a spin-off. Pascal gets the lion's share of the screen-time here, effortlessly pulling off a wonderfully cartoonish American cowboy archetype, and sharing more than a passing resemblance to Burt Reynolds with his moustache, while the movie makes good use of Berry as well. Also keep a look out for Bruce Greenwood and Emily Watson as the President and his Chief of Staff, respectively.
Although Kingsman: The Golden Circle falls short of its gleefully left-field predecessor, it is a worthy follow-up in spite of its overlong runtime and scripting shortcomings. The movie plays smoother on repeat viewings and doesn't fall apart in hindsight, as silly as it may be. There is still enough inspiration in the action and comedy to ensure that another instalment remains an exciting prospect.
7.8/10
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Kingsman: The Golden Circle review
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 23 September 2017 11:23
What an epic start to a great movie. It reminded me of the old school James Bond openings, but with modern effects and action. Really, the entirety of the Kingsman movies are the updated Roger Moore era James Bond films and I couldn't be happier. I definitely enjoy the Daniel Craig Bond, but there is definitely room for this style of spy movie as well.
After the great start, it continued strong. Action packed, funny, and over-the-top, it developed its story and villain and as well as new allies to the Kingsman seamlessly.
I appreciated Eggsy's relationship with his girlfriend. To me, it softened the poor lesson at the end of the first movie of seeing sex as a reward by making her more of a person than simply a trophy.
If I had to find fault, the climax felt weak, especially in comparison to the epic battles fought prior in the movie. Especially the needless sacrifice, considering they supposedly had equipment to detect and avoid the predicament. Additionally, it felt all too easy once they arrived at the final battle.
The villain was clearly evil, but also with a purpose, though it was selfish and for personal gain. The introduction of the secondary villain that would push for the more dire consequences of the evil plot escalated the stakes to a level approaching that of the first movie and made for an unexpected surprise. 8/10
After the great start, it continued strong. Action packed, funny, and over-the-top, it developed its story and villain and as well as new allies to the Kingsman seamlessly.
I appreciated Eggsy's relationship with his girlfriend. To me, it softened the poor lesson at the end of the first movie of seeing sex as a reward by making her more of a person than simply a trophy.
If I had to find fault, the climax felt weak, especially in comparison to the epic battles fought prior in the movie. Especially the needless sacrifice, considering they supposedly had equipment to detect and avoid the predicament. Additionally, it felt all too easy once they arrived at the final battle.
The villain was clearly evil, but also with a purpose, though it was selfish and for personal gain. The introduction of the secondary villain that would push for the more dire consequences of the evil plot escalated the stakes to a level approaching that of the first movie and made for an unexpected surprise. 8/10
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