This Kingsman sequel is an action spy thriller directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman. Talk about an over the top fantasy — this is it! The special effects were of the likes which I’ve not seen since the last Kingsman. This is really thrilling in every sense of the word. If it’s excitement you want, you’ve come to the right film. Crazy is as crazy does and Kingsman: The Golden Circle does a whole lot of crazy.
A year has passed since Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) and the secret organization called Kingsman saved the world from Richmond Valentine’s neurological wave broadcast. Eggsy has finally taken his late mentor, Harry Hart’s (Colon Firth) title of Galahad and is now living with Crown Princess Tilde of Sweden (Hanna Alström). One evening, Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft), a former Kingsman trainee who lost his arm and vocal cords during the Valentine incident, lays in wait and attacks Eggsy as he is returning home. A car chase ensues and Charlie loses his cybernetic arm, which hacks into the Kingsmen servers, destroying their headquarters and killing all their agents in Britain with a missile attack. Being the only surviving agents, Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) follow the Doomsday protocol, which leads them to Statesman, a secret American organization posing as a bourbon whiskey distillery in Kentucky. There, they discover their US counterparts, Tequila (Channing Tatum), Champagne “Champ” (Jeff Bridges), who is also head of the US organization and Jack Daniels / Whiskey (Pedro Pascal). Merlin’s counter is Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), who wants to work more in the field. At this point, they are briefed about a secret terrorist organization called The Golden Circle headed up by Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), head of the world’s largest drug cartel.
Poppy announces that she has developed and distributed a drug that inflicts it’s user with a blue rash that causes eventual mania before moving on to paralysis then death. She makes her demands to every world leader in exchange for the antidote but of course, they are working against time. The Kingman and Stateman begin their mission by following Charlie’s ex-girlfriend Clara Von Gluckfberg (Poppy Delevingne), who has developed the rash as well as Elton John, Eggsy’s girlfriend and hundreds of thousands more.
I must admit, the first Kingman movie had all the surprises in it for me. The special effects were out of this world and pretty new. I don’t feel this sequel equaled or topped the first one. The Golden Circle actually got a little sloppy, crazy and unbelievable. The film is 2 hours and 21 minutes long but still managed to keep me entertained. Some scenes were down right silly and not even Elton John could make a difference. There is still a whole lot of story to be explored along with some interesting concepts. I think if nothing else, it’s a complete joyride with a great fantasy plot. It’s definitely worth checking out!
CAROL's WORLDS 