Movie Review: Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Golden Circle introduces its powerful drug-dealer antagonist Poppy Adams (the phenomenal Julianne Moore) in a scene where she stuffs one of her henchman into a meat grinder for lying to her, presses his remains into the shape of a hamburger and forces his friend to eat it in front of her. This absurd series of events marked the moment that I knew The Golden Circle was a successful sequel.

2015's The Secret Service's willingness to approach the traditionally-preposterous spy genre in a tongue-in-cheek manner helped make the film great and director Matthew Vaughn doesn't lose sight of that inspired lunacy in the follow-up. Even though the return of Harry Hart (Colin Firth) after his presumed death in the previous installment brings some uneven flashes of sentimentality into the story, Vaughn and his longtime writing partner Jane Goldman are well-aware that the Kingsman brand is defined by its unhinged nature. The duo's script doubles down on the freewheeling energy, charismatic characters and wild action that drove its predecessor while adding enough surprises (John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" serving as the soundtrack for a pivotal fight scene, Elton John playing a pissed-off, ass-kicking version of himself, some surprisingly well-constructed commentary on how the United States government handles and views drug addiction) to maintain a necessary sense of unpredictability. Making subtle, sensible tweaks to the formula that brought you success in the past is the blueprint for a successful sequel and thanks to the sharpness of its creative personnel, Golden Circle pulls this feat off beautifully.  

While Vaughn deserves a lot of credit for successfully moving this franchise forward, his gift for directing action scenes is still his biggest asset as a filmmaker. While there's nothing here that's as jaw-dropping as the original's widely-lauded church scene, every action sequence in The Golden Circle is crisp, confident and well-choreographed/edited (the ski lift/cabin sequence is the standout this time around). After watching Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) deliver messy collections of incomprehensible fight scenes over the past few months, it was great to watch an action-driven blockbuster where the person at the helm wasn't overwhelmed by working with elaborate, CGI-heavy setpieces.

My only real problem with The Golden Circle was the underutilization of the Kingman's "American cousins" in the Statesman. When you add huge names like Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry and Channing Tatum to the cast, you'd expect them to pick up some relatively significant screen time. However, the Statesman, with the exception of Pedro Pascal's lasso-slinging Agent Whiskey, are relegated to about 25 minutes of screen time and mostly just serve as a spy gadget rental service for the Kingsman following the destruction of their headquarters at the beginning of the film. Hopefully the final installment of this planned trilogy will give us the scenes of a shotgun-touting Tatum and an umbrella-wielding Firth mowing down legions of bad guys that we all deserve.

I couldn't really ask for a better kickoff to fall's blockbuster slate than The Golden Circle. It's a giddily over-the-top, amusing and wildly entertaining ride that's pretty much on par with the quality of the original. Barring an influx of excellent projects in the final three months, The Golden Circle should end up going down as one of my favorite action films of 2017.  

4/5 Stars

Movie Review: Kingsman: The Secret Service

Ever since he burst onto the scene with the 2004 cult hit Layer Cake, Writer/director Matthew Vaughn has carved out quite a name for himself. Vaughn's ability to blend blockbuster spectacle with B-movie self-awareness has made him one of the most interesting filmmakers working today. Vaughn's latest, Kingsman: The Secret Service, sees the 43-year old Brit sticking to his guns and producing yet another invigorating action saga.

On the surface, Kingsman sounds like a standard-issue spy film. It focuses on a group of suave British spies who work in completely secrecy to stop terrorist threats all around the world. No matter how conventional that premise may sound, Kingsman couldn't be further from the average espionage film.

Much like he did with the superhero genre with 2010's Kick-Ass,Vaughn and his writing partner Jane Goldman mock the conventions of the spy genre by making a film that is tongue-in-cheek and wild as all hell. There's a bunch of references mocking the seriousness of James Bond and Jason Bourne, the violence is cartoon-esque, and the plot involves the titular spy group trying to taking down a psychotic technology mogul (Samuel L. Jackson) who has decided to try and solve the planet's population crisis by installing a brain-controlling device into the SIM card his company produces that forces people to kill one another. The film embraces just how absurd its premise is, and that self-awareness is a big part of the reason why the proceedings of Kingsman are so damn fun.

A large part of why Vaughn's gleefully over-the-top shtick always works is his ability to consistently assemble casts that are game for whatever shenanigans he throws at them, and Kingsman is no exception. Newcomer Taron Edgerton shines in his first leading role as Eggsy, the wisecracking punk who's the newest recruit of Kingsman. Edgerton has a screen presence that most up-and-coming actors would kill for, and is convincing as both an action hero and the quick-witted, hardened street kid. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if his work here marked the jumping off point for a long, successful acting career.

Veteran actors Jackson and Colin Firth only further inject the film with demented energy. Jackson's villain, Valentine, is the perfect embodiment of the craziness Kingsman offers up. With help from a heavy lisp and a wardrobe that looked like it was robbed from Russell Simmons' closest, Jackson makes Valentine the most colorful and manic megalomaniac to grace the screen in years. With his long history of playing zany characters, Jackson's proficiency here is hardly surprising.

Firth's success, on the other hand, is completely unexpected. Based on his resume full of high-brow fare like The King's Speech and A Single Man, he seems like the last guy who should be starring in a film like this. But Firth's reputation as the quintessential British gentleman actually makes him the perfect fit for the role. His character, Harry Hart, is still the dapper, sophisticated British gentleman he typically plays, he just happens to also be a lethal super spy that can clear out a room of henchman in a matter of seconds. Firth is clearly having a good time breaking out of his typical archetype, and after seeing him do some of the insane stuff he does in this movie, I'll never view him in the same way again.

Even though Kingsman possesses a treasure trove of strengths, the action sequences are still the undeniable main attraction. Vaughn is one of the small number of directors in the game right now that just knows how to shoot and pace an action scene. Vaughn's prowess is best evidenced in a scene where Hart takes on a church full of weapon-wielding bigots. The scene is unadulterated chaos, but Vaughn is able to capture all of the carnage without dizzying quick cuts that leave the viewer in a state of confusion as to what's going on. This sequence is pure action movie poetry and is bound to leave any true action connoisseur speechless. The sometimes convoluted writing and overlong training scenes in the first half of the film prevents this from reaching Kick-Ass's badassery level, but there's no denying that Kingsman is an absolute blast to watch, and a strong early entry into the best action film of 2015 race.

4/5 Stars