“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” continues the story of Eggsy, a member of the spy organization known as the Kingsman, as he continues to work for them.
The film is exciting, fast-paced and full of fun and intense action scenes. What made Kingsman special was that it felt like one of Roger Moore’s James Bond movies, yet with its own identity. It seemed aware of its own absurd action scenes, technology, and situations it contained, yet unlike a movie like “Transformers.” The movie’s interesting plot and fun characters made it quite enjoyable.
One of the best parts of the movie involved the character Whiskey, played by Pedro Pascal. Whiskey was the bridge between the Kingsmen and the Statesmen, who are the American version of the Kingsmen in the United States. He provided some of the best dialogue in the film, and also performed amazingly during the action scenes.
The cinematography was fantastic as well. Along with Whiskey, perhaps the best character in the movie wasn’t really a character; it was Elton John, who played himself. Elton John unexpectedly stole the show by being the weirdest and funniest action star of all time. His humor made up for the lack of character development on his part, but to be completely honest, it’s Elton John. He doesn’t need any character development, even if he was playing a fictionalized version of himself. Along with some good acting, the film contained amazing cinematography as well. There were several continuous uninterrupted action shots that are just plain cool.
While Kingsman was a fun movie, it contained many faults. The most glaring fault in this movie was the antagonist, Poppy Adams, played by Julianne Moore. She was, without a doubt, the worst part of the movie. She over-acted and hammed it up the entire film, resulting in many excruciating-to-watch scenes. I nearly left the theater at one point, as I was incredibly annoyed by her performance.
Other disappointing aspects of the film involved the role of the Statesmen. The advertising campaign of the movie implied that the Statesmen are crucial to the plot of the film, and that Channing Tatum would be just as important as the Kingsmen while fighting bad guys. Instead, the Statesman don’t have much of a role in the film, with Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges having almost no screen time at all. Their lack of screentime is equivalent to the disappointment of Captain Phasma from “The Force Awakens,” as the anticipation behind them was great, yet ultimately their roles were disappointing.
The third bone I have to pick with the movie was its 141-minute runtime. While the movie remained mostly fun throughout, it did feel as if it dragged on. Despite those three detractions, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” was an incredibly fun movie with just the right blend of action and comedy, and with the introduction of the Statesmen, it is likely that many sequels and spin-offs are in store for the future.
All-in-all, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” was an incredibly fun movie that had its flaws, resulting in 4 out of 5 stars.