KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE (2017) is a fantastic sequel, replaying the elements that worked in the original while delivering everything else fresh.
KINGSMAN (2014) surprised me earlier this year in how entertaining it was. This is James Bond with over-the-top weapons, violence, and a much punchier sense of humor. The church scene is one of the craziest and most violence set-pieces I’ve ever seen on film, and really shows off what these powerful secret agents are capable of.
My review of THE GOLDEN CIRCLE contains a few minor spoilers, but these are in the trailer, so I consider them fair game. Eggsy is now a Kingsman (taking on his mentor’s alias as Galahad) and living with Tilde, the Swedish princess whom he rescued at the end of the first film and, well, got a very nice reward from for saving the world. The organization has recruited new agents and has been operating for a year. The plot follows similarly as the first movie, in which we have a charming villain who commits evil for a good cause, chief henchman with a trademark cool personal weapon, near apocalyptic event, Kingsman virtually wiped out, and Eggsy saving the day. Along the way there are frequent little references to the events in the first film that are great.
The world’s biggest drug baron, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), wants to legitimize herself by ending the War on Drugs. She laces her drug supply with a toxin that will kill all users if the world doesn’t legalize all drugs. After she kills all the Kingsman agents, it’s down to Eggsy to save the day. He goes to America, where the organization’s American counterpart, Statesman, agrees to help stop Poppy. Along the way, Harry (Colin Firth) returns. The result is a thoroughly entertaining thrill ride that keeps the plot simple, has great characters, uses special effects and violence when needed, and delivers a slaughterfest when the agents unleash their powers.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed it as much as I did the first one. Now I’m hoping they make another one if all the sequels will be this great.
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