Day 124 - Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Day 124          Kingsman: The Golden Circle [2017]

                          

Screenplay                    Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman

Based on                       ‘Kingsman’ by Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons

Director                         Matthew Vaughn

Cinematography            George Richmond

Music                            Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson

Leads                            Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Elton John, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal, Edward Holcroft, Hanna Alström, Poppy Delevingne

Production                     TSG Entertainment, Marv Films, Cloudy Productions

IMDb                                6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes                52%

This was OTT as my old history teacher used to write on all my essays. That’s ‘over the top’ for anyone wondering. This second Kingsman film continues the story of Eggsy (Egerton) and Kingsman as they are brutally attacked by a drug cartel called The Golden Circle. I liked the first film, it was original and funny, with epic, suave action scenes. I feel like they should have left it as a one-off, as this film threatens to weaken the Kingsman name. A flurry of stars was brought in to represent the drug cartel and, the American cousins of Kingsman, Statesman, but really, I don’t think they were used enough. Julianne Moore is ok as the loopy leader of the Golden Circle, Tatum and Bridges are good but barely featured and Berry and Pascal are still only secondary to Kingsman. I would have liked them to play with this UK/US collaboration further as it felt like they had squeezed in a US element simply to attract bigger audiences. The best thing about both films are the crazy fight scenes, this one opens with an intense car chase, with cameras panning in sickening degrees potentially for the 3D viewers (is that still popular?). The stunts coordination is beautiful, but I don’t think the film goes too far beyond that, I felt myself getting sleepy in between action scenes. With James Bond on sabbatical for three years and counting, Eggsy should be filling the gap, but really this film makes Die Another Day look believable and, dare I say it, enjoyable. It’s absurd and pretty bad actually but we all love watching Colin Firth in a suit beating people up.

Acting                           2.5 / 4

Writing                             1 / 4

Cinematography               3 / 4

Music                               3 / 4

HWF rating               1.5 / 4