Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

7/10

Starring

Colin Firth

Julianne Moore

Taron Egerton

Mark Strong

Halle Berry

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Kingsman: The Golden Circle was, boy oh boy, long. Over two hours of events that all lead to the ending you’d expect. And, like the first movie, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), it includes an additional death that makes you wonder why the writers are so hell-bent on killing off beloved characters in this franchise.

Before diving into the plot of this exciting movie, I recall writing the review for Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and mentioning that it wasn’t impossible for the writers to bring characters back from the dead. They proved this by using a special gel to resurrect Colin Firth’s character, Harry Hart. His return was a welcome addition to a movie that starts with a bang and maintains its excitement for about 75% of its runtime.

This time, the movie focuses on drugs. Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), a drug baron, wants drugs to be legalized worldwide so their earnings can be taxed. Her plans are being thwarted by the Kingsman, so she decides to take out the entire organization. However, Eggsy / Galahad (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) survive and follow the Doomsday Protocol—a contingency plan for when the secret service is compromised. This leads them to the Statesman, an American counterpart to the Kingsman, posing as a bourbon whiskey distillery in Kentucky.

There, they discover that Harry survived Valentine’s gunshot from a year earlier but is suffering from amnesia. With the help of their American allies, the surviving Kingsman must find a way to stop Poppy before she kills millions.

I enjoyed the movie very much and was pleasantly surprised. While we didn’t have the memorable villain Samuel L. Jackson from the first film, we got a quirky, cannibal-like antagonist in Julianne Moore.

One downside of this production was the introduction of many new characters, all A-list actors, as members of the Statesman. The movie didn’t need so many big names, especially since the focus eventually shifts back to the original trio from the first Kingsman. I guess the producers wanted to ensure there were enough familiar faces to draw audiences in. That to me is making so many reasons to lose focus on the main plot, as every character has its own place.

Overall, it’s a great movie, and I hope it makes enough money for a third installment. That said, I hope the producers don’t make the next one quite as long.