Three years ago, we saw the first Kingsman and it was universally seen as a nice surprise that brought a lot of life and fun back to the spy genre.
Now that we have some form of expectation for a Kingsman film, the pressure is certainly on. But I think a lot of people including myself have faith in Vaughn, because he has a style that works really well with a mainstream crowd.
My first feeling after seeing it, it was like they never left. Literally from the first minute, you're back in the action.
Like a lot of Vaughn's films, the first Kingsman had an over-the-top tone that reminded me a lot of actions films pre-2000's. Now that you're aware of the tone from the first film, Vaughn takes it up another level and you just absorb the ridiculous characters, action and story.
I was liking all of the new additions that were introduced, as well as the twists and turns this film took. I liked the risks it took when it needed to. The relentless action does get a bit exhausting towards the second act. But thankfully, you feel re-charged in time for the finale. There is one moment in that final act that got me thinking whether they have a particular cut of the film for each day of the week. Once you see this scene, you will understand what I mean. If they do, then that is quite clever.
Taron Edgerton continues to show how talented he is and how well he can carry this movie in the leading role. I will be interested to see how the young Brit deals with his next big project. All the high-calibre British talent on show were as reliable as ever. Mark Strong and Colin Firth were solid supports for Edgerton. There are also plenty of cameos from many other famous Brits that wanted a piece of the pie. There is one particular cameo that is great for the most part, but also felt over-used at times. I was intrigued to see how Julianne Moore would do, as this is most definitely not the type of movie you would usually see her in. At times, she looked out of place. But on the whole, I thought she was alright. Pedro Pascal was better than expected. I usually see him as more of a TV actor. But he seemed to fit in well within this world and I hope this is the kick-start into his movie career.
If you've seen the trailers, then you will know that there are plenty of Americans on show in this. I felt Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges were good despite the small screen-time they had. There was another big American actor involved. But I won't say as I had no idea they were even in it before going to see it.
The action is as exciting and highly energetic as you would expect and is most definitely the films strongest aspect. Every action set-piece was highly entertaining and very well choreographed. Another aspect that made the first film so successful, was the comedy. In this, there were a solid amount of laughs throughout, including one towards the end of the second act that had everyone in my screening including myself in fits of laughter.
Sadly, there were a few problems that stopped me it from calling it a great film. I felt it over-stayed its welcome, especially during the second act. You could certainly feel the 2hrs 21mins duration.
As mentioned before, the action and pacing is almost too much and I felt exhausted at times. There is a lot going on that it almost goes a bit too fast for its own good, and you start to see it lose pacing and tone at times.
The film also did something that quite a few big-budget action films have been doing over the past few years, and that is having a famous song being played during some of their set-pieces. Some movies have done it too much and make the film feel more like a music video. Sadly, this film has moments when it falls under that category. It worked some times, but not all the time.
That being said, it remains a super fun time and it's certainly a worthy sequel. I enjoyed it for what it was and while the first one felt cleaner in its execution, The Golden Circle still packs a punch that can rival its predecessor.
Taron Edgerton is still great and keeps you interested in many of the character driven moments. The action and comedy is consistently strong and it is great to see another fun spy movie with many over-the-top aspects that we almost don't see at all with other new releases from this genre.
Rating: 7/10
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