Just when you think the heroes are done for and the villain will actually win this time around, Sir Elton John comes in like a knight in shining armor and saves the whole movie from becoming a mediocre sequel.
Editor’s Note: Minor spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.
Kingsmen: The Golden Circle starts out by hitting the pedal to the medal early but it might’ve burned a lot of its fuel thanks to that and it shows throughout the remainder of the film with the exception of a few scenes. It’s been a year since Eggsy Unwin saved the world and now he has to get prepare to meet the parents of his beloved but an old enemy who is under the employ of a new one comes back and starts trying to kill him. Just when he thought he had won, the enemy manages to destroy most of the Kingsman as well as their assets which leads to a round of drinks by its few survivors and a visit to their long forgotten cousin, the Statesman.
The Statesmen are brewers instead of tailors and they fit the bill of how wild the Americans can be and have their own way of showing manners to any uncultured bloke who is arrogant enough to display their poppycock around such fine gents. The Kingsman and the Statesman join forces to fight their new foe who plans to use every drug user in the world hostage.
Throughout the film’s run, I could’nt help but feel that it wasn’t as exciting as it used to be. Gone was the coming of age story of a boy becoming a man, the fun of learning how the world of espionage works, and the unexpected twists that made the 1st film a hoot. Though some of these were to be expected I still wished the filmmakers could’ve added a lot more charm into this sequel.
It was also disappointing that Channing Tatum only had a minor role overall in the film and it felt like he was only brought in to add some eye candy since he was half-naked for a good amount of time when he was in the scene. Early on he was already ensnared by the evil villain and was as useless as a corpse. I have to applaud the writers though, they somehow made a fine specimen of a man into a helpless sleeping beauty minus the wake up from a kiss cure.
The villain was also a disappointment. She was a woman who was more fit to be a housewife that has a fixation for the 1950s and is rife with a lot of mental issues. She condones cannibalism for one thing which made one awkward scene that was just plain wrong. There also wasn’t much point in regards to her goals as she apparently has a hold on every drug trade in the world which made her the richest woman ever if I remember correctly. So there was little point in amassing even more wealth as she pretty much had everything already.
The film also did a poor job in their take on the morality of whether or not it is alright to let the drug users die or not. it was done in such a half-baked manner that it wasn’t even given much thought at all and it made the villain pitiful in my regards. True doing drugs is wrong but everyone deserves a 2nd chance and some of them were innocent in certain ways.
Despite all that, their was still some fun that could to be offered from the film especially when it brought out their version of light sabers in the form of a lasso. It was quite a unique take on a classic sci-fi weapon that I couldn’t help but be amazed especially with the skill of its wielder. It also made for a great one man army scene but it still was not enough to deliver the same quality of uncensored epic violence that the church scene in the 1st movie did.
And the most redeeming factor for the film was Sir Elton John himself. He gave the film so much color and a degree of unpredictability and humor that it was such a treat to watch. He turned from being one of the damsels in distress into a heroic savior who can beat the bad guys just as easily and smoothly as any spy or martial artist, but to a certain extent of course. Not to mention he had the funniest scene throughout the whole film.
Overall the film was a mess, but a fun mess. It’s just a shame it couldn’t deliver the same level of quality and laughs as the 1st one but it was still worth a look if you wanna see more of the Kingsman or are curious of the Statesman or you just wanna see some good spy movies with a comedic nature.
