Kingsman: The Golden Circle Review

Bloated and a bit draining, but still lots of fun due to Vaughn’s stylized, over the top gore fests. There’s nothing here quite as memorable as what we saw in the first film, but there’s a slapstick swagger to it all that can be infectious at times. A great villain can also go a long way in any film, and Julianne Moore’s Poppy certainly fits that bill. She plays her character like a drunk, slightly unhinged evil genius, and it’s very fun to watch even if the writing fails her at times. Other standout performances include that of Pedro Pascal, Elton John (in a ridiculously hammy role that would only work in something like this), and the always dependable Mark Strong. Unsurprisingly, all of the cast members deliver the charm even amid the screenplay’s myriad questionable choices.

Speaking to those choices: the inciting incident–you know what it is if you’ve seen the trailer–feels like a lazy throwaway rush job, and the rest of the film does a nice job of confirming that initial feeling. Additionally, the entire amnesia plot with Colin Firth’s character should in theory feel meaningful and provide an emotional anchor and all that good stuff, but it in reality drags and feels like it’s been tacked on to pad the runtime. That’s unfortunate because the Firth-Egerton dynamic was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the first film, and it’s all been watered down here. There’s simply too much going on at once. Thankfully a fair amount of it is enjoyable.

GRADE: B

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