At the end of my review for the original Kingsman movie, I said that it was the rare movie to which I was really hoping there would be a sequel.
Three years later, Writer/Director Matthew Vaughn delivers a 100% enjoyable thrill ride next chapter with KINGSMAN-THE GOLDEN CIRCLE.
The first ten minutes features an action sequence that beats most Bonds for jaw dropping thrills and WOW moments. As our young hero Eggsy (Taron Egerton) battles a foe in, around, on top of and under a car, its great fun. But then Vaughn takes it to the next level, showing the action from far above as four cars slide at full speed through a London roundabout in crowded traffic. It's the first of hundreds of visual stamps that Vaughn and team put on the film, all of them adding to the fun.
This time around, Eggsy and Merlin (a great Mark Strong) find themselves alone after a massive attack on the Kingsman that's shocking in its scale and casualties.
They find themselves heading to Kentucky, where they meet their American superspy counterparts in The Statesman.
Jeff Bridges is at his best as the organizations leader Champ. Bridges is so good now that he inhabits every character with subtle tics and mannerisms that would be annoying in lesser hands, but just make you laugh and want to spend more time with him.
Champ's team includes dim muscled Tequila (Channing Tatum), Merlin's support whiz counterpart Ginger (Halle Berry) and the most lethal man with a lasso on Earth, Whiskey, well played by Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Narcos).
This time, their adversary is the most successful businesswoman on the planet, Poppy, who supplies drugs of choice to seemingly 1/3 of the population.
Poppy is played with quirky menace by Julianne Moore. She's the worlds most demanding boss (don't get caught in an interview with a counterpart with Poppy, you're dead meat) and she's constructed a 50's Americana lair in South America that looks like a "American Graffiti"/Elvis movie set, jacked up with Vaughn's primary color madness.
The adventure never flags over 2.5 hours as our teams globe trot to battle Poppy's holding-the-world-hostage scheme.
There's more firepower and hand-to-hand combat than any film since the original and Vaughn never ceases to amaze with his staging.
Colin Firth's Harry is reintroduced in a way that doesn't feel forced, Eggsy's girlfriend Tilda becomes a major plot point with both great comic and suspenseful moments and a major global singer plays a major part in the film as an unwilling captive in Poppy's lair.
And he's hilarious!
The gadgets are a blast, the humor is adult and the soundtrack is loaded with quirky and excellent covers including "Word Up" by Boss Hoss, "My Generation" by The Who & Apashe, along with plenty of John Denver and Elton John and a dash of Sinatra, which gives you a feel for the wide strokes Vaughn is using here, spending every penny of the $100 million budget brilliantly.
We loved this movie and our faces hurt from smiling for 2.5 hours.
I'll end this one the same way I ended the review of the original. I can't wait for the sequel!
The Golden Circle gets an A.
Manners maketh the man.....
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