Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Well, look at how far we've come. Kingsman: The Secret Service was the first "new movie" that I ever reviewed on this blog back in early 2015. I was new to the whole review game, and it was clear that I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. My reviews were short and to the point, before they became long and boring, and now I've tried to mix the two to get the best results. It's amazing just how much you can change in two years. The one thing that hasn't changed, though, is my thoughts on Kingsman.

Kingsman is really kind of a rare breed in today's world of action movies. After the Bourne films came along in the early 2000s, all the spy genres wanted to be super serious and grounded in reality, and everyone was certain we'd never see another goofy good-time action film again. As time went on, we've had some over-the-top films sneak out, like the Fast franchise, but none really harkened back to the old-fashioned days of wild villainous plots and crazy-ass gadgets...until Kingsman. The best part was, Kingsman did it so well, and gathered itself a strong following of fans, which of course warranted it a sequel about two years later...so here we are.

Before watching the film and writing this review, I noticed a trend: a lot of people seemed to be reacting negatively to Kingsman 2. They claimed that it was riddled with plot holes, that certain characters were given nothing to do and seemed useless, all sorts of other problems. I saw the film on Sunday, and had to take three days to process it, because I wanted to know...was I wrong? I absolutely loved this film when I saw it, I thought it was just as great as the first, not better by any means but still just as great. The conclusion I came up with is that yeah, I liked this film a great deal, so I don't know what these people are going on about.

Kingsman 2 hits where the first one did with a great deal of swagger and vitriol, just the way it needed to. It's got the absolutely bonkers plot, with an absurd villain, it's got the crazy jokes that do feel uncomfortable at times but otherwise make people laugh, it's got an over-the-top action scene set to some great music...actually it technically has three! I don't know HOW someone could say this movie is bad, I loved every single second of it.

I could see how it's possible that someone might think it's too much of the same as the first, but I can't really fault it for that. I'd rather have a film hit the same notes again than try something different and completely fuck the whole thing up. Plus, it's not exactly what I'd call a re-hash as they do try some new aspects and new takes on the old formula, and they work, they really do. Enough trying to figure out what's wrong with people. My advice to everyone is to go out and make your own opinion of this movie, stop listening to the haters.

Kingsman 2 is not a perfect film, but it does what it was meant to do so damn well. It's still the cure for the common action movie we so desperately needed, and it's starting to become my second favorite action franchise. Kingsman: The Golden Circle gets 7.5 out of 10, and tons of hope that all this negativity doesn't stop them from continuing the franchise with Kingsman 3.