Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the new spy movie directed by Matthew Vaughn. It is the sequel to much loved Kingsman: The Secret Service and stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges. It’s been getting some mixed reviews so let’s see what side of the pond I’m on.

So before I start, I’m sorry that I haven’t done any reviews lately but there haven’t been any movies that I wanted to see in the last two months. Yes, that includes It. I have heard nothing but glowing reviews for It but I can’t watch horror movies. So if that makes me a wimp, fine but I wouldn’t be able to give a good review. With that out of the way, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a fun but flawed movie. At the time that I am writing this review, this movie on Rotten Tomatoes is at a 50%. So this movie is the definition of mixed reviews. But I am glad to say that I am on the positive side.

If I had to describe Kingsman to people, it is a modern version of the 60s James Bond movies. It has over the top action, outrageous gadgets, and classic spy tropes. But what makes Kingsman works so well apart from its style is the characters. Both Egerton and Strong are excellent again in their 2^nd outings as their respective characters. Colin Firth also returns as Harry Hart but in a much different way. If you’ve seen the 1^st Kingsman, then you know that Harry was shot in the head and was presumed dead. They revive him in this one and I thought it worked for the world of Kingsman. As for the Statesman (Berry, Tatum, and Bridges), they are also a lot of fun. What I love about them is that they have a different style then the Kingsman (as they should). They’re all cowboys with lassos, guns, and whips and it’s so perfect. I just wish they were in the movie a lot more.

But as I said earlier, this isn’t a perfect movie and there were some issues that I had with the sequel. First off, Julianne Moore was a terrible villain. What made the 1^st Kingsman so good was Samuel L. Jackson’s villain. He was charming, smart, and scary. Moore’s villain is none of those things and is more annoying than anything else. Also, this was a very long movie. It’s officially listed as 2 hours and 21 minutes and it felt it could have easily been under 2 hours. There’s a lot of unnecessary downtime with characters that you don’t care about. You’ll know it when you see it. Finally, while the action was good, it never met the level of the 1^st. There was never “a church scene” moment like there was in the 1^st and that was a bit disappointing.

But overall, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a fun time at the movies and a worthy but flawed sequel to the original. I can’t wait to see Taron Egerton in more stuff because this kid is a star in the making.

B-/80%

Written By: Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)