Kingsman:TheGoldenCircle

After slapping the subtitle to Kingsman's shop wordings, the movie began right off with a high octane chase clip without wasting any time and simultaneously built our protagonist Eggsy (Taron Egerton).

The first Kingsman made a stamp with one-of-a-kind action sequence, and it continued here as well. Car brawl, taxi turning into underwater transport, Eggsy's timely entry into the booth before an accident from behind, smooth drift across the squircle road, imploding crash and vehicle skidding sideways to escape were beautiful! But, one can't help but notice there's a higher percentage of CGI integrated into these stunts that stripped the reality away and made the protagonist seemed like a superhero who wasn't vulnerable. Tension dissipated. The same can be said about the crane car segment. We know the characters will survive regardless, so where's the thrill? Nevertheless, the one-take final duel in the bar to wind Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) into meat machine, climax seize-up and attack on guerilla at the snow mountain were enjoyable to be honest.

Just like the first film, the writers have tried to introduce a unique villain. Julianna Moore acted well as Poppy; a friendly, humorous, servantless, cunning, dangerous drug pin king with a superficial charm who doesn't hesitate to turn her enemies into patties. The main issue regarding the antagonist was that, the plot about her was alienated from rest of the ongoing events. Even her introduction was abrupt, although the transition from weed to jungle was gorgeous. She wasn't directly involved or present in creating troubles for our heroes, thus unnecessary subplots about Elton John or Angel's (Tom Benedict Knight) identity makeover and betrayal were added to coerce her onscreen appearance. It is not until halfway through the picture where she made a nationwide announcement about the 4 stages of poisoned drug consumption symptoms. Therefore, we felt no sense of urgency prior. Only when Eggsy's girlfriend was directly affected that adrenaline started to kick in towards the end. Prior to that, we couldn't care less about legalizing or not legalizing drugs. There were no stakes.

Stakes wise, the reason why the initial half of the investigation was dull would be the lack of tensions and conflicts. The only conflict the writers were able to squeeze out of the Charlie's girlfriend search was Eggsy asking for permission to sleep with the enemy. It was cute, but wasn't enough to stir anything thrill-worthy. In order for the audiences to care about a persona or personas, the duration and quality of their stay matters. This is exactly why the death of Roxy (Sophie Cookson), JB and Eggsy's friend wasn't impactful at all! It was a shocking incident, but it was nothing more than that as it failed to resonate with us emotionally. If this was done right, the ending scene where Eggsy violently broke Charlie's neck with a single hand as redemption would have been emotionally satisfying! To witness the opposite effect, we had the demise of Merlin (Mark Strong). Him stepping on the buried detonator to sacrifice himself while singing West Virginia was really sad! And it was so because Merlin was an important character whom we've travelled with for a long duration in the movie.

As for the USA counterparts, the similarities in operations brought delight and surprise. Kingsman picked clothing line to mask their true identity, whereas Statesman did the same by selecting the booze business. You'll find Kingsman's logo in a Statesman's bottle, just like how you would find the latter's in the former's umbrella during the doomsday protocol for cry of help. Agents named after alcohol types were funny. Jeff Bridges is always entertaining to watch, and the case's same here as Champagne. A compelling actor like Channing Tatum was wasted by being paralyzed, but it provided an ounce extra of a reason to stop the villain from killing a lovable person. But, even this was due to us liking the actor, not by learning anything about his character in the picture.

Another issue with the motion picture was that, it had too many characters to juggle with, resulting in extraneous screen time to place them in the overall story. However, most of them should have been eradicated to render the end product succinct, like the subplots about Elton John and Angel aforementioned. While elements about Harry Hart's (Colin Firth) memories returning in a flash with butterflies coming to life and Ginger (Halle Berry) wanting to work on field were nice human touches, these were overbearing weights the plot didn't need. The only fascinating thing about Harry Hart's recovery was the gel that protects the brain and the larva misconception joke. Otherwise, this film didn't require his participation as well. His rescue story was ridiculous to say the least.

Certain occurrences happened forcefully with no reasonings whatsoever, such as the bar fight on total reversal that paid homage to the first feature, Tequila (Channing Tatum) attacking before interrogating the intruders and Charlie (Edward Holcroft) blowing up the antidote factory needlessly. Why would Eggsy take the solution out of its vial, when he clearly knew that it wasn't going to be used at that time? Why prompt characters to make stupid decisions just to conveniently support the plot? Speaking of what's silly, Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) as the fake-ally opponent was another horseshit.

Spy films are all about the technology it can boast. For this sequel, the weaponry catalogue from which you could choose an equipment from has been expanded! Laser lasso, missile launching briefcase which could also turn into a shield, perfume explosive, baseball bat as bomb detector and baseball as grenade were fantabulous! But, due to the reduced quality of the story, these technologies appeared slightly as gimmicks rather than necessities. In The Secret Service, we've wondered where're the other agents of Kingsman, and in this second instalment, the screenwriters managed to explain that the members were spread out across the country.

While the script delivered a strong message on the usage of drugs, it without realizing promoted alcohol drinking on the other hand. This is a vital lesson in screenwriting, which is to never place 2 moral arguments that are equally wrong on the same plate and tell one is better than the other. It would depict a double standard judgment. Always check to prevent situations that would unintentionally allow the pot to call the kettle black.

Technically, Kingsman: The Golden Circle was strong! Poppy Saloon lady robot and dog guards were world class animatronics! Computer graphics for missile attack that engulfed the entire building of Kingsman down Earth was superbly done! Production design was outstanding, with Statesman's alcohol bottle like headquarters, Statesman's private plane, Poppy Island's venues and its interior designs and being top notch! Costume works were marvelous too! George Richmond's cinematography was cool as fuck!