*Directed by Matthew Vaughn
*Starring Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Pedro Pascal, Halle Barry, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Michael Gambon
The Plot: After Poppy Adams, the leader of a drug and terrorist organization called The Golden Circle, destroys the British spy organization Kingsman, survivors Eggsy and Merlin team up with the American spy organization known as the Statesman in order to prevent Poppy's plan of human annihilation.
The first Kingsman released in 2015 was definitely one of my favorites of that year. It was an insane blast of an action/spy film, but there was still some heart to it that made me adore it the way I did. So, of course, with the release of its sequel I was very excited to finally see it. I avoided trailers and only caught the very first teaser trailer with Frank Sinatra's My Way and I'll tell ya that is one of the best trailers I've ever seen. That was enough for me and I wanted to go in knowing very little because I was already very excited to begin with. So did one of my most anticipated films of the year deliver or what? Most definitely because I had so much fun watching this movie from start to finish.
I think Matthew Vaughn is one of the best visual directors and I'll even say action directors working today because every action scene was orchestrated in the most stunning and inventive fashion. The way the camera moves in each shot just to showcase the action was so mind blowing. The way every shot was captured, and the elements of editing, sound design, and music reminded me why I love to support directors like Vaughn. Even when there's no action the way scenes transition is so creative like whenever the subject of the last shot in one scene morphs into a similar shape of another object in the next shot that starts the next scene. It's just goes to show that no matter what kind of movie it is Matthew Vaughn will the make film look as brilliant as it can be from a visual standpoint. I just love that there are creative directors like him working today.
The arcs for our main characters I thought were pretty strong as well with Eggsy's responsibility of his personal life outside of being a spy. He's also portrayed marvelously once again by Taron Egerton. The way they incorporate Colin Firth as Harry was really good and don't worry. It's not a spoiler that he's in the movie. His character was all over the marketing. I'll say that it was an aspect about the film that left me curious because if you haven't seen the first film, why are you even reading this? His character gets shot in the face. I had no idea how they would pull it off, but the way it's worked into the film I thought was handled very well and made sense in the grand scheme of things. Even the way the character itself was handled, the character development, I thought really added some decent emotional depth to the film.
There were also some fun side characters along the way with Mark Strong as Merlin, the few Statesman spies we're introduced to as well with Jeff Bridges, Halle Barry, and Channing Tatum. I was especially intrigued by the character of Statesman agent Whiskey played by Oberyn Martell himself Pedro Pascal (if you recognize the name Oberyn Martell, thumbs up).
I just really liked seeing these new cast members play off of the original main actors. I also thought Julianne Moore played a pretty fun and entertaining villain in Poppy Adams. I wouldn't say she was as gripping as Samuel L Jackson's Valentine from the first film, but still okay enough for this movie. However, the way she's utilized leads into a few issues I had with the movie.
Even though a very fun watch, it definitely wasn't without a few flaws, and, yes, the villain I felt was the weakest aspect. Julianne Moore looked like she was having fun with the role, but I felt the character itself could've had a little more motivation and reason to do what she did. Valentine had a reason for the destruction he caused, but here it just seemed like it was all about being evil just cause. And it wasn't like she was layered in a way where just through her performance you could see these inner meanings. She was just a cartoony, over exaggerated presence and that was it.
I also thought when trying to resolve the overall conflict that there wasn't as much emotional stakes and levity involved and that could've been due to the conflict had with Julianne Moore's character. That tension was missing and it just didn't have as much of an emotional punch in the grand scheme of things. However, I thought the smaller character moments had more to them than the actual larger than life conflict itself. Everything else just called for more of a fun movie and in the end there definitely isn't much wrong with that, but it could've been a little more than it was. There was also a subplot in there involving the President that I wasn't as invested in. I mean it wasn't painful to sit through, but at that point I just wanted a little more of Eggsy and the crew or maybe more scenes that could focus on how evil Poppy Adams can be that makes us feel tension against this character.
It doesn't do anything ambitious to top the first film, but it was still a very decent follow-up to see where it took the main characters we fell in love with while introducing characters I'm interested to see more of. Save for a weak villain, a little too much exposition at times, a so-so subplot, and not as much emotional depth, I can't deny and say I didn't have a really fun time with this movie.
Verdict: B+
It was a really fun action movie and I do highly encourage you to go see it and support a talented director in Matthew Vaughn. I would really like to see another film in this franchise and see where they take these fun and interesting characters next. Until next time be sure to follow me in the social media links below:
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this review! As always see some movies, all that good stuff, and remember that manners maketh man.
Take care :-)
Comments