Kingsman: The Golden Circle Film Review

Kingsman first burst onto the big screen back in February 2015 to solid critic reviews, with mass audiences absolutely loving the movie.

Based on its successful box office run, a sequel was all but a foregone conclusion, which has now arrived in theaters as Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

We will talk about the plot a bit, but will try to avoid too many spoilers that aren't apparent from the trailers that have been released.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle picks up a year after the events of the first film as Eggsy is attacked by an enemy from the past, leading to a very intense and awesome opening chase sequence.

You can tell that parts of this scene are very CGI heavy, but it still is a lot of fun, really giving us our James Bond like opening now that Eggsy is a trained Kingsman this time around.

The returning character here was a nice touch, and it was cool to see how he played into the overarching story of the movie, though he didn't quite live up to Gazelle, the blade girl from the first movie, as a secondary antagonist.

What was surprisingly nice to see is that the movie went against the Bond like tropes and actually had Eggsy in a relationship with Princess Tilde of Sweden from the first movie that he saved at the end.

This was a cool way to tie into the movie, though I'll let you see for yourself how their relationship unfolds as the movie goes on.

As you can see in the trailers, the villain of the movie seemingly takes down the Kingsman, leaving only Eggsy and Merlin left, which initiates the "Doomsday Protocol." This leads to them heading to Kentucky in the US to find their American counterparts, known as the Statesman.

This introduces us to a few new characters as part of the Stateman, including Channing Tatum's Tequila, Jeff Bridge's Champ, Halle Berry's Ginger Ale, and Pedro Pascal's Whiskey.

Seeing both Eggsy and Merlin interact with the Statesman is rather interesting, though it is mostly only a few of them through most of the movie.

Ever since the marketing started for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, they've made it very clear that Harry would have a big part in the movie, somehow surviving the headshot from the first film.

While it is definitely not realistic in our world, the method in which he is brought back here actually makes sense in the world of Kingsman.

He also has a nice subplot of his own that ties into the main plot, which plays out over the rest of the movie after his reappearance.

The villain for the movie, played by Juliann Moore, is named Poppy, a drug kingpin that strives to be more than that. Secluded in the jungle with a '50s themed town that she runs, complete with her robotic dogs.

She has all the money in the world, but wants to be known, so she concocts a plan to make all drugs legal, which is handled quite well.

The predicament that she puts the world in is menacing and leads to some interesting politics in the movie.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle has a good number of action sequences, similar to the one mentioned previously.

Two specific ones found later in the movie are the best in the movie by far and really push the limits of this world.

There's also some touching moments along the way as well, so don't count on this being nothing but an action filled movie.

Overall, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is not quite as good as its predecessor, but that would have been a tough task to take on.

The first was just that good, but that takes nothing away from this sequel.

The characters are as likeable as ever, and some twists happen along the way that will really surprise you even if you've been keeping up with the trailers.

Verdict: 4/5 Stars

Wanna read more on this? Check these out: Kingsman Star Taron Egerton Wants Dwayne Johnson As The Villain In The Next Movie (more); Spider-Man: Homecoming And Kingsman 2 Lead Domestic And International Box Office (more); The Early Rotten Tomatoes Rating For Kingsman: The Golden Circle Revealed (more).