Discuss Kingsman: The Golden Circle
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Surprising Misfire
posted by DroochSTAFFMOD on September 22, 2017 at 10:59 PM
After the failure of KickAss 2 I was relieved to see that Matthew Vaughn wasn’t going to entrust this sequel to a less capable pair of hands. Sad to say, then, that Vaughn and writer Goldman make some rookie errors in this enjoyable but ultimately bungled sequel.
It’s basically a bloated mess that tries to juggle too many balls and drops most of them. It’s so busy killing off characters and introducing new ones that we never really get to know any of them, nor explore the awesome potential of having the Kingsmen and Statesmen reluctantly forced to work together.
The action in the first film was sufficiently anchored to reality even when it reached for crazy heights, here it’s all crazy, not as well choreographed, and dripping in CGI.
The story just feels like it’s missing a soul. They had a bag of fun ideas but needed to go back to the drawing board and ask what this tale’s about. It smells like there were disputes during the writing process, so the plot tries to stitch everyone’s ideas together, and the editor failed to find a satisfying through-line.
But you DO get some really good stuff. Egerton owns the character again, and his re-pairing with Firth is touching. Mark Strong’s back, as are an impressive number of characters from last time. Most of the gags hit, especially those involving a highly random cameo from a well-known singer-songwriter (although this was somewhat over-milked). It’s great seeing Julianne Moore having fun as a particularly twisted villain, although she’s somewhat disconnected from the rest of the film.
The film is excited by its own potential but never meets it. Vaughn is a master of origin stories, but he seems to lose interest once his hero is no longer a zero.
Reply by thebarnman
on October 4, 2017 at 4:18 AM
Hi there Mechajutaro; I just saw this and thought it's one of the most entertaining movies of the year. I'm saying that because when compared to some of the biggest (and best) movies of this year; the action sequences are very fun and entertaining (at least to me.) I'm obviously not saying this is one of the best of the year, however when it comes to enjoyment and entertainment (even with it's over the top action scenes,) and if you allow yourself to throw reality out of the window...this movie I thought delivered on some of the most aspects of fun it possibly could.
Reply by thebarnman
on October 4, 2017 at 1:55 PM
I see your point and agree. I've seen some real humdingers this year such as "King Arthur: Legend of the Sward" (2017,) "The Emoji Movie" (2017,) Smurfs: The Lost Village" (2017,) and "Fifty Shades Darker" (2017) just to name a few!
Reply by Renovatio
on October 4, 2017 at 1:56 PM
^ This...
Instead of the heart that we get in the earlier movie, we get sentimentality and a Disney-esque "I've-dissapointed-my-princess" side plot...
Also, the main character was a bit of a crybaby and self centred, but I suppose that was a comment on his generation... This is [SPOILERS] especially clear in how the different characters react during the land mine scene... The boy character makes it about himself and his feelings, rather than duty, sacrifice, camaraderie and honour, which aren't even considered passe' concepts as the main character doesn't even notice these concepts in action in front of his own eyes... he's too concerned with his own emotional turmoil and how the situation related to him... This is beyond boomer-level narcissism... Very interesting scene and interesting to see people's reactions to it... Could have used more of these scenes rather than the cowboy introduction stuff...
Reply by Olivergbyrne
on October 4, 2017 at 2:31 PM
I agree completely with the OP about his review, except for Elton John... I hated the cameo, especially when they have him fight bad guys and breaking the fourth wall by looking at the audience. And do not get me started with Flirth asking him for a concert ticket.. I did not find his cameo funny, it felt like he was using the film to promote his next tour or something. Bill Murray in Zombie Land that was a good celebrity cameo, short, humble and funny unlike Elton John's that felt more like a staring role then a cameo.
Reply by thebarnman
on October 7, 2017 at 4:42 AM
I'll keep an ear out for the music you're talking about when I see it again next week. I'll also be seeing "The Mountain Between Us."
Reply by thebarnman
on October 8, 2017 at 2:33 AM
I like them both particularly the 2nd one! Thanks for pointing them out like that.
Well, if it was not Golden Circle with The Mountain Between Us; the only other choice (from many double features at the drive-in) would have been "My Little Pony: The Movie" and "The LEGO Ninjago Movie." If by any chance I have seen everything there I've wanted to see; I will probably watch those two movies! There's two other movies I'm much more interested in seeing, but right now they're playing with movies I have already seen, and don't want to see anymore. I wouldn't mind watching Golden Circle again. With so much going on in that movie; I'm sure I'll get more out of it the 2nd time.
Reply by thebarnman
on October 15, 2017 at 2:53 AM
Enjoyed it more the 2nd time. Also; I don't know how I missed that music again; I guess I was just too much into the movie. My increased enjoyment this time was the result of being much more relaxed, was able to focus a bit more, and therefore able to follow the story better.
By the way; I too was pretty upset with the passing of Roxy near the beginning of the movie!
Reply by thebarnman
on October 16, 2017 at 2:58 AM
I think the music is really nice, but I wish I would have caught it during The Golden Circle. I can't believe I missed it during the 2nd viewing! Do you know what part (scene) in Golden Circle the song played?
Reply by thebarnman
on October 18, 2017 at 3:17 AM
Sorry for the confusion. Though I will say every now and then my local drive-in does play older movies. For example on 10-25-13, I saw a triple feature (in this order) "The Exorcist" (1973,) "A Nightmare On Elm Street" (1984) and "The Shining" (1980.) On 10-22-16 I saw another triple feature (in this order) "Zombieland" (2009,) "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Dawn of the Dead" (1978.) Notice both of those were around Halloween. This makes me wonder if my local drive-in will be doing that again.
On 03-24-15 I saw a triple feature that first included two current movies (at that time) along with "The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift" (2006,) then the next day on 03-25-15 I saw the double feature "Fast & furious 4" (2009,) with "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003.) This was (as I remember) in gearing up for what ever Fast & Furious movie was about to come out that year.
I understand the source for all the mentioned movies were Blu-ray. The transfers must have been really good because the image looked fine on the drive-in screen.
Reply by MrsBuckyBarnes
on December 30, 2017 at 6:37 PM
while i did manage to sit through the first one i was also perplexed by the rave reviews for the first kingsman. i gave credit for the church scene and the death of galahad which was genuinely surprising (only to wash any innovation away by bringing him back) but other than that i thought it was overrated and derivative.
as for this sequel, it is no surprise that it misfired given that all the most interesting characters were killed off to be replaced by insipid american caricatures, the film was too long so consequently the pacing lagged, the plot was underdeveloped and the villain was utterly forgettable. even her death was an anticlimax. not sure why vaughn thought anyone would want to see so much of elton john?
i gave this 1 out of 5 stars.
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on March 25, 2018 at 6:40 AM
The problem with this franchise, if 2 movies can be called a franchise, is that spy spoofs almost constitute a genre in themselves. There have been a lot of movies and TV shows out there over the decades covering this territory so you can't just pull out a stunt umbrella and expect that to get a laugh. Ffs The Avengers covered a lot of this ground half a century ago. The first movie just got a pass mark from me because it at least had some heart. It was ridiculous and not at all funny but there was enough sideways snipe at class and pretensions to at least respect for its subversiveness.
With the follow up, no such heart. Not a single chuckle. And the overbearing action scenes suggest the makers of this were approaching it as a straight, lowbrow, action movie. That dog don't hunt.
And whoever thought the cheesy Elton John stuff, the Southern Man mockery, etc was even watchable let alone funny needs to take a crash course in remedial writing for comedy. Cringeworthy.
Reply by JustinJackFlash
on May 16, 2018 at 12:58 AM
It suffered from sequelitis. A much bigger budget but not much point to it all.