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Kingsman: The Golden Circle (1 Viewer)

sidburyjr

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I saw it this afternoon (with MoviePass) and enjoyed it. It was definitely worse than the original. If I had to pay full price I'm not sure i would have found it worth it

John Wick > John Wick 2
Kingsman >> Kingsman 2

But still enjoyable
 

Greg.K

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It was a little too long, and they definitely amped up the campiness factor compared to the first one.

Not as good as the first but I still found it to be a pretty enjoyable ride.
 
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Robert Crawford

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I was worried about the length of it as I think they have too many stars in this film. I might see it tomorrow at a twilight showing.
 

Jake Lipson

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I saw it over the weekend in IMAX, which was a great way to see it by the way, and I liked it about as much as I liked the first, but I agree that it was too long. I'm straining to think of a scene that they didn't need altogether, but they could probably have cut two or three minutes out of every scene in the movie and ended up with something half an hour shorter without impacting the story arc that much. It was hilarious campy fun, and even though I had some issues with it which I will detail in spoiler tags below, I was very much taken on the ride of it and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

1) I thought I was going to mind Colin Firth's return, because it does kind of take away from the emotional significance of his death in the first one, but the whole plot is so ridiculous, and I mean that in a good way, that I didn't have much of a problem with how they manage to BS their way out of his murder. It seemed consistent with the world that they built. But at the same time, are we supposed to feel something at the end when Merlin/Mark Strong dies? How do we know they're not going to find some equally absurd way to resurrect him in the third film? Since this film is doing well for Fox and has already had a $100m global opening, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they officially greenlight the third one, which Matthew Vaughn has already said they were thinking about during the writing of this one.

2) On a related note, I get that the death of Roxy was intended to up the stakes and provide an emotional gut punch, which it did, but I feel like she was wasted in too small of a role and it would have been nicer to keep her alive and make her a major presence in the film. I liked that her presence in the first one made it less of a completely boy's club, and that element was missing here with her absence. I know Juliane Moore and Hallie Barry were in it, but they didn't really get in on the action much.

3) As much as I felt that the film could/should have been cut down to a shorter length, I actually feel like the ending shortchanged Eggsy's relationship with the princess. They're in the middle of this fight, and he questions whether or not he can still be an agent if he marries her and becomes a public figure, and then he saves the world and all is fine and he marries her? I get that he loves her and wants to be with her, and that's fine, but since the movie raised those issues, it seemed awkward not to fully address them in the end prior to the wedding. He made an ass of himself at the dinner when he was watching Kingsman blow up and her parents didn't know he wasn't addressing them ("Fucking put it down right now," etc.), but there was no scene where he attempted to make it right with them, either, and yet they're okay with him marrying their daughter without explanation. Does marrying the princess make him the prince, and if so, can he still be an undercover spy if he is thrust into the position of being a world leader/public figure/possible target for political assassination? Presumably he would have to be the lead of any probable third installment, so if he thinks he's out, he'll end up having to get pulled back in.

4) Where were Egsy's mom and baby half-sister in this film? The last we saw of them was in the mid-credits scene of the first one when he invited them to live with him and promptly dealt with her abusive husband. What happened to them?

5) Julianne Moore clearly enjoyed herself hamming it up as the new villain, Poppy, and she is great in the role -- just really, really funny. But, that being said, she was behind her desk barking orders for basically the whole film. It would have been cool to actually see her get her hands dirty and get involved in some of the action. I get that the idea was she has so many minions so she doesn't have to do it herself, but I thought for the climax for sure she would actually get in on the fights, and she didn't. Just an observation.

Despite these above-listed issues, I really did enjoy the film overall and would recommend it wholeheartedly if you liked the first one. The introduction of the Statesmen and that whole storyline was a credible and organic extension of this world, the action is sensational, and the cast is clearly having a blast. It all comes together well and is extremely fun to watch.

That being said, I am a bit puzzled by the attendance for this film. I saw the movie in IMAX on Saturday afternoon with less than a dozen people there, despite the great reception to the first film. When I saw that one theatrically, also during its opening weekend, the theater was full to capacity and the crowd was very responsive and into the movie, which added a lot to the experience. I still really enjoyed this one, I think it is a worthy followup, and I am really excited about where the story can go in the next film. But it was odd to have such a small crowd at a #1 of the weekend blockbuster film.
 
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Tino

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Saw it today (thanks Movie Pass).

I thought it was fine. Of course not as good as the original but fun nonetheless. I thought Elton John pretty much steals the film.

⭐⭐⭐
 

Chuck Anstey

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My wife and I saw the film on opening night because I was really looking forward to it. As a whole I mostly enjoyed it but I can't help but see it as a huge series of missed opportunities. The villain's plot was actually quite believable for a global threat and props to the writers for coming up with it but Julianne Moore was wasted for the little on screen time and stuck in a tiny set piece. Jeff Bridges was criminally under used and how many movies has Channing Tatum been shown liberally in the trailers where he is in the movie for 5 minutes? Pedro Pascal as Whiskey was an outstanding character and worth seeing the movie just for him. I just wish we got to see more Statesmen in action.

I look forward to a third installment but I hope they go smaller, more focused and over deliver like the first one rather than too many characters, too unfocused and under deliver on the potential like this one.
 

Steve...O

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I have a different perspective on this film. Julianne Moore was one of the best parts of this movie because of how her character was portrayed and the limited environment. Agree 100% that Jeff Bridges was very underused. Bringing Colin Firth's character back was beyond ridiculous. Not an Elton John fan and thought he was annoying.

On the plus side, I do like the Eggy character and the action scenes are a lot of fun. They could cut back on the excessive foul language though; it adds nothing.

In short - a completely mindless popcorn film that will likely spawn a successful franchise if the scripts stay good and the villains are interesting.
 

Sean Bryan

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I liked it, but not nearly as much as the first film. For me, the first film really felt like something special. I didn't think the sequel reached the same heights as the first in humor, tone or action.

*****SPOILERS BELOW*****

I thought it got off to a great start with the opening action set piece. That really captured the same fun energy and intensity I would expect after the first. There was lots of cool stuff in this that was "pretty good", but I just never felt like the rest of the movie continued to build and peak in such "awesome" ways as the first.

I thought Charlie was a pretty decent "enhanced villain/nemesis". But he was no Gazel.

Poppy didn't do much for me. It's got to be hard to follow Sam Jackson's Valentine. But I wish they would have done something more with her. Never felt too concerned about her and didn't feel any real satisfaction when she died.

I also felt this movie was more "tame" than the first, as though they were maybe trying to be less "offensive" to those sensitive viewers. And yes, I recognize that people were put through a meat grinder. But that is the feeling I had leaving the theater.

For me, there was no "holt f***ing shit!" scene with a similar impact as the Church massacre. Nothing came close to that in this movie. Eggsy and Harry's assault on Poppy's headquarters was pretty cool, and Eggsy's fight with Charlie was also cool. And yes, their fight with Whiskey was pretty cool too. Maybe I'm spoiled by the first, but I still wanted something more that I felt this version was lacking.

As I said, I think it was decent but compared to the first it just lacked the flow, energy, and edge I was hoping for. Think about the closing shots of the first movie. We see the Princess's ass and we all know what Eggsy is about to do to it. The closing shot of this movie was, well, nothing remarkable. Tequila dressed in Kingsman fashion going to a new Kingsman HQ. Okay, but your ending on that?

I often enjoy movies more on second viewings, especially if I've been really anticipating it. So I hope maybe I will appreciate it more for what it is rather than lament about what it isn't when I see it on UHD in a few months.
 
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Malcolm R

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I saw this yesterday and was really disappointed. What a letdown from the promise of the original. One of the things I found interesting was the Kingsman organization itself, so of course they destroy the whole thing right at the start of the film and in the process kill off almost every interesting character. Then it was all downhill from there. Statesman? Really? And Jeff Bridges is becoming such a cliche. As soon as I saw the premise behind the Statesman organization, I said to myself, "Jeff Bridges will probably be their leader," and sure enough...sigh. The action was mostly sub-par from the first film, and the humor mostly fell flat for me. I only recall laughing once during the incredibly long film, and I don't even recall the joke today. Elton John must have been a huge fan of the first film, otherwise I can't imagine he'd be involved in this mess. I wonder if he has morning after regrets? "Save the world, you'll get a backstage pass" :rolleyes:
 

Adam Lenhardt

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I had a lot of fun with this, but I agree that it was a mistake burning the Kingsman organization to the ground. The history and gravitas of the agency was a nice counterbalance to the ridiculousness of the action set pieces the first time around. This time around, there wasn't really any such counterbalance. The Statesman organization was just a framework to hang jokes onto.

I also didn't think the action sequences were as inventive as the first film, but they still held my attention and were better than most of the other ones I've seen elsewhere lately.

I loved all of the Elton John stuff. Loved it from beginning to end.

I was really disappointed that they killed off Roxy so early in the film. I liked the idea of a platonic relationship between an upper crust young woman and a working class young man as they grew together as agents. Hopefully they'll resurrect her for the next one.
 

Patrick Sun

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Pretty uneven ride, but still had fun with some of the side plots, mostly the Elton John ones.

It runs long, but I have always liked Vaugn's directorial sense of humor.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B- (mainly because I paid $5 for a Tuesday night showing).
 

Hanson

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This was my favorite movie of the year. It was the best comic book movie of the year. It had the best action sequences of the year. Too many times fight scenes are merely "the heroes punches the henchman into a wall. The henchman gets up and throws the hero through a wall. Someone gets headbutted. Repeat". The action set pieces in Kingsman GC are constructed like a Jackie Chan set piece -- every movement is purposeful and choreographed, and there's a narrative that builds during the scene. There were points during the scenes where I was so overcome with the sheer inventiveness of the choreography that all I could do was burst out laughing at the audacity. When I wasn't bursting out laughing, I had a huge, goofy smile on my face throughout the entire movie. I thought the first one was great, but Golden Circle was twice as good.

Plot holes? I dunno, I wasn't paying attention. I was just enjoying the ride.
 

Malcolm R

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It's a shame this was not released in 3D, as it looks like a number of shots may have been set up to take advantage of the option.
 

dpippel

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Caught this a couple of nights ago. Ugh. IMO it took everything good about the first film and left it behind. Not a fan. Very disappointed.
 

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