It’s an odd universe that super spy and everyday pom Eggsy (Taron Egerton) had returned to. He’s made good as a Kingsman and has a successful relationship with Princess Tilde (Hanna Alström) even though it’s against company policy. His world is turned upside down when super baddie Poppy (Julianne Moore) reeks havoc on the secret affiliation.

All of the over the top tendencies are not only keep intact from the first film but with a bigger budget and more ambition, they are ramped up considerably. Even suspected dead are revived. Oh and for those wondering, the extremely juvenile bouts of humour and comic book special effects are revisited extensively.

If you loved the first Kingsman, you will have no issues with the second but for the newbies, this is a world where anything goes. It stays true to the level of unsophisticated comic book humour with its sense of grandiosity. It fires fun square into the heart of the young and young at heat.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/KingsmanMovieAustralia

In “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” our heroes face a new challenge. When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, their journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US called Statesman, dating back to the day they were both founded.

In a new adventure that tests their agents’ strength and wits to the limit, these two elite secret organizations band together to defeat a ruthless common enemy, in order to save the world, something that’s becoming a bit of a habit for Eggsy.
www.facebook.com/KingsmanMovieAustralia

In Kingsman: The Golden Circle, our heroes face a new challenge. When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, their journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US called Statesman, dating back to the day they were both founded.

In a new adventure that tests their agents’ strength and wits to the limit, these two elite secret organizations band together to defeat a ruthless common enemy, in order to save the world, something that’s becoming a bit of a habit for Eggsy…

Directed by MATTHEW VAUGHN and staring COLIN FIRTH, JULIANNE MOORE, TARON EGERTON, MARK STRONG, HALLE BERRY WITH SIR ELTON JOHN, AND CHANNING TATUM, AND JEFF BRIDGES.

IN CINEMAS SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

Colin Firth as Kingsman agent Harry Hart is flawlessly cast as our introduction to this world of perfect gentlemanly conduct and deadly killing precision. And in stark contrast to the recent proclivity of the Bond franchise to do away with all those cool spy gadgets, this film is littered with deadly hardware that would have made the old Q more than happy.

Underlining the cool technology on display is a story based on character development, honour and paying back impossible depts. Harry becomes a mentor to Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (played with emerging star power by Taron Egerton) who is the offspring of a fellow agent and friend to Hart that had made the ultimate sacrifice. His mentorship is put to the test as they clash with billionaire baddie Valentine (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who taps into mind control and has the world on the edge of chaos.

The film misses few chances to shock the audience and often times goes into directions that have you shaking your head, Big budget action films don’t usually play with the rules this fast and loose. The end result is a defiance of the norm that will leave you with a smile on your dial and give you the opportunity to recommend this to friends without any hesitations. Few films this year will provide more entertaining escapism.

Rob Hudson

Kingsman: The Secret Service – another view

“Manners maketh man.”
 Harry Hart AKA Galahad

Kingsman kicks off guns blazing with Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing rocking on the soundtrack and a flash back to 1997. Wait. What? Money For Nothing in 1997? That’s not right! And superimposed over this driving soundtrack is a flashy opening credits sequence that would usually flag a forthcoming crap movie. But what I didn’t realise at the time was that Kingsman is directed by Matthew Vaughn. I’d seen the one-sheet for the film in the foyer and figured this was yet another entrant in the seemingly never-ending queue of comic book adaptations. If I’d known prior that Vaughn was the director, my initial doubts would have been unfounded as I would soon find out.

In 2010, Vaughn produced Kick Ass, a brilliantly violent super hero movie about social degradation, indifference and spiralling crime. Its themes were as hard edged as it’s violence and in this regard Kingsman is a worthy successor.

The story has Harry Hart AKA Galahad (Colin Firth) recruiting juvenile delinquent Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Taron Egerton) into the Kingsmen – a group of aristocratic crime fighters posing as tailors. Naturally there’s some internal resistance from the posh stodgies to recruiting a young chap from the other side of the tracks and this sets up the primary theme of class strictures and the boundaries they impose.

Vaughn is finding himself a master of action violence, a worthy successor perhaps to Quentin Tarantino. And Like Tarantino, Kingsman references many other films. Some explicitly so like Trading Places, La Femme Nikita and (rather comically) Pretty Woman. But others are more subtle like lisp-encumbered master villain ,Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), is reminiscent of Mr Glass from Shyamalan’s Unbreakable and his lethal double amputee sidekick, Gazelle (Sofia Boutella), plainly channels Gogo Yubari from Tarantino’s Kill Bill. And the film as a whole has Vaughn clearly referencing the James Bond franchise (and giving it in the ass). As it turns out, James Bond through the “Kick-Ass” sphere looks mighty good!

Colin Firth is absolutely brilliant playing against type as the stiif upper lip killer. He’s the opposite number to Hit Girl in every respect and just as cool. Egerton also plays well as the chav who finds himself above his station and discovers there’s power in tweed. Mark Strong is as strong as ever as Merlin and it’s nice to see him at the opposite end of the crime scale to Kick-Ass. Jackson is a hoot as always as is Michael Cain as leader of the aristocrats, Arthur (yes, all the good guys have Camelot namesakes). And Boutella is a magnificent villain in both character and design.

The only downside is that the means by which Eggsy is recruited is a bit naff and unlikely but I suppose it is, after all, just a McGuffin.

Kingsman is ultra violent, ultra cool, funny and has a poignant social message to boot. It kicks out the jams from the get go and it’s the most fun you’ll have without watching Kick-Ass.

Stuart Jamieson
www.kingsmanmovie.com