Christine Burke
Warning: Minor Spoilers Ahead
Set to the nostalgic tune of “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” the Kingsman Secret Service hit both the shores and the silver screens of America this past Friday. The sequel to the 2014 spy genre spoof, “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” manages to maintain the outrageous fight scenes, on-the-nose humor and ridiculously funny stereotypes that made the first movie so loveable.
Taron Egerton (Eggsy), Mark Strong (Merlin), Colin Firth (Harry Hart), Edward Holcroft (Charlie) and Hanna Alstrom (Princess Tilde) reprise their roles, joined by Julianne Moore (Poppy), Pedro Pascal (Whiskey), Channing Tatum (Tequila) and Halle Berry (Ginger) as their American counterparts, with a cameo by Jeff Bridges (Champ) and a surprisingly perfect and feathery performance by singer Elton John.
The stereotypes of both nations are played to the extreme, resulting in a lively mashup of English class and Southern charm, with a dash of beautifully choreographed graphic violence to top it all off. With increasingly bizarre situations and laughably preposterous fights, the cast somehow manages to keep an element of seriousness throughout the film, capped off with the emotional sacrifice of a major main character. Moore’s character shines as an American drug lord self-stylized as the greatest businesswoman to ever, closely beating out Pascal and Elton for the top spot.
The only drawback the film has is the easy defeat of the main villain by protagonists Harry and Eggsy. While the movie’s fictional American President acts as a credible secondary villain, Poppy’s overthrow comes as a bit of a disappointment; surrounded by the remainder of the film, however, this small flaw is a small price to pay.
Niagara Wire 