The Kingsman are holding on and their base of operations is destroyed by a drug cartel know as the Golden Circle.   Eggsy and Merlin are the only ones to survive the attack and they seek help from their American cousins known as the Statesman who use an alcohol producing business (worth billions) as a cover for their secret agent operations.  They find that one of their Kingsman agents (Harry who was thought dead from last year) is alive and he has memory problems (not remembering any of his time as a Kingsman).  The Kingsman and Statesman team up to stop Poppy’s plan to use the Golden Circle to spread a virus to drug users to force governments to legalize drugs (but the United States President has other plans).

 

KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE is an over-the-top enjoyable sequel.  Matthew Vaughn (with co-writer Jane Goldman) has managed to craft a good sequel for anyone who loved the first movie.  The Statesman characters are underused at times with Channing Tatum’s character (Tequila) being sidelined for part of the movie, Halle Berry being in the thankless operations role for the Statesman, and Jeff Bridges is chewing scenery as Champ (aka Champagne).   However, Elton John steals many scenes as he plays a foul mouthed version of himself (being held prisoner by Poppy at the Golden Circle compound which is like a 1950s small town Main Street with a diner, movie theater, and hair salon).  The action sequences feature a high bullet count and plenty of explosions.   The movie does leave it open for a Statesman spin-off and a possible third Kingsman movie.   Some may feel the sequel drags for its 141 minute running time, but they have a lot to cover in this sequel and develop.  So I am satisfied with KINSGMAN: THE GODEN CIRCLE which I enjoyed as I much as KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE.

 

This review is ©10-7-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com