I could not agree more. I also can't fathom why Eggsy and the princess were suddenly in a committed relationship together??? Like, why should we care about them as a couple when their only interaction in the previous film was That Scene. I would've much rather seen more of Eggsy's friendship with Roxie but NOPE.
Alexa Renae them killing off Roxy was a big fucking mistake. And then Ginger Ale had limited scenes, and then Poppy dies like a bitch in comparison to Gazelle DESTROYING Eggsy and basically losing from a fluke... Like, it was bad. It was just bad. And they're gonna make a THIRD one? What?? Centered around Eggsy's fucking "spy kids"?! You know, what I really wanted was to see his mum and daisy... ya know. The people he fought for and saved the world and were his last thoughts of when he thought he was about to die??? Where were they in the movie??? It's like Vaughn took the LEAST favorite character of the last movie, and SHOVED her into this one and said "NO! NO! I *DEMAND* FOR YOU TO LIKE HER!!!" Like seriously, does that actress know Vaughn somehow?? A cousin? A family friend?
And now that they're married, I don't know how MV is going to keep Eggsy being a spy. I'm annoyed with some saying Channing's the new Galahad. Just. NO! They've taken half of the original Kingsman out of the picture so no way are they going to do more damage. I love Kingsman for its Britishness. This? I cannot accept.
I felt the deaths were...gratuitous and a way to clear the road for those big American stars they got in. For me, Sophie Cookson as Roxy was one of the highlights of the first film - I just loved her character. And in this, I feel they very much killed her off in order to focus more on the "big stars" which is unfair to Cookson herself and to the actual character of Roxy. Also the deaths seemed to have no emotional weight? There was very little grieving for those people I thought considering that Eggsy was meant to be very close to them.
JackHoward And like what you said about them making a big deal about Taron being an 'unknown' and then they just go "oh well we have big stars now so all of these other characters can just go." I was disappointed for sure.
I felt the same about Roxy's death. In the first film it seemed like Eggsy's friendship with her was so meaningful to him, they became very good friends. Such an amazing platonic relationship between a man and a woman, with no romantic motive whatsoever, which is rare in the films! And, then, she gets killed, and so... quckly and carelessly. Almost no attention was paid to her death, as if she wasn't one of his good friends.
What I found even more annoying is that they also put Collin Firth in the trailer. Not only did they make him raise from the dead but also took away the surprise of it.
I enjoyed it but it was definitely no where near as good as the first one. I spent most of the film thinking Roxy was coming back and Elton John just made me feel wierd about the film!
Lost In Wonderland Literally the first thing out of my mouth when it was over was "I wonder who they're gonna bring back in the next movie, Roxy or Merlin?"
SPOILERS BELOW!! Ways this movie could have been better: Don't bring back Harry Don't use Statesman as a recreation of kingsman. Either don't kill roxy and JB OR actually pay more attention to their deaths Less scenes with the Princess. Don't create a villain with the same plan as every other villain ever but with a tiny twist .
Not hating on the princess but I just don't understand how they could choose to give her more screen time and development over our best girl Roxy? For an action movie, you would think they'd prioritize the awesome partnership/dynamics between Eggsy and Lancelot as Kingsmen instead of a romantic relationship between Eggsy and Princess Tilde that had little to no chemistry and is mostly just used to show us sexy time.
I couldn't agree more with you. That stupid 25 minute sequence of them seducing a girl at a festival was so cringeworthy and out of place. That whole subplot was totally unnecessary. It's like they think these overly sexual, laddish scenes are really edgy when all they is do make the film naff. They also advertised Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges like they were playing large roles in the movie when they're in it for the best part of 20 mins. I thought the Elton John gag was funny at first but then they completely overdid it. I enjoyed moments of The Golden Circle but so much should have been left on the cutting room floor. I expected so much more from Matthew Vaughn.
Spot on. The female characters were disappointing too. Halle Berry's character brought nothing to the table other than emphasise the fact she was never able to join the men on actual missions, and Julianne Moore's character was initially portrayed as some sort of psychopathic mastermind, only to be defeated without much of a gripping climax.
Tbh i thought even though they had so many americans in it,they could have made them work but y did they make wiskey have a back story just to kill him with no growth or change. I mean he stays the same all the way through then get infomation about him the just kill him?
I agree with literally everything you said. And you didn’t even even touch on the shitty plot that started nowhere and went nowhere. No character development, kinda shit jokes, just, nothing happened. Unlike the first one, which one of my favourite movies still, i probably won’t remember this one in a week. The one word for it is; disappointing.
inglourious basterds my biggest problem with the film is that it felt like it never needed to happen. Poppy was upset with the fact that by the nature of her business she couldnt be public with her wealth, well she has advanced skills in robotics and chemical engineering and she never thought to use either of those for a cover? And besides her plan was a lose lose scenario, she would kill off all of her clientelle and the president would never adhere to her terms. Valentines plan felt less flaud, in execution not concept becaus eit is batshit crazy, nearly all tge worlds leaders in his pocket as they toast to the millions of unchosen kill eachother off. It seemed like she never thought of a plan B
The bit that annoyed me the most about this film was that they made the princess who was literally in the movie for less then 5 minutes in that last one the main female character, taking away valuable time from the movie to talk about a relationship that I couldn't care less about. Going ahead with a rubbish character and killing off the only well developed female spy from the last one about 20 minutes in the film! I feel that through this the movie was taking several steps backwards in killing off an amazing character and giving more screen time to the protagonist and his ridiculously badly written and undeveloped princess girlfriend, it was a subplot that was shoved down everyones throats and I just wanted their scenes to end quickly so I could go back to the REAL story. Take a minute out and imagine if instead of the princess we had Roxy instead, kicking ass and saving the world, not necessarily in a relationship with Eggsy but saving the world. P.S. and also this movie was the only movie i've ever watched where the trailer was much better than the movie, it was short, and cool and to the point.Giving a singular message 'This movie is going to be much better than the last' Then when watching the actual movie it was relatively boring at points.
Kingsman, Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men: First Class are all films I went into without many expectations and absolutely loved. I only found out Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman were behind all of them fairly recently, and so I started looking forward to whatever they'd do next. That was probably my problem with Golden Circle: my expectations were too high. I still enjoyed the movie and I actually found some of the Elton John bits hilarious, but it certainly wasn't as good as the first one. Nice review!
ClarIs not as good but still good in my opinion the only problem was it felt like it was jumping the shark a bit but that was ok and the villain and action 2 things people say were downgraded were still good with the villain while not being as good a valintine was great and felt right for the movie and the action while not the church scene was still overall great and the editing in said scenes was onpur with the church scene if i may even say better
Saw kingsman last night and enjoyed it, even though I knew it would never never be as good as the first. There were some awful bits and the plot was a bit rubbish and your review is really interesting and says some things I hadn't yet thought of :)
I think what really drove the first film was the characters and how much heart they had. You cared about Eggsy, not only because of Taron's acting skills, but because he was more than just a chav people pegged him to be and it was his relationships with those around him that made him a lovable action hero. He cared deeply about his mom and little sister, in fact, you could argue that they were his driving force to better himself, but you get none of that growth or pay off in this film- or only a little of it anyways. The sequel would have been so much better in a myriad of ways if it had focused on Eggsy and his family post-Valentine and all that and how they fared, not on his sudden relationship with Tilde, who while was an interesting character on her own, became quickly diluted to 'spy-hero's girlfriend'. You can have all the fun action, spy movie stuff in the sequel while also having the stakes be laid or around Eggsy's family and his other relationships that had been already established in the first movie (i.e. Roxy who deserved much better than she got and whose friendship with Eggsy was apparently not worth much to keep around in order to make way for big names that only clutter the film, not make it better). It would have been much better to explore these characters more while, of course, adding a big, bad, spy movie-esque villain in another way, but it was so, so key to remember who these characters where and what gave them so much heart and soul and to not just take what you think people loved about them and amp it up unnecessarily. I adore the first film, in fact, I would call it one of my favorite films of all time, but to take something that was so good and to create almost a caricature of it with the sequel is so disheartening.
@@bridget4139 that's just because he wrote a script and read it out, and maybe redid some parts he didn't like. if this was a podcast everything would be completely different.
YES. It felt like they killed Roxy and Merlin unnecessarily just to make up for the fact that they couldn't commit to having killed Harry in the first one. Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges didn't do anything in this movie, and they weren't even in a coma for half of it. And really, Pedro Pascal's character's motivation for turning on them was one of the laziest things I've seen. I loved the first movie so much, so I'm right there with you in being so disappointed by this one.
Man, I couldn't agree more. My friends wouldn't stop going on about how they GENUINELY LIKED IT MORE THAN THE FIRST and I was like "wtf...?". It certainly wasn't a terrible movie, but it really didn't match the first. An okay, but forgettable movie.
My mom looooved the first one, and as the movie (golden circle) went one she kept saying, "I promise the first one was better..." and mid way through the 3rd act, she wanted to leave lmao she was mad as hell.
One thing that always keeps me coming back, and looking forward to your film reviews, is your honestly. I really respect how you are unafraid to share your true thoughts, even if you have been a fan for a long time, or have had the chance to meet the director, such as this case. You always offer genuine and insightful points that I feel a lot of other film critics would be afraid to address being in the same position. And for that I really respect what you do, and your approach to these videos.
I agree with every point you have made here Jack however I also felt the cgi in this movie was just horrible. This was coupled along with, apparently whenever there was a wide shot, the top and bottom of the footage was blurry and just felt badly done! I adore matthew vaughn and everything he creates however I feel so let down by this film.
yes yes yes. All of this. What a smart review. You're clearly a passionate student of film. I hated that anal joke at the end of the first film when theyd just made this awesome movie with a strong female character who helps save the world equal to the male protagonist and then its like oop they were all a bunch of chauvinists the whole time. They just let roxy be one of them. Colin was awesome in this film and killing him was a brilliant move. It raised the stakes. Bringing him back and all of the 4th wall breaks made it cheap and brought it back to the original sexism and boy's only club that spy movies have always been.
Gemz 2v The only thing she got to do before dying was sit in front of her laptop, google stuffand tell Eggsy what to say to his girlfriend's parents via his earpiece so he could appear smart. Which is just so lame and ridiculous
I am of the opinion that she and Mark Strong both decided to die in the movie to get the hell out of this horrid franchise. As for Elton John, i think they literally kidnapped him and held him ransom. He was'nt acting. he just really wanted the fuck out!
I agree with all your points except one: I think that Matthew Vaughn did see a new way to take the series. Kingsman was pretty well wrapped up in the first film, all the emotional outlets had been explored and closed for the type of film that it is; Vaughn decided to take Kingsman on a completely different route. Subversion of the spy genre was over and Guardians of the Galaxy style fun was kicked into gear, there was no intention to do what they'd done before - and I think if you look at the film from that perspective, then it's far more enjoyable. Even if it is obviously far more profiteering than the last film.
From my perspective, Vaughn TRIED to make a Guardians of the Galaxy type movie because he knows that people like those kinds of fun films. But what makes GotG so great is the strong team!! Not the motherfucking music!!!! THE STRONG TEAM THAT VAUGHN KILLED OFF IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF HIS OWN FILM!! I was TOTALLY ready AND THERE for the cliche, "best friend finds out about the double life as a spy and therefore becomes a spy him/herself." I WAS TOTALLY THERE FOR IT but NOOOooooo before we got to that part, THE BEST FRIEND DIED BECAUSE OF A "WE CAN DO BETTER THAN MARVEL ROBOTIC ARM!!!" I really felt like Vaughn was trying to one-up marvel/GotG (but spies!) and just failed miserably because he wasn't focused on the actual plot.
"Why- why?" that's a good review right there. Always appreciate when someone makes a review objectively. I was really looking forward to this film but... yeah, why indeed.
Very interesting - first time I ever really disagree with your opinion on a film. Yes, it has it's flaws, but for me it was no dissappointment whatsoever, because it still had the same atmosphere and heart that the first one had. Let me start by saying what I agree with: 1) Colin Firth should have stayed dead. 2) Why was Channing Tatum in the film for like five minutes? His character could've been such a cool asset to the team. 3) The whole Elton thing was WAY too much ... But other than that: I really enjoyed the film. This may have a lot to do with expectations, because I went into this film wanting a lot of action, weird weapons, sassy comments and cool camera work. Yes, the first one had more of a story, but for what the movie tries to be, it doesn't necessarily need one (like Mad Max, Fury Road), it just would've made it even better. The antagonist had a weird plan, but it was still fun to watch her scenes, to see how her brain works. Eggsys character did have it's own development in my opinion and it was an important one. During the first film he became this fun, superspy that can easily save the world, while getting the girl, while having a drink. True, Harry's death grounded him for a bit, but overall he was lightheartened. In this film, every good and cool thing that has happened to him is gone apart from his wife. So we see how after the death of his mentor, his best friend, another childhood friend and his freaking dog plus loosing the organisation that gave his life purpose he turns into a more serious spy. He understood what Merlin always told him that there's "no place for emotions". After Harry not quite being himself yet he turned into the leader, the one that calls the shots. And he could have stayed that way and become more cold and logical like Merlin and Harry, but he found out (with help from harry) that his emotions are what make him better and everything he does. In the first film, his anger and grief about harry made him fight harder and in the second the fear and love for his girl made him fight harder. Now true - that's also not a new idea to have those two opposite sides of emotions vs logic, but I still think that the character developed in the film. The one thing I actually disliked about the film that you didn't mentioned was how Whiskys character came into play and being the bad guy etc. Because it had nothing to do with the story, they literally just turned him bad to have a good one take fight scene at the end . Personally I think the best change they could have done to the film is letting Harry stay dead and instead send Tequila (Tatum's character) with Eggsy on the mission. Could have had some funny interactions between Eggsy and Tequila, some american/english jokes and just a bit more banter instead of harry's and Eggsy's wanna be deep talk about how Harry is being irrational and how they missed each other ... Okay this turned into a long comment.. what i wanted to say was that I agree it has several flaws, but definitely less than many other films in the same genre. I think it still had the same atmosphere that I absolutely loved from the first film. Scenes like Merlins death scene just don't happen like that in similar films. And unlike you I did actually feel really sad when he died, but at the same time I absolutely loved the scene. How it was so dramatic, yet still a cool action scene. As a I said: I think it has a lot to do with expectations, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot and will watch it again someday :) Edit: This doesn't mean that you should dislike the video just because you disagree with him. It's still a good video, he makes (mostly) valid points.
I really enjoyed the film, I found it entertaining. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. It has a few flaws, but so what, just go and have fun.
I agree completely. It was pointless to kill off Colin Firth if they were going to have him come back. Channing Tatum should have had more screen time. There's one thing that nobody has really brought up though: Roxy. She was such an important character in the first one, and I wanted to see her backstory fleshed out. Instead of having her in the majority of the second one, they killed her off early. Then, I thought that Eggsy and Merlin would have something to fight for. It was like that at the beginning, but then it just went into save the world mode. Nobody even mentioned Roxy until Eggsy killed Charlie.
They didn't need Colin Firth for this movie. Just don't kill Roxy and have her in the scenes with Eggsy OR have Merlin do those scenes! Would have saved a ton of wasted screen time. Also really didn't need Elton John...
I loved colin firth so much in the first movie he did a phenomenal job playing a character so different from his standard roles but they should NOT have brought him back and I'm so disappointed they did. I hate comic book movies specifically for this reason. Why should I care if someone dies when I know you will bring them back? His death in the first movie was so anticlimactic which is what made is so shocking and powerful, and they just threw away a good death like that to make him into a shell of his former self who does nothing the second film. One of the dozens of series ending mistakes they made. Be a serious spy movie or be a spoof; dont think that because one movie was successful you are the new james bond franchise and can do whatever you want without caring about the audience reaction
Just came back from seeing this film and couldn't agree more with your review. One of the main things I couldn't understand was killing off Roxy! Seriously they spent so much time on her character development in the first film and got everyone on board rooting for her as the super kick ass female lead. To then kill her off and replace her with Hallie Berry.. they were like shit we don't have enough women in this film let's throw Hallie in there. Disappointing 😔 Also poor Pedro Pascal he was barely in the trailer or on any of the posters but did majority of the acting out of the other big stars... rant over!
One of the things I didn't understand was how kingsman and statesman didn't know about each other. They are practically the same organisation with very similar technology. AND they're supposed to be intelligence organisations, surely they should know about their counterparts in other countries?!?
Completely agree with every point you made - especially the bit about not really feeling emotional when Merlin and Roxy got killed off as I kept thinking, they'll probably be back somehow for the third one. I feel sorry for Taron Egerton as he seems to have been pushed to the side to make way for these American stars who, as you mentioned, aren't really vital to the storyline or in the film that much. Also, I know it would have been hard for them to keep Colin's return a secret but I can't help thinking that it would have had much more of an impact if we didn't know that he was going to be in it until the film actually came out and as much as I love his character, the whole magic gel thing was stupid. The Glastonbury scene ruined it for me, completely unnecessary and pointless, but the taxi chase at the beginning was epic. Which parts did you like?
I really enjoyed it. I felt that with a few scenes tweaked and one or two minor changes (Roxy dying and Pedro Pascal turning out to be a villain) it could be improved a lot more. I admit the fingering scene shouldn't have happened but for the most part I read enjoyed it. The only annoying things that were some minor decisions that pulled the film down. It's not as good as the first one but I don't think it's as bad as everyone says.
I avoided watching this video for so long because I just didn't want the enjoyment I felt when I saw The Golden Circle taken away from me but in all honesty after watching this video and hearing your opinions, despite enjoying the film I think you're absolutely right. I admire your honesty and in personal insight with things, it's what makes me keep coming back to your videos. Don't stop being you.
There was no explanation of how Harry knew that Whiskey was working against them. I was expecting this build up of Eggsy getting more and more sure that Harry’s mind wasn’t quite right and then at the end a big explanatory scene detailing all the little things that made Harry figure it out. But nope. They just explained Whiskey’s motivation for double crossing them and glossed over the fact that he showed no signs of actually trying to stop them before the final action scene.
But see there you go thinking and stuff. You aren't meant to think. You are meant to lower your expectations to zero, switch off 95% of your brain and have fun fun fun dontcha know :)
Three years later, I completely forgot Jeff Bridges was in this film because that's how LITTLE an impact any of the American spies had on me, except Pedro Pascal. The film still makes me so disappointed and I haven't gone back to it, even though I will sing the original Kingsman's praises. Hoping that The King's Man can recapture Kingsman's magic, without just remaking it. So far, it seems tonally quite different, but also feels like movies I've already seen. Let's just all hope that it surprises and impresses, whenever it gets released.
Couldn‘t agree more! I didn‘t even go in with high expectations, because you know a sequel usually isn‘t as good- and I was still so massively disappointed :(
It's interesting to me that Mark Millar's creations, no matter how good they're perceived to be, always includes a slightly bitter aftertaste. Almost like somewhere along the way they look at the viewer and say "You're liking this huh? Well screw you for liking it." Some viewers brush it off, even saying it's another cool element, but regardless of how you react to it, it always seems to be there. Sounds like the tried to multiply it for this movie.
I have never loved a film more than Kingsman the secret service but i too agree with your opinion here. Being a huge fan of the first one and being so obsessed with it i cant bring myself to hate the new one because i feel like i would be betraying myself but it just wasn't anywhere near as good as i had wished. Such a shame.
what i think was a main feature of the first film was egzys step dad who was abusive and hismom and his little sister no touch of that in the second film apart from at the wedding where saw his mom and sister if i recall thats what anoyed me cause i wanted to see that in this film
totally agree! you can always put to words what i'm thinking. the story felt a bit empty, the stakes were... not there?? merlin's death was honestly a bit predictable and it didn't feel like it was supposed to... during the whole time he was singing i wanted to feel angry and upset but i felt nothing. im not even going to comment on the fingering subject. it was just weird as hell. i absolutely LOVE the action sequences in kingsman, but the storyline that got me more excited during the sequel was eggsy's relationship with his girlfriend. probably because it was centered around his development as character in a different context other than the spy world. does that make sense?
In my opinion the best part of these films is Taron Egerton, the character he plays is what the film is about and I found all these big names completely pointless to be in the film but I must say I did still enjoy it just not the fingering the girl cause it quite frankly was just weird
I don't think they've killed of Merlin either, because they were foreshadowing everything in the film...except for the bomb vest that was worn by Charlie earlier when meeting Poppy. So I recon they're going to be bringing Mark Strong back too
i got back from seeing the film just a couple of hours ago and while i largely enjoyed it in the cinema, i do agree that it was a let down looking back. here's a quick list of some of my thoughts: - it was such a bummer they didn't try to include a scene that could even attempt to rival the church scene (also no real bar fight) - i'm so annoyed about the way they handled the deaths: ---- i feel like perhaps they didn't fully realise why harry's death had such an impact. it wasn't just that he was a beloved character, it was largely because we had JUST seen him being practically invincible only for him to walk out and be shot in the head ---- roxy shouldn't have died but if she had to, it shouldn't have been that early on and not like that, we had to remember why we loved her in kingsmen 1 (maybe she should have had merlin's death???) merlin, also, shouldn't have died - i do like that they had a woman villain because we need a lot more of them but i feel like she wasn't has high-stakes as samuel l jackson was (and also felt a lot less real), which was such a shame - why tf did they keep the princess around as eggsy's girlfriend? it's not like kingsmen 1 introduced her in a way that she could have been a character that could meaningfully return. their relationship had no emotional weight for the audience - the fingering scene and the glasonbury scenes were weird and unnecessary (also what even was the relationship between that woman and charlie???? were they exes or on-again/off-again or long-term partners???? who knows) - i hate how they handled the whole thing with whiskey being a bad guy. they needed to make the audience to stick to either eggsy's point of view (that whiskey was a good guy so that the reveal was a shock) OR harry's (whiskey was a snake so we were on the edge of our seats wondering when eggsy would find out). not both. - wtf was their stance on the war on drugs???? i don't understand what they were doing there - this film probably either shouldn't have happened or should have been eggsy somewhat taking on the role of harry and have scenes where he had fights similar to those that harry fought in kingsmen 1 (give eggsy his church scene minus his death) and show him being a key kingsmen member - there was a full table of kingsmen members that died but merlin and eggsy drank to TWO of them???? i call bullshit
It was fun, but it didn't really do anything to expand on the first movie other than bring in new characters (and annoyingly ditch old ones). I would've preferred it if we spent more time getting to know more about the Kingsman, rather than wiping them out and flying off to America. I was annoyed by Roxy's death because I would've liked to see her character developed further, also instead of bringing Colin Firth back they could've had Mark Strong take on the mentor role, I quite liked him in the first film and was sad to see him sacrificed in such a meaningless way in the sequel. I just think this one spent too much time trying to out-do the fight scenes from the original and exaggerate the overly cartoonish villain when it would've been better to focus on the surviving characters from the first film.
My biggest gripe was in the first one, Harry is shot, and we see his dead body for quite a good amount of time afterwards. Yet, in the second film, apparently what actually happened was 5 seconds after he was shot this fuck off helicopter that makes 0 noise comes down to save him. Like come on.
The first Kingsman movie was one of my favorite films ever, so obviously I was excited for the sequel. I did like it, but there were also things I didn't like. Like you said, I felt like there was no time to fully comprehend the fact, that Roxy and others had died, like it was just mentioned once and then forgotten about. Also I think that the directors just thought that "alright if people liked the church scene in the first one, then every action scene must be like that in the sequel". I felt like the opening car chase went just overboard and I didn't like the camerawork. However what made this film memorable for me, was the connection between Harry and Eggsy. I was bawling my eyes out most of the film lol. While others were laughing, all I could think about is "cAN'T YOU SEE HOW MUCH HARRY MEANT FOR EGGSY?? HE'S CLEARLY MISERABLE AND MISSES HIM DEARLY". Taron gave a great performance and I did have fun with this movie, but we all know that sequels are rarely as good, if not better, than the originals. I think it's best to form an opinion on your own, so still go watch it, if you're interested.
dang it I've been so excited about this film and the second I saw the word rant in the video notification I got upset. I won't finish the video, I'll come back to it later since you mentioned spoilers but I hope I end up enjoying it :(
Menna Raafat I watched Jack's video even though I haven't seen Golden Circle yet. There are so.e spoilers not everyone would be ok with hearing. But Jack makes some great points and now I'm all sad and won't see it in the theaters at least.
I was actually planning on seeing it in IMAX despite how expensive it is in Egypt cause I'm such a HUGE fan of the first film. I was worried it would be disappointing though, I think it's because the first was such a surprise in how great it was they tried to emulate that and it just didn't work out in the same way. I hope I'll still have fun with it though, a few friends of mine have seen it and they did enjoy it, but maybe not worth the IMAX afterall
If they wanted him back, they should have done an action sequence in the prologue like a bond film where you see Harry before the first film ruining a previous plan from Poppy's, so that way you have him in the movie and move on from that and you give Poppy a strong reason to destroy Kingsman headquarters. Side note and spoilers: It needed more Tatum, Elton John in very small portion and you just don't kill Roxie
I completely agree with you! I absolutely love the first film but I just didn't get the sequel. There were a lot of moments where I questioned why they were doing X,Y,Z and undoing all the amazing work of the first film. It was just a bit..... weird to be honest
one of my favourite parts of the first film was when they took some frames out of the fight scenes to emphasise certain movements and make it more precise but i felt like they only really did that at the end of this one. another thing was that i really did like the whole butterfly thing but i felt it was too over the top for the little stress they placed on it in the first movie (or that they took a relatively small detail and exploded it way too big without enough build up)
also the whole thing with the president was definitely something the american government would do but also it was SO unnecessary they did not need that plotline and tbh i'd already forgotten about it
I really wanted to enjoy the first film but the crass "joke" at the end totally ruined it for me. They kept saying they want to parody the whole 'Bond always gets the Woman' thing by "turning it up to 11" but because 'Bond always gets the Woman' is already so ridiculous, it doesn't feel like anything is being subverted to say the same thing just louder? It seems lazy to not find a better way of parodying the trope, instead they just end up participating in the objectification of women in spy films instead of commenting on it.
Plus he was supposed to be like a gentleman somehow? Apparently that entails taking advantage of a woman's captivity and ignoring all the other prisoners
Bianca Esposito what I really didn't like is how Vaughn kept lying and saying it was female empowerment to all the females....who said....that it WASNT. Like. Way to take a stereotypically unrealistic sexist scene as a nod to the bond movies, and then make it even more sexist by LYING about it. Just own up to it, man.
I agree. Even if he thought that's what he was doing and that was his intention, after it obviously missed the mark he should now at least own up to it.
I actually disagree. But only for the very sad reason that most of the other ways this trope could've been parodied wouldn't have been obvious parodies. Him for example getting not one but many girls or him getting a gift card for a a brothel or something ridiculous like that would have still been taken seriously by some, since it's very much in line with the way women are seen in these kinds of movies. So that's why I get that they had to go to really absurd and crass lengths to achieve the parody.
I'm sure some people missed this as "parody" the way it is and still took it seriously, that's why it didn't work. They could have turned the whole trope on its head in some other way, or just not included this bit at all, it felt forced to me anyhow. The movie wouldn't have suffered at all to have this whole (small) part cut out. This is one trope as a filmmaker you really shouldn't want to even accidentally reinforce.
I agree so much with this! Like almost everything, except Elton Johns jump kicks. Didnt love them, but didnt hate them, haha. I actually sat wondering when Roxy was going to show up again because "they are going to bring Harry back so she could have jumped away from that missile that erased the whole house from the face of the earth"
i was really curious as to why colin firth was still in the poster, i thought they made him an android or something. when i saw their excuse to bring him back i kind of lost it, but suspension of belief does wonders. the dynamics that eggsy and harry displayed in the first film didn't shine through in the action scenes of the second either, now that i think about it. nonetheless, i enjoyed the film a lot still.
Colin Firth. Medically he would be dead, and if he did survive, would be SEVERELY damaged. Also why did they cut off Roxy? Roxy is a character with potential - like Egsy; and I'd love to go around how she came to the trials and become a member of Kingsman. Merlin. Kingsman needs and Merlin, so if they're reconstructing their intelligence the need someone with Merlin skills. They're screwed for the most part.
I am truly so thankful for your abillity to review films with not only a passion, but in such a respectful way (thinking back to your video/interview with Matthew) You put, to 99%, my thoughts on these films into words and in a much smarter, broader way than I can. So thank you - I can often forward people to your channel if they want a film-review👍🏻😉😊 SPOILERS AHEAD! To the movie it self: This was one of my top 3 most anticipated movies of the whole year. Kingsman is one of the best films I've ever seen, and truly love everything about it (minus the last 3 minutes...) So when a sequel was in the works I was so excited already. But when I walked out of the theater I felt that feeling you described - the punch in your gut from it not at all being anywhere near as AMAZING as the first one. This feels like a different movie all together, it didnt have any of that spark of cartooney-fun with a dash of english style and class. Insted "the Golden Circle" felt like a bit of a joke. Lets talk about a scene in the very start: for example, when Eggsy jumps down in shit (literally) to get to a birthday dinner for hus friend (who we never met in the first movie) and he brings his girlfriend, the Swedish princess with him. She, a PRINCESS, hangs out in juciy couture in a council-estate, with not a guard in sight or even mentioned... OR howabout the fact that the Statesmen, who are suppose to be Kingsman's cousins, couldnt figure out during a whole year that Harry was a Kingsman? Really?😑😒 For me the story didnt add up half the time, the dialog felt much more "americanized" and not classy/smart at all, the american actors were wasted, the action scenes were to many and forgetful (like Jack pointed out) The film as a whole was WAY to long! I wanted it to be 30 min shorter, and it would not have made it bad (or worse...) The positives were the look of the film (visually, the cinemotography is great) some of the gadgets/inovation of tech was clever and cool, and I think Mark Strong and Taron Egerton (Colin Firth to some part) played their roles great (but the storyline failed and even their performances couldnt save that.) Thats it. So yeah, unbelivebly disapointed sums up this movie for me.
I enjoyed the film, but definitely not as much as the first! Pretty much completely agree with your points; the who "who is gonna finger her first" scene was just creepy and unnecessary, the Elton John stuff was ridiculously stretched out, Roxy's death was just glossed over, bringing back Colin Firth was a mistake (and it was shown in the trailers, so not even a surprise!). Felt like it was all a bit of an excuse to just have big name actors involved & that the plot, writing and characters were all just secondary to that.
I agree with all of this and, in addition, 1. they killed the fucking dog 2. I really enjoyed the fact that in the first one there was no unnecessary love interest and then in this one uhh... 3. ...also the first one ends and it's like "holy shit this guy has totally switched his life around, he's a secret agent now?? That's so exciting!" And then at the end of this one it's like "aaaand now he's married... Which is... a really boring and mundane way to end a film..." I was insanely excited to see this film and now I'm insanely bitter
Oh dear lord thank you for not defending the misogyny in these films despite your clear appreciation for some Vaughn's work and the non-problematic aspects of the first film. Makes me appreciate your interviews & reviews even more, they come across as 100% genuine, and encourage others to be critical about what they're watching :)
I completely agree with everything you said. Another thing that infuriated me was that at least more than half the film was just references and throwbacks to the first movie? Like you said, this sequel was never about the actual content, its just about the poster. Using constant icons and seemingly passable characters from the first film just felt like a cheap emotionally manipulative move.
Besides being a long, long advert for the whiskey that they're clumsily trying to market as a byproduct, this film is crazy! It's coocoo bananas and turns it up to 11 within the first 10 minutes, bringing back the unique camera techniques in the fight sequences that worked so well in the first film. However, these action sequences appear way more often and in an attempt to make each sequence seem new, they go wild with the edgy technique. The camera is all over the place shooting from odd angles each second (milisecond) and makes what happens on screen so busy that it's hard to know what to look at, or who's winning the fight. With this film, director Matthew Vaughn shows that he thinks style is way more important than substance with his overuse of action sequences, confused plot and half-baked characters. But, I mean, once I figured out that the film was bonkers, it was kind of okay and I went with it. I may have laughed out loud in the theatre at the movie a couple of times, but that's okay. There were a few /whatthefuck/ moments like the casual homophobic slur and odd attempt to portray the effects of PTSD, but that's just your standard Hollywood movie in 2017, right? What really, really irked me however, was a scene where Eggsy slips a condom-shaped gadget on his finger and attempts to place a tracking device (I think - the intent of the device was quite unclear, honestly) inside a female target's vagina while seducing her. There's dialogue about the device looking like a condom, so its sexual intent is very apparent. This act of sexual assault* would be problematic enough if it was just implied that Eggsy penetrates her with a secret spy gadget. But oh no, we're shown an extreme close up of his finger trailing down her abdomen and entering her underwear, then the camera zooms in further until it phases through the material to show the inside of her vagina. It made me feel quite ill. I still can't believe I paid money for a ticket to see that. Also, why did that ski lift possess the function to spin around like a rogue Nutribullet? What ski resort wants that? All in all, Kingsman: The Golden Circle was formulaic and unoriginal, littered-with-plotholes, and was way more like Austin Powers than James Bond - and not in a good way. If you liked this film, that's cool I guess. But this movie has some real (damaging) flaws, and they should be up for discussion. * Is placing a tracking device inside of someone's genitalia without their consent sexual assault or and act of rape? Could be both, really.
It needed a hell of a lot more of a build up. In the first one when it's starting to become clear what Valentine's plan is, you think 'oh shit, everyone is going to die' and it's genuinely stressful and there's actual emotional connections with Eggsy's mum and his little sister (the scene where she is bashing down the bathroom door still stresses me), but in this one it felt like nothing was going to happen the entire time? I wasn't worried for Tilde because her part in the film made no fucking sense anyway.
Oh wow, I entirely agree with you. And I will also add that I didn't like Princess Tilde having a surprisingly bigger role in this sequel film because, from the first film, her character really did not seem relevant enough for development and was just the butt of a joke (literally).
I was so sad when Roxy died :( It felt like the journey of the first film came to an abrupt end, but it was so sudden and unexpected that not even Eggsy had the time or space to grieve because the movie had to keep going. She deserved more! ... but now that we know that characters can be brought back from the dead, is it worth grieving, since she and Merlin may come back anyway?
Took the words out of my mouth. I am a massive fan of kingsman. Like with no exaggeration I could happily say I've watched it 30+ times (idk how), and so when I saw it I had this unexplainable feeling of disappointment. I put this aside cause like all the reviews are pretty much positive, and the people I went to see it with (who aren't big kingsman fans) enjoyed a lot. But it feels as though they made this one for money and forgot the point of eggsy's character. I wanted to see more of eggsy's past, what happened growing up, and yet all I got was a posher version of him with no other character development really. I'm so glad other people understand this cause everyone else just seems to worship it
nothing will top the church fight but the repeat of the "manners maketh man" scene with whiskey is an amazing call-back and build on it. also, the temple fight scene is badass so yeah
This video kept popping up on my suggestions and I’ve been refusing to watch it until now. I had never watched Kingsman until I watched the double bill at the cinema so I had them both back to back and I completely understand where you are coming from. It was an enjoyable film but just kinda jumped the shark already. I really rate Taron and Pedro (Julianne annoys me) but the first one was just so much more unique in its own way. Looks like a Trilogy is on the cards though!
agree with a lot of ur points! the sudden death of roxy was probably the most disappointing part of this film in my opinion. because of everything they did with bringing colin back my thought throughout the entire film was "she'll come back at the end surely," so that point that was supposed to be emotional really didn't work out. don't even get me started on the channing tatum aspect! they made sure he was on most posters and such a massive part of the films advertisement but he was unconscious for the majority of the film, yet i hardly saw any posters for pedro (a main character). despite that i did enjoy the plot and most of the fight scenes, vaughn just seemed to lose the charm they had during the first kingsman. :(
I agree your point about Firth being brought back. Also the ending of the film was just... boring. The main villian just gives in so easily and dies in such an unmemorable way. Only to be usurped by this fight with a brand new character that we were given his instant sad backstory 20 mins earlier. Instead of being rewarded by our protagonists winning we are immediately given a predictable fight scene that just lets us down while trying to be exciting and ironic.
I had a feeling this would happen, something about the vibe and construction of the trailers didn't feel like it rang true to what made the first Kingsman brilliant (almost a lack of sincerity? not sure what to call it)
I didn’t watch this video when it was uploaded as I hadn’t seen Kingsman 2 yet, FINALLY just got around to it, had MANY issues with it and immediately came back to this ready 👏 for👏the👏TEA👏
Also this is from an interview for this: Vaughn talked about writing the sequel, and stated "writing this was the hardest thing I've ever done."... Perhaps he was trying a bit too hard?
They literally cured gunshot wounds to the head. GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE HEAD. I mean it was fine, but THAT WORLD NOW HAS A CURE FOR GUNSHOT WOUNDS. WHAT...THE FUCK
I'm glad someone has noted these issues with the film. I didn't hate it, it was flashy and cool looking, but thats really it. Pretty and big, but no depth.
GOD i absolutely agree with this. i seriously contemplated walking out less than halfway through because it didn't feel like it was going to do anything even remotely funny or memorable.
I'd really like to hear your opinion on Baby Driver! I've had lots of interesting discussions about it with friends and I think it would be great to hear about it from someone who actually knows a lot about film.
Completely agree with everything you said. There was no room for character development and I started tuning out in most of the fight scenes cause to be honest they were getting boring. Also what did you think about the relationship aspect between eggsy and the princess? I suppose we were meant to feel more invested in her, but I didn't really care. What got me peeved was killing off roxy straight away because she was one of the mains in the first and I was interested in seeing more of her, I kept thinking she would come back during the film. All in all the film was fun but I was quite disappointed .
I thought the first scene (the car chase) in the movie was amazing and it got me really excited for the rest of it but as the acts unfolded I got more and more disappointed. The villain concept was really good imo but I don’t think the movie needed the American president to be a dick, it just seemed forced and unnecessary. Also the wedding came out of nowhere and just didn’t make sense with the plot. I was excited for this movie and I just felt feeling betrayed
I could not agree more. I also can't fathom why Eggsy and the princess were suddenly in a committed relationship together??? Like, why should we care about them as a couple when their only interaction in the previous film was That Scene. I would've much rather seen more of Eggsy's friendship with Roxie but NOPE.
Alexa Renae them killing off Roxy was a big fucking mistake.
And then Ginger Ale had limited scenes, and then Poppy dies like a bitch in comparison to Gazelle DESTROYING Eggsy and basically losing from a fluke...
Like, it was bad. It was just bad.
And they're gonna make a THIRD one? What?? Centered around Eggsy's fucking "spy kids"?!
You know, what I really wanted was to see his mum and daisy... ya know. The people he fought for and saved the world and were his last thoughts of when he thought he was about to die??? Where were they in the movie???
It's like Vaughn took the LEAST favorite character of the last movie, and SHOVED her into this one and said "NO! NO! I *DEMAND* FOR YOU TO LIKE HER!!!"
Like seriously, does that actress know Vaughn somehow?? A cousin? A family friend?
Alexa Renae I completely agree with you on this- I thought the princess was just part of a sexual joke at the end not a relevant character :/
And now that they're married, I don't know how MV is going to keep Eggsy being a spy. I'm annoyed with some saying Channing's the new Galahad. Just. NO! They've taken half of the original Kingsman out of the picture so no way are they going to do more damage. I love Kingsman for its Britishness. This? I cannot accept.
@@rai4119 The Elton John scenes were the absolute worst part of the Kingsman 2 movie.
Pure ego exercise.
Killing Roxy, in my opinion, was the worst decision they made. And yeah, not a good film.
I was really disappointed by it
Beth S they just glossed over it, I was shocked when she died and it was hardly mentioned especially since she was eggs’s bff
Such a waste of an interesting character
I felt the deaths were...gratuitous and a way to clear the road for those big American stars they got in. For me, Sophie Cookson as Roxy was one of the highlights of the first film - I just loved her character. And in this, I feel they very much killed her off in order to focus more on the "big stars" which is unfair to Cookson herself and to the actual character of Roxy. Also the deaths seemed to have no emotional weight? There was very little grieving for those people I thought considering that Eggsy was meant to be very close to them.
+Rebecca Gault I totally totally agree with you
JackHoward And like what you said about them making a big deal about Taron being an 'unknown' and then they just go "oh well we have big stars now so all of these other characters can just go." I was disappointed for sure.
Sophie Cookson is such an amazing actress and deserves so much better than being killed off to focus on the big stars
I felt the same about Roxy's death. In the first film it seemed like Eggsy's friendship with her was so meaningful to him, they became very good friends. Such an amazing platonic relationship between a man and a woman, with no romantic motive whatsoever, which is rare in the films! And, then, she gets killed, and so... quckly and carelessly. Almost no attention was paid to her death, as if she wasn't one of his good friends.
Rebecca Gault this basically sums up everything I felt about the movie
completely agree about Colin Firth. WHY would they bring him back from the dead?!
A little bit of Monika because people loved him as a character.
What I found even more annoying is that they also put Collin Firth in the trailer. Not only did they make him raise from the dead but also took away the surprise of it.
I have seen you everywhere, how the hell are you the top comment everywhere?!
Matthew Vaughn also asked, and begged FOX to not do that very thing. They did the exact opposite.
+Gregory House Really? Where do you know that from?
I enjoyed it but it was definitely no where near as good as the first one. I spent most of the film thinking Roxy was coming back and Elton John just made me feel wierd about the film!
Lost In Wonderland Literally the first thing out of my mouth when it was over was "I wonder who they're gonna bring back in the next movie, Roxy or Merlin?"
Elton john was fantastic
Especially when he was shouting at that guy when poppy took over the tv
I was waiting the whole film for her to come back and got to the credit titles and felt extremely disappointed in the whole thing
how I wish they made Elton a Kingsman too somehow but meh
Elton John made me laugh so much!!! I agree about Roxy tho
SPOILERS BELOW!!
Ways this movie could have been better:
Don't bring back Harry
Don't use Statesman as a recreation of kingsman.
Either don't kill roxy and JB OR actually pay more attention to their deaths
Less scenes with the Princess.
Don't create a villain with the same plan as every other villain ever but with a tiny twist .
Not hating on the princess but I just don't understand how they could choose to give her more screen time and development over our best girl Roxy? For an action movie, you would think they'd prioritize the awesome partnership/dynamics between Eggsy and Lancelot as Kingsmen instead of a romantic relationship between Eggsy and Princess Tilde that had little to no chemistry and is mostly just used to show us sexy time.
all the movie made me feel was the need to watch the first one after i got out of the cinema
Exactly what I did.
Haha my thoughts exactly!
Victoria Mihanovic yes! Exactly how I felt aswell
It had potential actually, even though the first one ended really well but it over did it and underwhelmed in all the wrong areas.
Wow, same! And I went through with it to purge myself from the crap that was Kingsman 2 lol.
I couldn't agree more with you. That stupid 25 minute sequence of them seducing a girl at a festival was so cringeworthy and out of place. That whole subplot was totally unnecessary. It's like they think these overly sexual, laddish scenes are really edgy when all they is do make the film naff. They also advertised Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges like they were playing large roles in the movie when they're in it for the best part of 20 mins. I thought the Elton John gag was funny at first but then they completely overdid it. I enjoyed moments of The Golden Circle but so much should have been left on the cutting room floor. I expected so much more from Matthew Vaughn.
Spot on. The female characters were disappointing too. Halle Berry's character brought nothing to the table other than emphasise the fact she was never able to join the men on actual missions, and Julianne Moore's character was initially portrayed as some sort of psychopathic mastermind, only to be defeated without much of a gripping climax.
I basically felt like the Americans had taken over
really? coz they were hardly in it.. oh wait you mean actors in total or the Statesman?
Paul Johnson I mean the actors in total and at the start of the film they removed half of the British actors
Totally agree. :(
Tbh i thought even though they had so many americans in it,they could have made them work but y did they make wiskey have a back story just to kill him with no growth or change. I mean he stays the same all the way through then get infomation about him the just kill him?
I agree with literally everything you said. And you didn’t even even touch on the shitty plot that started nowhere and went nowhere. No character development, kinda shit jokes, just, nothing happened. Unlike the first one, which one of my favourite movies still, i probably won’t remember this one in a week. The one word for it is; disappointing.
YES
The plot bothered me SO MUCH
inglourious basterds my biggest problem with the film is that it felt like it never needed to happen. Poppy was upset with the fact that by the nature of her business she couldnt be public with her wealth, well she has advanced skills in robotics and chemical engineering and she never thought to use either of those for a cover? And besides her plan was a lose lose scenario, she would kill off all of her clientelle and the president would never adhere to her terms.
Valentines plan felt less flaud, in execution not concept becaus eit is batshit crazy, nearly all tge worlds leaders in his pocket as they toast to the millions of unchosen kill eachother off. It seemed like she never thought of a plan B
The bit that annoyed me the most about this film was that they made the princess who was literally in the movie for less then 5 minutes in that last one the main female character, taking away valuable time from the movie to talk about a relationship that I couldn't care less about. Going ahead with a rubbish character and killing off the only well developed female spy from the last one about 20 minutes in the film! I feel that through this the movie was taking several steps backwards in killing off an amazing character and giving more screen time to the protagonist and his ridiculously badly written and undeveloped princess girlfriend, it was a subplot that was shoved down everyones throats and I just wanted their scenes to end quickly so I could go back to the REAL story. Take a minute out and imagine if instead of the princess we had Roxy instead, kicking ass and saving the world, not necessarily in a relationship with Eggsy but saving the world. P.S. and also this movie was the only movie i've ever watched where the trailer was much better than the movie, it was short, and cool and to the point.Giving a singular message 'This movie is going to be much better than the last' Then when watching the actual movie it was relatively boring at points.
Kingsman, Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men: First Class are all films I went into without many expectations and absolutely loved. I only found out Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman were behind all of them fairly recently, and so I started looking forward to whatever they'd do next. That was probably my problem with Golden Circle: my expectations were too high. I still enjoyed the movie and I actually found some of the Elton John bits hilarious, but it certainly wasn't as good as the first one. Nice review!
ClarIs not as good but still good in my opinion the only problem was it felt like it was jumping the shark a bit but that was ok and the villain and action 2 things people say were downgraded were still good with the villain while not being as good a valintine was great and felt right for the movie and the action while not the church scene was still overall great and the editing in said scenes was onpur with the church scene if i may even say better
Saw the first. Not the sequel. But I loved the passion and logic in your review. I'll assume you're correct until the film shows up on cable.
Saw kingsman last night and enjoyed it, even though I knew it would never never be as good as the first. There were some awful bits and the plot was a bit rubbish and your review is really interesting and says some things I hadn't yet thought of :)
i agree
I think what really drove the first film was the characters and how much heart they had. You cared about Eggsy, not only because of Taron's acting skills, but because he was more than just a chav people pegged him to be and it was his relationships with those around him that made him a lovable action hero. He cared deeply about his mom and little sister, in fact, you could argue that they were his driving force to better himself, but you get none of that growth or pay off in this film- or only a little of it anyways. The sequel would have been so much better in a myriad of ways if it had focused on Eggsy and his family post-Valentine and all that and how they fared, not on his sudden relationship with Tilde, who while was an interesting character on her own, became quickly diluted to 'spy-hero's girlfriend'. You can have all the fun action, spy movie stuff in the sequel while also having the stakes be laid or around Eggsy's family and his other relationships that had been already established in the first movie (i.e. Roxy who deserved much better than she got and whose friendship with Eggsy was apparently not worth much to keep around in order to make way for big names that only clutter the film, not make it better). It would have been much better to explore these characters more while, of course, adding a big, bad, spy movie-esque villain in another way, but it was so, so key to remember who these characters where and what gave them so much heart and soul and to not just take what you think people loved about them and amp it up unnecessarily. I adore the first film, in fact, I would call it one of my favorite films of all time, but to take something that was so good and to create almost a caricature of it with the sequel is so disheartening.
Really concise and articulate video. I agree with you, man. This film was flat-out awful.
HoustonProductions1 No, it wasn’t awful. It was just disappointing.
It was enjoyable. It just could not match up to what the first movie did. Like many sequels, it could not live up to its predecessor.
Owen B. Lol you a liberal ? Statesmen was better than cringy kingsmen
you're so intelligent. like your words are so well put together HOW
Bridget script
basic english?
Zen he doesn't stumble on his words, gets his points across, is enthusiastic, etc. that's what I meant :)
@@bridget4139 that's just because he wrote a script and read it out, and maybe redid some parts he didn't like. if this was a podcast everything would be completely different.
YES. It felt like they killed Roxy and Merlin unnecessarily just to make up for the fact that they couldn't commit to having killed Harry in the first one. Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges didn't do anything in this movie, and they weren't even in a coma for half of it. And really, Pedro Pascal's character's motivation for turning on them was one of the laziest things I've seen.
I loved the first movie so much, so I'm right there with you in being so disappointed by this one.
Man, I couldn't agree more. My friends wouldn't stop going on about how they GENUINELY LIKED IT MORE THAN THE FIRST and I was like "wtf...?". It certainly wasn't a terrible movie, but it really didn't match the first. An okay, but forgettable movie.
My mom looooved the first one, and as the movie (golden circle) went one she kept saying, "I promise the first one was better..." and mid way through the 3rd act, she wanted to leave lmao she was mad as hell.
One thing that always keeps me coming back, and looking forward to your film reviews, is your honestly. I really respect how you are unafraid to share your true thoughts, even if you have been a fan for a long time, or have had the chance to meet the director, such as this case. You always offer genuine and insightful points that I feel a lot of other film critics would be afraid to address being in the same position. And for that I really respect what you do, and your approach to these videos.
I agree with every point you have made here Jack however I also felt the cgi in this movie was just horrible. This was coupled along with, apparently whenever there was a wide shot, the top and bottom of the footage was blurry and just felt badly done!
I adore matthew vaughn and everything he creates however I feel so let down by this film.
yes yes yes. All of this. What a smart review. You're clearly a passionate student of film. I hated that anal joke at the end of the first film when theyd just made this awesome movie with a strong female character who helps save the world equal to the male protagonist and then its like oop they were all a bunch of chauvinists the whole time. They just let roxy be one of them. Colin was awesome in this film and killing him was a brilliant move. It raised the stakes. Bringing him back and all of the 4th wall breaks made it cheap and brought it back to the original sexism and boy's only club that spy movies have always been.
And !
And!
Not even going to see the movie now I know roxy dies, she was the best character in the first movie and Sophie Cookson deserves better
Gemz 2v The only thing she got to do before dying was sit in front of her laptop, google stuffand tell Eggsy what to say to his girlfriend's parents via his earpiece so he could appear smart. Which is just so lame and ridiculous
I am of the opinion that she and Mark Strong both decided to die in the movie to get the hell out of this horrid franchise. As for Elton John, i think they literally kidnapped him and held him ransom. He was'nt acting. he just really wanted the fuck out!
waitwaitwaitwait did you just say best character
Péter Umathum yeah she was my favourite
when are you going to review "the Kingsman"?
I thought killing of Roxy like that was such a complete waste of a really good character from the first one.
I agree with all your points except one: I think that Matthew Vaughn did see a new way to take the series. Kingsman was pretty well wrapped up in the first film, all the emotional outlets had been explored and closed for the type of film that it is; Vaughn decided to take Kingsman on a completely different route. Subversion of the spy genre was over and Guardians of the Galaxy style fun was kicked into gear, there was no intention to do what they'd done before - and I think if you look at the film from that perspective, then it's far more enjoyable. Even if it is obviously far more profiteering than the last film.
From my perspective, Vaughn TRIED to make a Guardians of the Galaxy type movie because he knows that people like those kinds of fun films. But what makes GotG so great is the strong team!! Not the motherfucking music!!!! THE STRONG TEAM THAT VAUGHN KILLED OFF IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF HIS OWN FILM!! I was TOTALLY ready AND THERE for the cliche, "best friend finds out about the double life as a spy and therefore becomes a spy him/herself." I WAS TOTALLY THERE FOR IT but NOOOooooo before we got to that part, THE BEST FRIEND DIED BECAUSE OF A "WE CAN DO BETTER THAN MARVEL ROBOTIC ARM!!!" I really felt like Vaughn was trying to one-up marvel/GotG (but spies!) and just failed miserably because he wasn't focused on the actual plot.
"Why- why?" that's a good review right there. Always appreciate when someone makes a review objectively. I was really looking forward to this film but... yeah, why indeed.
Very interesting - first time I ever really disagree with your opinion on a film. Yes, it has it's flaws, but for me it was no dissappointment whatsoever, because it still had the same atmosphere and heart that the first one had. Let me start by saying what I agree with: 1) Colin Firth should have stayed dead. 2) Why was Channing Tatum in the film for like five minutes? His character could've been such a cool asset to the team. 3) The whole Elton thing was WAY too much ...
But other than that: I really enjoyed the film. This may have a lot to do with expectations, because I went into this film wanting a lot of action, weird weapons, sassy comments and cool camera work. Yes, the first one had more of a story, but for what the movie tries to be, it doesn't necessarily need one (like Mad Max, Fury Road), it just would've made it even better. The antagonist had a weird plan, but it was still fun to watch her scenes, to see how her brain works.
Eggsys character did have it's own development in my opinion and it was an important one. During the first film he became this fun, superspy that can easily save the world, while getting the girl, while having a drink. True, Harry's death grounded him for a bit, but overall he was lightheartened. In this film, every good and cool thing that has happened to him is gone apart from his wife. So we see how after the death of his mentor, his best friend, another childhood friend and his freaking dog plus loosing the organisation that gave his life purpose he turns into a more serious spy. He understood what Merlin always told him that there's "no place for emotions". After Harry not quite being himself yet he turned into the leader, the one that calls the shots. And he could have stayed that way and become more cold and logical like Merlin and Harry, but he found out (with help from harry) that his emotions are what make him better and everything he does. In the first film, his anger and grief about harry made him fight harder and in the second the fear and love for his girl made him fight harder. Now true - that's also not a new idea to have those two opposite sides of emotions vs logic, but I still think that the character developed in the film.
The one thing I actually disliked about the film that you didn't mentioned was how Whiskys character came into play and being the bad guy etc. Because it had nothing to do with the story, they literally just turned him bad to have a good one take fight scene at the end .
Personally I think the best change they could have done to the film is letting Harry stay dead and instead send Tequila (Tatum's character) with Eggsy on the mission. Could have had some funny interactions between Eggsy and Tequila, some american/english jokes and just a bit more banter instead of harry's and Eggsy's wanna be deep talk about how Harry is being irrational and how they missed each other ...
Okay this turned into a long comment.. what i wanted to say was that I agree it has several flaws, but definitely less than many other films in the same genre. I think it still had the same atmosphere that I absolutely loved from the first film. Scenes like Merlins death scene just don't happen like that in similar films. And unlike you I did actually feel really sad when he died, but at the same time I absolutely loved the scene. How it was so dramatic, yet still a cool action scene. As a I said: I think it has a lot to do with expectations, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot and will watch it again someday :)
Edit: This doesn't mean that you should dislike the video just because you disagree with him. It's still a good video, he makes (mostly) valid points.
you put my thoughts into words, thank you for that :)
Rebecca Oakes you're very welcome :)
I really enjoyed the film, I found it entertaining. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. It has a few flaws, but so what, just go and have fun.
I agree completely. It was pointless to kill off Colin Firth if they were going to have him come back. Channing Tatum should have had more screen time. There's one thing that nobody has really brought up though: Roxy. She was such an important character in the first one, and I wanted to see her backstory fleshed out. Instead of having her in the majority of the second one, they killed her off early. Then, I thought that Eggsy and Merlin would have something to fight for. It was like that at the beginning, but then it just went into save the world mode. Nobody even mentioned Roxy until Eggsy killed Charlie.
LEGO HAH
I feel like they're gonna bring her back
They didn't need Colin Firth for this movie. Just don't kill Roxy and have her in the scenes with Eggsy OR have Merlin do those scenes! Would have saved a ton of wasted screen time. Also really didn't need Elton John...
Anyone wondering what he thought of the new trailer?
I loved colin firth so much in the first movie he did a phenomenal job playing a character so different from his standard roles but they should NOT have brought him back and I'm so disappointed they did. I hate comic book movies specifically for this reason. Why should I care if someone dies when I know you will bring them back? His death in the first movie was so anticlimactic which is what made is so shocking and powerful, and they just threw away a good death like that to make him into a shell of his former self who does nothing the second film. One of the dozens of series ending mistakes they made. Be a serious spy movie or be a spoof; dont think that because one movie was successful you are the new james bond franchise and can do whatever you want without caring about the audience reaction
I appreciate your objectivity here. Even though you love the director and even interviewed him you still shared your honest opinion about the film.
Just came back from seeing this film and couldn't agree more with your review. One of the main things I couldn't understand was killing off Roxy! Seriously they spent so much time on her character development in the first film and got everyone on board rooting for her as the super kick ass female lead. To then kill her off and replace her with Hallie Berry.. they were like shit we don't have enough women in this film let's throw Hallie in there. Disappointing 😔 Also poor Pedro Pascal he was barely in the trailer or on any of the posters but did majority of the acting out of the other big stars... rant over!
One of the things I didn't understand was how kingsman and statesman didn't know about each other. They are practically the same organisation with very similar technology. AND they're supposed to be intelligence organisations, surely they should know about their counterparts in other countries?!?
Completely agree with every point you made - especially the bit about not really feeling emotional when Merlin and Roxy got killed off as I kept thinking, they'll probably be back somehow for the third one. I feel sorry for Taron Egerton as he seems to have been pushed to the side to make way for these American stars who, as you mentioned, aren't really vital to the storyline or in the film that much. Also, I know it would have been hard for them to keep Colin's return a secret but I can't help thinking that it would have had much more of an impact if we didn't know that he was going to be in it until the film actually came out and as much as I love his character, the whole magic gel thing was stupid. The Glastonbury scene ruined it for me, completely unnecessary and pointless, but the taxi chase at the beginning was epic. Which parts did you like?
I really enjoyed it. I felt that with a few scenes tweaked and one or two minor changes (Roxy dying and Pedro Pascal turning out to be a villain) it could be improved a lot more. I admit the fingering scene shouldn't have happened but for the most part I read enjoyed it. The only annoying things that were some minor decisions that pulled the film down. It's not as good as the first one but I don't think it's as bad as everyone says.
samlikesfilms I totally agree
I avoided watching this video for so long because I just didn't want the enjoyment I felt when I saw The Golden Circle taken away from me but in all honesty after watching this video and hearing your opinions, despite enjoying the film I think you're absolutely right. I admire your honesty and in personal insight with things, it's what makes me keep coming back to your videos. Don't stop being you.
There was no explanation of how Harry knew that Whiskey was working against them. I was expecting this build up of Eggsy getting more and more sure that Harry’s mind wasn’t quite right and then at the end a big explanatory scene detailing all the little things that made Harry figure it out.
But nope. They just explained Whiskey’s motivation for double crossing them and glossed over the fact that he showed no signs of actually trying to stop them before the final action scene.
But see there you go thinking and stuff. You aren't meant to think. You are meant to lower your expectations to zero, switch off 95% of your brain and have fun fun fun dontcha know :)
Three years later, I completely forgot Jeff Bridges was in this film because that's how LITTLE an impact any of the American spies had on me, except Pedro Pascal. The film still makes me so disappointed and I haven't gone back to it, even though I will sing the original Kingsman's praises. Hoping that The King's Man can recapture Kingsman's magic, without just remaking it. So far, it seems tonally quite different, but also feels like movies I've already seen. Let's just all hope that it surprises and impresses, whenever it gets released.
Couldn‘t agree more! I didn‘t even go in with high expectations, because you know a sequel usually isn‘t as good- and I was still so massively disappointed :(
It's interesting to me that Mark Millar's creations, no matter how good they're perceived to be, always includes a slightly bitter aftertaste. Almost like somewhere along the way they look at the viewer and say "You're liking this huh? Well screw you for liking it." Some viewers brush it off, even saying it's another cool element, but regardless of how you react to it, it always seems to be there. Sounds like the tried to multiply it for this movie.
OMG YES THIS THIS IS EXACTLY RIGHT
I have never loved a film more than Kingsman the secret service but i too agree with your opinion here. Being a huge fan of the first one and being so obsessed with it i cant bring myself to hate the new one because i feel like i would be betraying myself but it just wasn't anywhere near as good as i had wished. Such a shame.
felt the entire cinema cringe extremely, extremely hard at that "sex" scene.
what i think was a main feature of the first film was egzys step dad who was abusive and hismom and his little sister no touch of that in the second film apart from at the wedding where saw his mom and sister if i recall thats what anoyed me cause i wanted to see that in this film
totally agree! you can always put to words what i'm thinking.
the story felt a bit empty, the stakes were... not there?? merlin's death was honestly a bit predictable and it didn't feel like it was supposed to... during the whole time he was singing i wanted to feel angry and upset but i felt nothing. im not even going to comment on the fingering subject. it was just weird as hell.
i absolutely LOVE the action sequences in kingsman, but the storyline that got me more excited during the sequel was eggsy's relationship with his girlfriend. probably because it was centered around his development as character in a different context other than the spy world. does that make sense?
got kingsman ad before this. kinda bad marketing
In my opinion the best part of these films is Taron Egerton, the character he plays is what the film is about and I found all these big names completely pointless to be in the film but I must say I did still enjoy it just not the fingering the girl cause it quite frankly was just weird
spoilers or no spoilers before i watch?
spoilers but he tells you before when he spoils it
Spoilers but not right at the beginning 🙃
yeah i got to 'eggsy fingers-' and smashed altf4
I don't think they've killed of Merlin either, because they were foreshadowing everything in the film...except for the bomb vest that was worn by Charlie earlier when meeting Poppy. So I recon they're going to be bringing Mark Strong back too
i got back from seeing the film just a couple of hours ago and while i largely enjoyed it in the cinema, i do agree that it was a let down looking back. here's a quick list of some of my thoughts:
- it was such a bummer they didn't try to include a scene that could even attempt to rival the church scene (also no real bar fight)
- i'm so annoyed about the way they handled the deaths:
---- i feel like perhaps they didn't fully realise why harry's death had such an impact. it wasn't just that he was a beloved character, it was largely because we had JUST seen him being practically invincible only for him to walk out and be shot in the head
---- roxy shouldn't have died but if she had to, it shouldn't have been that early on and not like that, we had to remember why we loved her in kingsmen 1 (maybe she should have had merlin's death???) merlin, also, shouldn't have died
- i do like that they had a woman villain because we need a lot more of them but i feel like she wasn't has high-stakes as samuel l jackson was (and also felt a lot less real), which was such a shame
- why tf did they keep the princess around as eggsy's girlfriend? it's not like kingsmen 1 introduced her in a way that she could have been a character that could meaningfully return. their relationship had no emotional weight for the audience
- the fingering scene and the glasonbury scenes were weird and unnecessary (also what even was the relationship between that woman and charlie???? were they exes or on-again/off-again or long-term partners???? who knows)
- i hate how they handled the whole thing with whiskey being a bad guy. they needed to make the audience to stick to either eggsy's point of view (that whiskey was a good guy so that the reveal was a shock) OR harry's (whiskey was a snake so we were on the edge of our seats wondering when eggsy would find out). not both.
- wtf was their stance on the war on drugs???? i don't understand what they were doing there
- this film probably either shouldn't have happened or should have been eggsy somewhat taking on the role of harry and have scenes where he had fights similar to those that harry fought in kingsmen 1 (give eggsy his church scene minus his death) and show him being a key kingsmen member
- there was a full table of kingsmen members that died but merlin and eggsy drank to TWO of them???? i call bullshit
It was fun, but it didn't really do anything to expand on the first movie other than bring in new characters (and annoyingly ditch old ones). I would've preferred it if we spent more time getting to know more about the Kingsman, rather than wiping them out and flying off to America.
I was annoyed by Roxy's death because I would've liked to see her character developed further, also instead of bringing Colin Firth back they could've had Mark Strong take on the mentor role, I quite liked him in the first film and was sad to see him sacrificed in such a meaningless way in the sequel.
I just think this one spent too much time trying to out-do the fight scenes from the original and exaggerate the overly cartoonish villain when it would've been better to focus on the surviving characters from the first film.
My biggest gripe was in the first one, Harry is shot, and we see his dead body for quite a good amount of time afterwards. Yet, in the second film, apparently what actually happened was 5 seconds after he was shot this fuck off helicopter that makes 0 noise comes down to save him. Like come on.
The first Kingsman movie was one of my favorite films ever, so obviously I was excited for the sequel. I did like it, but there were also things I didn't like. Like you said, I felt like there was no time to fully comprehend the fact, that Roxy and others had died, like it was just mentioned once and then forgotten about. Also I think that the directors just thought that "alright if people liked the church scene in the first one, then every action scene must be like that in the sequel". I felt like the opening car chase went just overboard and I didn't like the camerawork.
However what made this film memorable for me, was the connection between Harry and Eggsy. I was bawling my eyes out most of the film lol. While others were laughing, all I could think about is "cAN'T YOU SEE HOW MUCH HARRY MEANT FOR EGGSY?? HE'S CLEARLY MISERABLE AND MISSES HIM DEARLY". Taron gave a great performance and I did have fun with this movie, but we all know that sequels are rarely as good, if not better, than the originals. I think it's best to form an opinion on your own, so still go watch it, if you're interested.
dang it I've been so excited about this film and the second I saw the word rant in the video notification I got upset. I won't finish the video, I'll come back to it later since you mentioned spoilers but I hope I end up enjoying it :(
Menna Raafat I watched Jack's video even though I haven't seen Golden Circle yet. There are so.e spoilers not everyone would be ok with hearing. But Jack makes some great points and now I'm all sad and won't see it in the theaters at least.
I was actually planning on seeing it in IMAX despite how expensive it is in Egypt cause I'm such a HUGE fan of the first film. I was worried it would be disappointing though, I think it's because the first was such a surprise in how great it was they tried to emulate that and it just didn't work out in the same way. I hope I'll still have fun with it though, a few friends of mine have seen it and they did enjoy it, but maybe not worth the IMAX afterall
Menna Raafat don’t let reviews affect the movie, go out and see it with a fresh mind. let us know what you thought in the end!
inglourious basterds Good point!
yea I'm still gonna go see it, that's why I'd rather watch Jack's video after I've seen the film! Have you seen it?
If they wanted him back, they should have done an action sequence in the prologue like a bond film where you see Harry before the first film ruining a previous plan from Poppy's, so that way you have him in the movie and move on from that and you give Poppy a strong reason to destroy Kingsman headquarters.
Side note and spoilers:
It needed more Tatum, Elton John in very small portion and you just don't kill Roxie
I completely agree with you! I absolutely love the first film but I just didn't get the sequel. There were a lot of moments where I questioned why they were doing X,Y,Z and undoing all the amazing work of the first film. It was just a bit..... weird to be honest
one of my favourite parts of the first film was when they took some frames out of the fight scenes to emphasise certain movements and make it more precise but i felt like they only really did that at the end of this one. another thing was that i really did like the whole butterfly thing but i felt it was too over the top for the little stress they placed on it in the first movie (or that they took a relatively small detail and exploded it way too big without enough build up)
also the whole thing with the president was definitely something the american government would do but also it was SO unnecessary they did not need that plotline and tbh i'd already forgotten about it
I really wanted to enjoy the first film but the crass "joke" at the end totally ruined it for me. They kept saying they want to parody the whole 'Bond always gets the Woman' thing by "turning it up to 11" but because 'Bond always gets the Woman' is already so ridiculous, it doesn't feel like anything is being subverted to say the same thing just louder? It seems lazy to not find a better way of parodying the trope, instead they just end up participating in the objectification of women in spy films instead of commenting on it.
Plus he was supposed to be like a gentleman somehow? Apparently that entails taking advantage of a woman's captivity and ignoring all the other prisoners
Bianca Esposito what I really didn't like is how Vaughn kept lying and saying it was female empowerment to all the females....who said....that it WASNT.
Like. Way to take a stereotypically unrealistic sexist scene as a nod to the bond movies, and then make it even more sexist by LYING about it. Just own up to it, man.
I agree. Even if he thought that's what he was doing and that was his intention, after it obviously missed the mark he should now at least own up to it.
I actually disagree. But only for the very sad reason that most of the other ways this trope could've been parodied wouldn't have been obvious parodies. Him for example getting not one but many girls or him getting a gift card for a a brothel or something ridiculous like that would have still been taken seriously by some, since it's very much in line with the way women are seen in these kinds of movies. So that's why I get that they had to go to really absurd and crass lengths to achieve the parody.
I'm sure some people missed this as "parody" the way it is and still took it seriously, that's why it didn't work. They could have turned the whole trope on its head in some other way, or just not included this bit at all, it felt forced to me anyhow. The movie wouldn't have suffered at all to have this whole (small) part cut out. This is one trope as a filmmaker you really shouldn't want to even accidentally reinforce.
I agree so much with this! Like almost everything, except Elton Johns jump kicks. Didnt love them, but didnt hate them, haha.
I actually sat wondering when Roxy was going to show up again because "they are going to bring Harry back so she could have jumped away from that missile that erased the whole house from the face of the earth"
i was really curious as to why colin firth was still in the poster, i thought they made him an android or something. when i saw their excuse to bring him back i kind of lost it, but suspension of belief does wonders. the dynamics that eggsy and harry displayed in the first film didn't shine through in the action scenes of the second either, now that i think about it. nonetheless, i enjoyed the film a lot still.
Colin Firth. Medically he would be dead, and if he did survive, would be SEVERELY damaged. Also why did they cut off Roxy? Roxy is a character with potential - like Egsy; and I'd love to go around how she came to the trials and become a member of Kingsman. Merlin. Kingsman needs and Merlin, so if they're reconstructing their intelligence the need someone with Merlin skills. They're screwed for the most part.
I am truly so thankful for your abillity to review films with not only a passion, but in such a respectful way (thinking back to your video/interview with Matthew)
You put, to 99%, my thoughts on these films into words and in a much smarter, broader way than I can. So thank you - I can often forward people to your channel if they want a film-review👍🏻😉😊
SPOILERS AHEAD!
To the movie it self:
This was one of my top 3 most anticipated movies of the whole year. Kingsman is one of the best films I've ever seen, and truly love everything about it (minus the last 3 minutes...)
So when a sequel was in the works I was so excited already.
But when I walked out of the theater I felt that feeling you described - the punch in your gut from it not at all being anywhere near as AMAZING as the first one.
This feels like a different movie all together, it didnt have any of that spark of cartooney-fun with a dash of english style and class.
Insted "the Golden Circle" felt like a bit of a joke. Lets talk about a scene in the very start: for example, when Eggsy jumps down in shit (literally) to get to a birthday dinner for hus friend (who we never met in the first movie) and he brings his girlfriend, the Swedish princess with him.
She, a PRINCESS, hangs out in juciy couture in a council-estate, with not a guard in sight or even mentioned...
OR howabout the fact that the Statesmen, who are suppose to be Kingsman's cousins, couldnt figure out during a whole year that Harry was a Kingsman?
Really?😑😒
For me the story didnt add up half the time, the dialog felt much more "americanized" and not classy/smart at all, the american actors were wasted, the action scenes were to many and forgetful (like Jack pointed out)
The film as a whole was WAY to long! I wanted it to be 30 min shorter, and it would not have made it bad (or worse...)
The positives were the look of the film (visually, the cinemotography is great) some of the gadgets/inovation of tech was clever and cool, and I think Mark Strong and Taron Egerton (Colin Firth to some part) played their roles great (but the storyline failed and even their performances couldnt save that.)
Thats it.
So yeah, unbelivebly disapointed sums up this movie for me.
I aggressively agreed with literally everything in this review like he literally put my exact thoughts into words from this movie.
I enjoyed the film, but definitely not as much as the first! Pretty much completely agree with your points; the who "who is gonna finger her first" scene was just creepy and unnecessary, the Elton John stuff was ridiculously stretched out, Roxy's death was just glossed over, bringing back Colin Firth was a mistake (and it was shown in the trailers, so not even a surprise!). Felt like it was all a bit of an excuse to just have big name actors involved & that the plot, writing and characters were all just secondary to that.
I agree with all of this and, in addition,
1. they killed the fucking dog
2. I really enjoyed the fact that in the first one there was no unnecessary love interest and then in this one uhh...
3. ...also the first one ends and it's like "holy shit this guy has totally switched his life around, he's a secret agent now?? That's so exciting!" And then at the end of this one it's like "aaaand now he's married... Which is... a really boring and mundane way to end a film..."
I was insanely excited to see this film and now I'm insanely bitter
Also, Valentine held his own as a villain, but Poppy needed all that... decoration.
Oh dear lord thank you for not defending the misogyny in these films despite your clear appreciation for some Vaughn's work and the non-problematic aspects of the first film. Makes me appreciate your interviews & reviews even more, they come across as 100% genuine, and encourage others to be critical about what they're watching :)
I love watching Jack's reviews cause he puts to point everything I feel while watching theses films. He nailed this one.
I completely agree with everything you said. Another thing that infuriated me was that at least more than half the film was just references and throwbacks to the first movie? Like you said, this sequel was never about the actual content, its just about the poster. Using constant icons and seemingly passable characters from the first film just felt like a cheap emotionally manipulative move.
Besides being a long, long advert for the whiskey that they're clumsily trying to market as a byproduct, this film is crazy! It's coocoo bananas and turns it up to 11 within the first 10 minutes, bringing back the unique camera techniques in the fight sequences that worked so well in the first film. However, these action sequences appear way more often and in an attempt to make each sequence seem new, they go wild with the edgy technique. The camera is all over the place shooting from odd angles each second (milisecond) and makes what happens on screen so busy that it's hard to know what to look at, or who's winning the fight. With this film, director Matthew Vaughn shows that he thinks style is way more important than substance with his overuse of action sequences, confused plot and half-baked characters.
But, I mean, once I figured out that the film was bonkers, it was kind of okay and I went with it. I may have laughed out loud in the theatre at the movie a couple of times, but that's okay. There were a few /whatthefuck/ moments like the casual homophobic slur and odd attempt to portray the effects of PTSD, but that's just your standard Hollywood movie in 2017, right? What really, really irked me however, was a scene where Eggsy slips a condom-shaped gadget on his finger and attempts to place a tracking device (I think - the intent of the device was quite unclear, honestly) inside a female target's vagina while seducing her. There's dialogue about the device looking like a condom, so its sexual intent is very apparent. This act of sexual assault* would be problematic enough if it was just implied that Eggsy penetrates her with a secret spy gadget. But oh no, we're shown an extreme close up of his finger trailing down her abdomen and entering her underwear, then the camera zooms in further until it phases through the material to show the inside of her vagina. It made me feel quite ill. I still can't believe I paid money for a ticket to see that.
Also, why did that ski lift possess the function to spin around like a rogue Nutribullet? What ski resort wants that?
All in all, Kingsman: The Golden Circle was formulaic and unoriginal, littered-with-plotholes, and was way more like Austin Powers than James Bond - and not in a good way. If you liked this film, that's cool I guess. But this movie has some real (damaging) flaws, and they should be up for discussion.
* Is placing a tracking device inside of someone's genitalia without their consent sexual assault or and act of rape? Could be both, really.
I saw it opening night because I was really looking forward to it, but it felt a tad lacklustre to me. Sad times
It needed a hell of a lot more of a build up. In the first one when it's starting to become clear what Valentine's plan is, you think 'oh shit, everyone is going to die' and it's genuinely stressful and there's actual emotional connections with Eggsy's mum and his little sister (the scene where she is bashing down the bathroom door still stresses me), but in this one it felt like nothing was going to happen the entire time? I wasn't worried for Tilde because her part in the film made no fucking sense anyway.
+BookishSlytherin Spot on!
Oh wow, I entirely agree with you. And I will also add that I didn't like Princess Tilde having a surprisingly bigger role in this sequel film because, from the first film, her character really did not seem relevant enough for development and was just the butt of a joke (literally).
I was so sad when Roxy died :( It felt like the journey of the first film came to an abrupt end, but it was so sudden and unexpected that not even Eggsy had the time or space to grieve because the movie had to keep going. She deserved more! ... but now that we know that characters can be brought back from the dead, is it worth grieving, since she and Merlin may come back anyway?
Took the words out of my mouth. I am a massive fan of kingsman. Like with no exaggeration I could happily say I've watched it 30+ times (idk how), and so when I saw it I had this unexplainable feeling of disappointment. I put this aside cause like all the reviews are pretty much positive, and the people I went to see it with (who aren't big kingsman fans) enjoyed a lot. But it feels as though they made this one for money and forgot the point of eggsy's character. I wanted to see more of eggsy's past, what happened growing up, and yet all I got was a posher version of him with no other character development really. I'm so glad other people understand this cause everyone else just seems to worship it
What about the falling of Whiskey and Eggsy up in the snow mountains? Obviously not as good as the first but still an awesome scene?
nothing will top the church fight but the repeat of the "manners maketh man" scene with whiskey is an amazing call-back and build on it. also, the temple fight scene is badass so yeah
This video kept popping up on my suggestions and I’ve been refusing to watch it until now. I had never watched Kingsman until I watched the double bill at the cinema so I had them both back to back and I completely understand where you are coming from. It was an enjoyable film but just kinda jumped the shark already. I really rate Taron and Pedro (Julianne annoys me) but the first one was just so much more unique in its own way. Looks like a Trilogy is on the cards though!
This review is a refreshing look to show that you don’t need to include pictures and clips to make an amazing review
agree with a lot of ur points! the sudden death of roxy was probably the most disappointing part of this film in my opinion. because of everything they did with bringing colin back my thought throughout the entire film was "she'll come back at the end surely," so that point that was supposed to be emotional really didn't work out. don't even get me started on the channing tatum aspect! they made sure he was on most posters and such a massive part of the films advertisement but he was unconscious for the majority of the film, yet i hardly saw any posters for pedro (a main character). despite that i did enjoy the plot and most of the fight scenes, vaughn just seemed to lose the charm they had during the first kingsman. :(
The main problem for me is: a secret service organisation doesn't know about the biggest drug dealer in the world??? Good job there
This!!! This is everything I was thinking but have been afraid to say, because all of my friends are MASSIVE Kingsman fans and loved the sequel.
I agree your point about Firth being brought back. Also the ending of the film was just... boring. The main villian just gives in so easily and dies in such an unmemorable way. Only to be usurped by this fight with a brand new character that we were given his instant sad backstory 20 mins earlier. Instead of being rewarded by our protagonists winning we are immediately given a predictable fight scene that just lets us down while trying to be exciting and ironic.
I had a feeling this would happen, something about the vibe and construction of the trailers didn't feel like it rang true to what made the first Kingsman brilliant (almost a lack of sincerity? not sure what to call it)
I didn’t watch this video when it was uploaded as I hadn’t seen Kingsman 2 yet, FINALLY just got around to it, had MANY issues with it and immediately came back to this ready 👏 for👏the👏TEA👏
Feel exactly the same, they really tried to do the church scene with the fight with Whiskey in the diner and it really didn't work.
Also this is from an interview for this: Vaughn talked about writing the sequel, and stated "writing this was the hardest thing I've ever done."... Perhaps he was trying a bit too hard?
Which was the biggest let down? Kingsman or Suicide Squad?
Did you watch Kermode's review before forming yours?
They literally cured gunshot wounds to the head. GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE HEAD. I mean it was fine, but THAT WORLD NOW HAS A CURE FOR GUNSHOT WOUNDS. WHAT...THE FUCK
I'm glad someone has noted these issues with the film. I didn't hate it, it was flashy and cool looking, but thats really it. Pretty and big, but no depth.
How did you go about talking to the Matthew Vaughn after seeing KTGC?
Matthew Vaughn produced Eddie The Eagle with Taron as Eddie and it was AWESOME. Eddie is so loveable and you feel for him.
GOD i absolutely agree with this. i seriously contemplated walking out less than halfway through because it didn't feel like it was going to do anything even remotely funny or memorable.
I'd really like to hear your opinion on Baby Driver! I've had lots of interesting discussions about it with friends and I think it would be great to hear about it from someone who actually knows a lot about film.
Completely agree with everything you said. There was no room for character development and I started tuning out in most of the fight scenes cause to be honest they were getting boring. Also what did you think about the relationship aspect between eggsy and the princess? I suppose we were meant to feel more invested in her, but I didn't really care. What got me peeved was killing off roxy straight away because she was one of the mains in the first and I was interested in seeing more of her, I kept thinking she would come back during the film. All in all the film was fun but I was quite disappointed .
I thought the first scene (the car chase) in the movie was amazing and it got me really excited for the rest of it but as the acts unfolded I got more and more disappointed. The villain concept was really good imo but I don’t think the movie needed the American president to be a dick, it just seemed forced and unnecessary. Also the wedding came out of nowhere and just didn’t make sense with the plot.
I was excited for this movie and I just felt feeling betrayed