Director: Matthew Vaughn.
Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Edward Holcroft, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges.
Off the back of the surprisingly enjoyable, action-packed Kingsman: The Secret Service, I was looking forward to this sequel greatly, continuing the comic book saga of Eggys, though I'm not sure if this is directly taken from its original source created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The first one had a few tweaks here and there but it's core story remained intact. This might well be a total spin-off from the comic story arc. But was it the story that really attracted us to the film. In all honesty, I had low expectations of Secret Service thinking it too silly but the action, it's fast pace and comedy won me over.
Vaughn has had a fairly good track record with his previous eight films, including Stardust, his debut, Layer Cake and the equally surprising Kick-Ass and the first Kingsman. He teams up his usual brilliant writer, Jane Goodman yet again for his first ever sequel. Nope, he didn't director Kick-Ass Two, remaining in a producer's chair which was how he got into the business in the first place, producing Guy Ritchie's early catalogue.
Eggsy is now an established Kingsman having that hybrid flair of being a gentleman and a high street bad boy. Once a rebel without a cause to now a super spy with a purpose. Though a new criminal organisation takes out the majority of the Kingsman possibly all too easy and clichéd forcing Eggsy to seek out their American counterparts, the Statemen to an attempt to uncover and foil this new threat.
It skirts dangerously close to Austin Powers territory with some crude, unnecessary gadget which I'm sure will offend quite a few, more so than the rear end of the first film (see what I did there?) Im all for family outings at the cinema, I think it's great, and there was a mother with her daughter in a school uniform sat in my row; but I can't deny feeling uncomfortable with this one particular scene. Maybe I'm just too old fashioned. Even Elton John's innuendos were a little too crass for this picture. I think the first one got away with it because it was fresh, unexpected even, whereas we're more prepared this time round, we know what we're walking into.
It doesn't feel as polished as the previous film and is tilted in parts. Maybe due to certain stars' scheduling conflicts. For a film with a 141min runtime, we don't get to see a lot of some of the other characters that we might have hoped. It's well paced but feels like it loses it's way in parts and the shoddy editing really shows up some major flaws of cutting too late, all indicating to it being rushed during post-production.
But what does make up for this is the equally ridiculous action. The action sequences are up to the same par, highly inventive and very enjoyable to watch, but it is more of a copy carbon of the first with a couple of extras elements. Like they have work down a tick list of car chase, pub/bar brawl and grand finale showdown with countless hidden kingsman fodder.
Egerton slips back into dual character, but I sometimes thought he couldn't decide which one he was suppose to be. Hardened gentleman spy or cocky, SnapBack-wearing yout. Strong forgets his Scottish accent and Firth has little recollection of playing Galahad. It's Pascal that steals the show in my opinion as Stateman, Codename: Whiskey with an 'e'. The rest of the supporting cast isn't innit enough to really think about.
What is it with John Denver all of a sudden? First it's Logan Lucky, now this! Both, incidentally starring Channing Tatum. Does make me wonder. Though Strong's rendition is probably my favourite part, being quite emotional with it too. The rest of the soundtrack is good with tracks from Prince, ZZ Top, Sinatra and BossHoss' cover of Cameo. But again, for a film of it's length, I'm sure there was scope for so much more. The collaboration of Jackman and Margeson on the score works, though there's nothing wholly rememberable.
It falls to the same fate most sequels suffer, not being as good but I have to remind myself, this is a quirky comic book film of a not-so-serious spy actioner taking much of it's influence from James Bond movies. I would welcome a follow up and hear a spin-off Statemen film is in development.
I wonder if there will be a Kingsman/Kick-Ass crossover seeing as they're both from the Millarverse. There's already the Archer meets Kingsman animated short released by Fox with both Egerton and Benjamin reprising their roles.
It's creative and has some impressive action sequences but much is left to be desired with some of the script and comedy being cringe worthy. Fans of the first should enjoy this instalment, but I am a fan myself and need to accept it for what it actually is.
Running Time: 8
The Cast: 8
Performance: 7
Direction: 7
Story: 6
Script: 6
Creativity: 8
Soundtrack: 6
Job Description: 6
The Extra Bonus Point: 0
62% 6/10
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