Spoilers for both movies
So I downloaded movie 1 from Amazon on a Monday and went to Cineworld for movie 2 on the Tuesday.
Kingsman The Secret Service
A really fun Bond parody with excellent work from Colin Firth who has never been a favourite of mine in the past. I love his character who is almost the real star of the show.
There are truly magnificent balletic fight scenes. I was put off going to the cinema for this film by a reviewer saying it was 'too violent'. It's a 15 and if you have seen any modern cinema or TV it isn't at all, the violence is pure comedy. The best is Colin Firth slaughtering an evil church congregation. Sheer magic.
Less magically, when the hero meets his love interest, a princess, and asks her for a kiss should he rescue her, she offers him her arse instead. Apparently this film maker, Matthew Vaughn, says he likes to make people uncomfortable. I can perhaps make a connection to the 70s idea of Swedes as into porn and sexual liberation but really the whole thing strikes a (oh dear, surely someone else made this terrible joke at the time) bum note. And as I note further on in the review of the next movie the unpleasantness about women here is not isolated.
Samuel L Jackson plays a camp villain who wants to destroy the human race to save the planet (seemed familiar, and I realised what he was up to very early on. Has it been done before)?
There is a female agent in training, Roxy, who does not function as a love interest. She is rather a Hermione in that she is the only girl and better than all the men (but somehow not as important as the male protagonist). I was hoping for more from her in the sequel.
This movie is based on comics by Mark Millar and I have no idea how closely they stuck to the original.
Trivia: it seemed very odd to me for a young child to be called by a nickname like 'Eggsy' as in the early scenes of the film. And by his mother! I was sure it must be short for Alexander. But apparently his name is Gary.
Apart from the ew moments with the bum sex thing, which may not bother everyone, there isn't much to complain about in this film. See it and have fun.
Kingsman The Golden Circle
This sequel has a number of failings although it has enough good content to succeed as entertainment. To list some failings, it moves too far away from the Bond parody, there are too many CGI scenes and the movie is too long. Sequences that could do with scissors applying include the one where Merlin stands on a landmine.
'Manners maketh man' was brilliant the first time
It was a nice call back the second time
But really, quit while you're ahead.
And there's the divisive scene which is seen by some as a harmless dirty joke and by others as seriously transgressive. Either way we could live without it.
With most of the original cast liquidated in a large explosion many new characters are introduced. There are big parts for Julianne Moore, as chief villain, and Elton John as her prisoner, that seem indulgent. Halle Berry is in it as well, in a rather uninteresting supporting role. It seems as though several rich and famous people said 'ooh, can I play?'
From the trailer I was expecting more US/UK jokes to replace the 'class' stuff from the first film but these barely amounted to anything. Statesman was necessary since everyone was dead, but I wish it had been done better. Jeff Bridges was not very good to be frank and none of the US characters were very interesting.
Vaughn decided the hero, despite not wanting to, would plant a tracker in a lady's vagina. It has been pointed out that this amounts to a sex offence being presented as a joke. The conflict presented to the audience at this point was about Eggsy being unfaithful to his girlfriend and clearly Vaughn did not consider the other implications of this behaviour. As a viewer I was more focused on the cliched behaviour of the girlfriend who is unable to understand that a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and trying to force him to propose, while the implanting seemed just a side issue concerning a minor character. No, the moral problem, which I acknowledge does exist, did not occur to me. It is apparent that this scene has caused a lot of offence in some quarters, while others think there is nothing to take offence at. Vaughn says the scene, like the anal business in the first movie, is a James Bond parody reflecting the exploitative treatment of women in the old movies. However, again it leaves a sour taste. Whereas the real James Bond wouldn't hesitate to lie and deceive and exploit women ruthlessly Eggsy is presented as a loveable character who would not so easily do these things. And mostly, ew.
The relationship between Eggsy and Hart, played beautifully once again by Colin Firth, continues to be the heart of the story. I don't care that he was brought back from the dead, he was lovely. Taron Egerton's love for his mentor also seems genuine and touching.
As I was writing these reviews, considering the above and the arse/fingering gags it came to my mind that Mr Vaughan might have some issues - a longing for a tender father/mentor figure and a lack of respect for his mother? Following up this thought I looked into his biography and it seems this is actually a possibility. There is a rather sad background to his paternity. In the light of his own story, Hart's rejection of Eggsy while amnesiac is even more painful.
Eggsy's battered mum and half sister have disappeared entirely from this movie although apparently they moved in with him at the end of the first movie. He still remembers all his mates but has forgotten his family apparently.
And Michael Caine has changed into Michael Gambon but could have been anyone for all they gave him to do. What a waste.
Eggsy's posh boy antagonist Charlie returns with a bionic arm to portray a Bond style henchman.
I think my favourite way to watch these films would be to stitch together the fight scenes and all the scenes with Colin Firth and possibly Mark Strong too, if he just spent less time on that landmine. He's good to watch.
I hear Golden Circle is getting terrible reviews now. But it wasn't by any means terrible. There was another marvellous choreographed fight scene near the end which helped make up for a lot. There are no stills I can find that show the graceful leaping and somersaulting involved.
Overall the film was fairly entertaining while not anywhere near as good as the original. There are far too many characters. Wish they had stuck with the original cast and not blown them up.
RIP Roxy
I'd give the first movie 9/10 and this one 7/10.
I wonder, how did Vaughn ever make the delightful Stardust?
I haven't seen Lock Stock or Layer Cake.
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