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Kingsman: The Golden Circle

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle
British theatrical release poster
Directed byMatthew Vaughn
Screenplay by
Produced by
  • Matthew Vaughn
  • David Reid
  • Adam Bohling
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Richmond
Edited byEddie Hamilton
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • 18 September 2017 (2017-09-18) (London)
  • 20 September 2017 (2017-09-20) (United Kingdom)
  • 22 September 2017 (2017-09-22) (United States)
Running time
141 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$104 million[2]
Box office$100.2 million[3]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 action spy comedy film co-produced and directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. It is a sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), which is based on the comic book series Kingsman, created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar. The film features Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Edward Holcroft and Sophie Cookson reprising their roles from the first film, with Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Elton John, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges joining the cast. The plot follows the Kingsmen needing to team up with their American counterparts, the Statesmen, after the world is held hostage by a new threat.

The Golden Circle premiered in London on 18 September 2017, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2017, and in the United States on 22 September, in IMAX. It has grossed $100 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, with the use of new characters and over-stylized action being met with a polarized reception, and the 141 minute runtime being criticized.[4]

Plot

A year has passed since Eggsy Unwin and the spy organisation Kingsman saved the world from Richmond Valentine's neurological wave broadcast. He has since taken his late mentor Harry Hart's title of Galahad and lives with Crown Princess Tilde of Sweden. On his way home he is ambushed by Charlie Hesketh, a former Kingsman trainee who lost his arm and vocal cords during the Valentine incident. Eggsy evades Charlie and his henchmen in a car chase across London, but Charlie's severed cybernetic arm hacks into the Kingsman servers through the car's computer system. While Eggsy is away in Sweden, a volley of missiles destroy the Kingsman headquarters and wipe out all of the agents in Britain.

Being the only surviving agents, Eggsy and Merlin follow the Doomsday protocol, which leads them to Statesman, a secret American organisation posing as a Bourbon whiskey distillery in Kentucky. There, they discover that Harry survived the Valentine's gunshot a year earlier, but is suffering from amnesia. Eggsy and Merlin are briefed by Statesman head Champagne about a secret terrorist organisation called The Golden Circle. They begin their mission by following Charlie's ex-girlfriend Clara Von Gluckfberg. When Statesman agent Tequila develops blue rashes, he is replaced by agent Whiskey as Eggsy's partner. Eggsy manages to plant a tracking device inside Clara, but his revelation of the mission to Princess Tilde strains their relationship. After several failed attempts to cure Harry's amnesia, Eggsy triggers Harry's memories by threatening to shoot a Yorkshire Terrier that resembles Harry's late dog.

Poppy Adams, head of world's largest drug cartel posing as a pharmaceutical company, broadcasts a message telling the world about a toxin she laced within every recreational drug available, which causes users to develop blue rashes before progressing through mania, paralysis, and ultimately, death. She also demonstrates the antidote on a captive Elton John and offers it to the world if the President of the United States ends his country's War on Drugs and offers her organisation immunity. The President decides to have every affected user quarantined, including his Chief of Staff, Fox. Eggsy, Harry, and Whiskey head to the antidote factory in Italy after intercepting a phone call to Charlie by Clara. Eggsy manages to steal an antidote sample, but it is broken by Whiskey during an ambush by The Golden Circle's henchmen. During the gunfight, Harry shoots Whiskey in the head, as he suspects that Whiskey is playing both sides, but Eggsy saves him with the same alpha-gel used to save Harry. Princess Tilde calls Eggsy in a state of mania, revealing that she has been affected. Eggsy, Harry, and Merlin discover the location of Poppy's hideout, "Poppy Land", in Cambodia and fly there to steal the remote control for the antidote drones.

Upon their arrival at Poppy Land, Eggsy steps on a land mine, but is saved by Merlin, who sacrifices himself while taking the lair's guards with him. Eggsy and Harry storm through the lair and Eggsy kills Charlie while Harry destroys Poppy's robotic guard dogs with the help of Elton. They secure the briefcase with the access code to the drones and inject Poppy with a more potent dose of her toxin. She gives them the password before succumbing to an overdose. Before they can activate the drones they are stopped by Whiskey, who, having previously lost his wife to crossfire from two drug users, is revealed to be working alone to ensure that all drug users are eliminated. Eggsy and Harry engage Whiskey in a grueling fight at Poppy's diner before he is killed. They release the antidote drones, saving millions of lives around the world.

In the aftermath, Chief of Staff Fox has the President impeached for conspiring to commit genocide on the drug victims. Champagne announces that Statesman has acquired a distillery in Scotland to help rebuild Kingsman. To avoid the confusion of two Kingsman agents using the codename "Galahad", Champagne offers either Eggsy or Harry the agent title of Whiskey, but they decline and Statesman tech support Ginger Ale steps in to take the role. Eggsy marries Princess Tilde, and Tequila moves to London to work for Kingsman.

Cast

Michael Gambon portrays Arthur, the head of Kingsman. Sophie Cookson returns as Roxanne "Roxy" Morton / Lancelot, a Kingsman secret agent and Eggsy's best friend, while footage from The Secret Service includes Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Boutella as Richmond Valentine and Gazelle, respectively. Tobias Bakare and Thomas Turgoose return as Eggsy's friends Jamal and Liam, respectively, while Calvin Demba is introduced as another of Eggsy's friends, Brandon. Keith Allen and Tom Benedict Knight feature as Charles and Angel, two of Poppy's henchmen, while Mark Arnold portrays General McCoy, an advisor to the President of the United States.

Production

Near the release of Kingsman: The Secret Service, Mark Millar and Matthew Vaughn stated that a sequel would be possible if the first film was to perform well at the box office, and Vaughn expressed interest in returning to direct.[5][6] Vaughn also noted that he had hoped to have Firth back in the sequel, though it was later stated that Firth would not be returning.[7][8]

On 29 April 2015, Fox announced that a sequel was in production, but that it was unclear if Vaughn would return due to his interest in directing a Flash Gordon film.[9] On 11 June 2015, Vaughn told Yahoo that he had begun writing the script for the sequel, and that he could return to direct.[10] In September 2015, Millar reiterated that the sequel was in development, and that Vaughn was looking for ways to bring Firth back without sacrificing the integrity of the story. Later that month, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Egerton had also signed on for a new Robin Hood film, which was then set to begin shooting in February 2016; Egerton's schedule was thus in conflict with the Kingsman sequel. However, in mid-October, it was confirmed that scheduling issues had been settled between both studios. Lionsgate began Robin Hood's production right after Egerton wrapped filming on Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which began in May 2016.[11]

The cast of Kingsman: The Golden Circle at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con

On 17 February 2016, it was revealed that Julianne Moore was in negotiations to play the villain in the film.[12] On 10 March 2016, Halle Berry was cast in the film,[13] in a role that later turned out to be the Statesmen's tech support. In late March, Vaughn confirmed Berry's and Moore's casting, as well as the title, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. On 8 April 2016, Pedro Pascal was cast in the film as Jack Daniels,[14] and on the same day, a promotional poster was released featuring Firth's character's glasses, confirming Firth's return for the film;[15] Firth's return was later officially confirmed on 11 July 2016.[16] Channing Tatum confirmed his casting through his Twitter account, while Variety reported that Elton John was in talks for a role.[17] In late April, Vaughn talked about writing the sequel, and stated "writing this was the hardest thing I've ever done."[18] Jeff Bridges was added to the cast on 28 May 2016.[19] Vinnie Jones announced on Twitter that he had been cast, though he did not appear in the finished film.[20]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on 15 May 2016 in Birmingham.[21][22][23] Filming also took place in Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. On 13 September 2016, Kingsman: The Golden Circle completed initial filming.[24] Additional footage was filmed on location in London in December 2016.

Marketing

On 20 July 2017, FOX released an animated Kingsman/Archer crossover short film featuring Eggsy and Sterling Archer.[25]

Release

20th Century Fox originally scheduled Kingsman: The Golden Circle for a summer release date of 16 June 2017, but pushed the film back to 6 October 2017.[26] The film was then moved up to 20 September in the UK and 22 September 2017 in the US, likely to avoid competition with Blade Runner 2049. The film had an IMAX release.[27]

Box office

As of 24 September 2017, Kingsman: The Golden Circle has grossed $39 million in the United States and Canada and $61.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $100.2 million, against a production budget of $104 million.[3]

In North America, the film was released alongside The Lego Ninjago Movie and Friend Request, and was projected to gross $40–45 million from 4,003 theaters in its opening weekend.[28] It made $3.4 million from Thursday night previews at 3,100 theaters, up from the $1.4 million made by the first film, and $15.3 million on its first day. It went on to open to $39 million, an increase over the first film’s $36.2 million debut and topping the box office.[29]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 50%, based on 187 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle offers more of everything that made its predecessor so much fun, but lacks the original's wild creative spark."[30] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[31] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same score earned by its predecessor.[29]

Writing for Uproxx, Amy Nicholson called the film better than the first, writing: "The Golden Circle has matured just enough. It’s doubled down on the mayhem and hammered out the tone. Everything is sincere even when it’s insane."[32] Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and wrote, "The stunts defy the laws of gravity, but are no less fun for that; watch out for the fight on the ski lift. Even when Kingsman: The Golden Circle goes off the rails, and it inevitably does, this cracked caper wears you down with action and giggles. Sometimes overkill can hurt so good."[33] Wendy Ide, reviewing the film for The Guardian, gave it 1/5 stars and called it "a knowing sneer of a movie that shrugs off its plot holes along with a particularly unsavoury attitude to violence and a tendency to use female characters as the decorative punchline to jokes."[34]

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1.5/4 stars and said, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle offers everything – several bored Oscar winners; two scenes featuring death by meat grinder; Elton John, mugging in close-up – except a good time."[35] Writing for RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny gave the film 0/4 stars, saying: "As action-packed as the movie is, it feels like it’s six hours. That’s in part because the pacing is so spavined; the movie lurches twitchily from set piece to set piece and spends inordinate amounts of time on shots of its sharp-dressed characters slow-motioning into the widescreen frames showing off accessories that will be sold to you by various companies in various Kingsman tie-ins all over the Internet."[36]

Video games

In August 2017, it was confirmed that Kingsman: The Golden Circle would have a tie-in game to accompany its release, and that it would be a turn-based match-3 role-playing combat game, released on iOS and Android by the Korean mobile game company NHN Pixelcube.[37] The game also includes characters from Kingsman: The Secret Service, and was released globally on 14 September 2017, about a week before the film's release.[38] Unlike the films, the game does not have graphic violence or explicit language.[39][40] In the days before the film's release, another mobile game based on the Kingsman franchise, simply titled Kingsman: The Secret Service, was announced to be in development also for iOS and Android, by American mobile game developer YesGnome. The game is a hybrid action adventure-construction simulator, where players construct impregnable secret bases, similar to Fallout Shelter, while infiltrating enemy bases in run-and-gun missions based on the plot of at least the first film.[41] The Android version is currently in early access.[42] Both games are free-to-play, offer in-app purchases, and support online player-versus-player multiplayer, with the former game requiring an Internet connection to play.

Potential sequel and spin-off

Vaughn has stated that he and Goldman have a third Kingsman film planned.[43] In the September 2017 edition of Total Film, Vaughn revealed that his personal choice for the role of the villain of Kingsman 3 is Dwayne Johnson.[44] Vaughn has also revealed that with the success of the Kingsman films, he is interested in making a Statesman spin-off.[45]

References

  1. ^ "KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  2. ^ "September B.O. Booming To Near All-Time $700M Record As 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' & 'Lego Ninjago' Enter Fall Fray". Deadline.com. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  4. ^ Pearson, Ben (19 September 2017). "'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' Review Round-Up: An Overlong But Entertaining Sequel". /Film. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Kingsman Sequel? Mark Millar Interview". 4 February 2015 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Maidy, Alex (11 February 2015). "Exclusive: Matthew Vaughn Shares Details On Kingsman 2 and Kick-Ass 3". Joblo.
  7. ^ "Colin Firth Could Be Back For Kingsman: The Secret Service Sequel". wegotthiscovered.com.
  8. ^ "2015 Jameson Empire Awards - Mark Strong". Empire Magazine. 30 March 2015 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Cunningham, Todd (29 April 2015). "'Kingsman: The Secret Service' Sequel in Works at Fox (Exclusive)". thewrap.com. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  10. ^ Bovingdon, Edward (11 June 2015). "Matthew Vaughn Confirms Plans For Kingsman 2 (Exclusive)". yahoo.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  11. ^ Kit, Borys (12 October 2015). "Robin Hood Reboot Pushed for 'Kingsman 2' Shoot (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  12. ^ Kit, Borys (17 February 2016). "Julianne Moore Circling Villain Role for 'Kingsman 2' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  13. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (10 March 2016). "Halle Berry In Talks To Star In 'Kingsman 2'". Deadline. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  14. ^ Jaafar, Ali (8 April 2016). "'Games Of Thrones' Pedro Pascal To Board 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'". Deadline. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  15. ^ Hill, Sam (8 April 2016). "Colin Firth Set To Reprise His Role In Kingsman: The Golden Circle". WhatCulture. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  16. ^ Shoard, Catherine (11 July 2016). "Colin Firth back from the dead for Kingsman 2". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Kroll, Justin (13 April 2016). "Channing Tatum Joins the Cast of 'Kingsman' Sequel". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  18. ^ "Matthew Vaughn: Kingsman sequel was tough to write". The List. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  19. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (28 May 2016). "Jeff Bridges Infiltrates 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'". Deadline. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  20. ^ "Vinnie Jones on Twitter".
  21. ^ Hurst, Ben (15 May 2016). "Watch: Final preparations for Kingsman 2 filming in Birmingham city centre". birminghammail. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  22. ^ "Birmingham turns Hollywood with big movie shoot". Express & Star. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Channing Tatum Spotted Filming Kingsman: The Golden Circle!". Comingsoon.net. 15 May 2016.
  24. ^ Hood, Cooper (13 September 2016). "Taron Egerton: Kingsman 2 Wrapped Filming; Will 'Blow Everyone Away'". ScreenRant. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  25. ^ Couch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (20 July 2017). "'Kingsman' Shows Off Action-Filled New Scenes at Comic-Con". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  26. ^ Relations, Exhibitor (23 November 2016). "KINGSMAN THE GOLDEN CIRCLE has been reassigned to fall duty instead of summer: October 6, 2017 is in, June 16 is out".
  27. ^ "Theatrical Movie Schedule Additions and Changes". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  28. ^ "'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' Tracking for $40M-Plus U.S. Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  29. ^ a b D'Allesandro, Anthony (23 September 2017). "'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' Ropes $38M+; 'Ninjago' Dulls Sword To $21M; 'Friend Request' A Loner With $1.8M". Deadline.com. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  30. ^ "Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  31. ^ "Kingsman: The Golden Circle reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  32. ^ Nicholson, Amy (19 September 2017). "'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' Sees The Spy Series Growing Up A Little And Getting A Lot Better". Uproxx. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  33. ^ Travers, Peter (20 September 2017). "'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' Review: It's 'James Bond on Laughing Gas,' Violent as Ever". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  34. ^ "Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – sneering spy spoof sequel". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  35. ^ Phillips, Michael (19 September 2017). "Kingsman: Golden Circle review: James Bond for idiots". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  36. ^ Kenny, Glenn (20 September 2017). "Kingsman: The Golden Circle Movie Review (2017)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  37. ^ Chapple, Craig. "FoxNext Games and NHN Pixelcube partner for Kingsman mobile game". Pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  38. ^ "Kingsman: The Golden Circle mobile game official website". NHN PixelCube. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  39. ^ "Apple App Store listing for Kingsman: The Golden Circle". Apple App Store. Retrieved 14 September 2017. Rating: Rated 12+ for...Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence [and] Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence.
  40. ^ "Google Play Store listing for Kingsman: The Golden Circle". Google Play. Retrieved 14 September 2017. Rating: Rated Teen for Violence. (ESRB)
  41. ^ "Kingsman - The Secret Service game information". YesGnome. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  42. ^ "Google Play Store listing for Kingsman: The Secret Service". Google Play. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  43. ^ Mitchell, Robert. "Matthew Vaughn Says Third 'Kingsman' Film Already Planned". Variety. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  44. ^ Total Film - September 2017
  45. ^ http://www.cinemablend.com/news/1704450/how-many-kingsman-movies-matthew-vaughn-plans-to-make
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