Following Matthew Vaughn highly acclaimed The Secret Service, Kingsman’s sequel is just as stylishly upbeat as its predecessor. Perfectly tailored to fit the highly stylized aesthetic of the first film, The Golden Circle has broken new grounds in terms of spy movies from all ends.

Without giving away too much detail, the plot is centred around a drug cartel ran by what seems to be a successful CEO under the name of Poppy – played by the astounding Julianne Moore. As Kingsman’s HQ is blown to pieces, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) are forced to seek reinforcements across the pond from their sister agency Statesman.

The Golden Circle is intrinsically cinematic in both plot and visuals. Unforeseen circumstances arise as characters who are thought to dead are brought back into the scenery through a series of ridiculous scenarios.

What is interesting about the Kingsman sequel is not the plot or the overly used CGI. It’s not even in the cartoonish appearance that is a tad too reminiscing of Andy Warhol’s pop art movies. What Kingsman seems to be doing right though – is tailoring itself to an entirely new generation lovers of the “spy movie” genre while also keeping track of the current political climate.

 

As Eggsy’s character progresses from My Fair Lady to a fully blown Bond, Matthew Vaughn has managed to keep Eggy’s attitude towards the world of spies refreshingly new. Instead of being portrayed as a womanizer in the same manner that the world of Bond was built – Eggsy does a full 180 and has his feet on the ground. No spoilers here – but his attitude towards women turns The Golden Circle into a spy film that feminist can finally stand behind. Taking into account the current social climate, it’s of primordial importance that the young generation is faced with a new type of heroes that they can respect and somewhat imitate in attitude. His character instils a sense of security and stability, turning Eggsy into a credible and relatable character.

The diverse personas and typologies portrayed in The Golden Circle have broadened the Hollywood spectrum in terms of both race and sex. Having Halle Berry follow in the footsteps of Sophie Cookson from The Secret Service, the second film empowers women and encourages social diversity on the big screen. That is one effort that we want to applaud Matthew Vaughn for and hope to see more in the future.

Having been scarcely scrutinised over the topic of class discrimination in the first film, the sequel is its complete contradictory. Taking into account the current political climate, The Golden Circle is not tone deaf and manages to bring affront the hard-hitting issues of corruption, the war on drugs and how no social class is immune to any of the above. It’s the different approach to socialism in Hollywood that earns Matthew Vaughn another gold star from us.

The Golden Circle earns its place in the Spy Movie Hall Of Fame. Apart from its tasteful attitude in dealing with our current political climate, the film is cinematic gold due to its fantastic and sometimes grotesque production – from the perfectly choreographed fight scenes to the incredible mise-en-scene, truly a must see.

 

We spoke to cast member Sophie Cookson inside FAULT Issue 26 which is OUT NOW! 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is out in Cinemas September 20^th.