Despite the fact that Harry Hart appears to die very bloodily in SERVICE, Colin Firth plays him again in GOLDEN CIRCLE, and most of the other principals return, as does the writer-director Matthew Vaughan. However, this film is an original script not tied to any graphic novel, and though it's almost as violent as a Millar work, it's not nearly as sloppy and witless.
Though there are also just as many vacuous pop-culture references here, the Vaughan-Jane Goldman script doesn't seem to be about NOTHING BUT pop culture. To make Eggsy's job all the harder, the villain-- drug-dealer Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore)-- assassinates most of the Kingsman organization, leaving Eggsy only with a few minor allies-- one of whom, as I noted above, is the recrudescent Harry Hart. However, the remnants of Kingsman get some help from an American superspy-agencny, "Statesman," whose operatives are given to using lots of cowboy motifs.
The action is better staged this time, and the villain's scheme-- to force the world powers to legalize drugs, so she doesn't have to be a criminal any more-- allows for some witty satire about modern America's ambivalence toward illegal substances. However, just so the script doesn't stray too far from the original template, Poppy does keep her own pet celebrity, Elton John (playing himself), who's good for a few laughs until he improbably starts hurling kung-fu kicks.
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