Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a jolly good time, bruv.

 I'm a firm believer that the first Kingsman (The Secret Service) film is one of, if not THE most underrated mainstream action film of the last decade.  It's so underrated that when I was coming up with my top 10 of that year, I totally forgot it.  Not because it wasn't a great film (it was), but because it sort of just slipped through the cracks for me.  I look back at that film, and it felt like such a breath of fresh air.  In a time when the spy genre had taken a turn to the serious (Daniel Craig's run as Bond and the Bourne films), The Secret Service, went the complete opposite direction.  It felt like both an homage and a spoof of the spy genre without ever feeling cheesy or out of place.  I think it deserves its place near any list of action movies, and I'm sad to have omitted it from my list.

For those of you who are uninitiated with the Kingsman films, I'll give you a brief refresher.  Set in modern day England, the Kingsman are a modern day Knights Of The Round Table.  They are an independent agency tasked with saving the world on a regular basis.  Taron Egerton plays "Eggsy," the latest recruit to the Kingsman, and he is mentored by Colin Firth's Galahad.  In the first film, they were charged with saving the world from the evil mastermind (portrayed against his tough guy image by the wonderful Samuel L. Jackson).  Needless to say... the Kingsman prevailed.  I don't think that was ever in doubt.  BUT, the journey to the end was over the top fun and had at least two all-time great action sequences (the fight through a church in Kentucky & the final battle inside Jackson's evil layer).

The Golden Circle picks up one year after the events of The Secret Service, and wastes no time getting the audience right into the action.  After an entertaining opening salvo, we learn that another villain (this time played with absolute devilish delight by the always incredible Julianne Moore) is looking to take over the world.  She's developed a secret drug that will kill every millions if the United States government doesn't pay a ransom.  I should also mention that most of the Kingsman gets taken out by this group, leaving only Eggsy and Merlin to save the world.  They are drawn to Kentucky and their American counterparts, The Statesman (led by Jeff Bridges and an underused Channing Tatum), for help.  This group is as over the top "Merica" as you can imagine.  They were denim from head to toe, and drink whisky as martinis.  I got an absolute kick out of this.  Soon enough we realize that they have saved Firth's character from death (it's not a spoiler... he was all over the trailers), but with a twist.  He has amnesia.  The Kingsman and The Statesman must work quickly to try to find Poppy (Moore) and her hideout (which you have to see to believe).  Only she has the antidote for this deadly drug.

As we know from the James Bond movies (especially the Roger Moore series of films), sequels tend to go bigger.  But are they necessarily better?  I'd argue not necessarily.  There's something to behold about simplicity and a good story winning out over.  I wouldn't necessarily say that The Secret Service was simple, but it presented a much more coherent storyline.  The Golden Circle, while a hell of a lot of fun, tended to go bigger and more absurd, over character development.  It's a small complaint, but one that makes me rank this one slightly below the first one.  There was a scene on the ski slopes that screamed out "James Bond homage" at the top of its lungs.  I didn't mind it, but I'm trying to look at this movie from all angles and see the flaws.

Overall, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a hell of a good time.  Is it better than the first one?  No... but that really doesn't matter.  It's a great escapist mainstream action movie that I would highly recommend.  The action sequences are fun, however none really can compete with the two aforementioned scenes from the first film.

I'm giving The Golden Circle 2.75 stars out of 4.  I had a blast.  It allowed me to escape from the crap going on in the world for a couple hours... and really, that's all I could ask for.  There's a really fun cameo that I won't ruin, but look out for Poppy's entertainment that she's kidnapped and brought to her lair.

IT is a genuinely thrilling movie... but I still miss Tim Curry

As a child, I was terrified by three films.  The first was The Exorcist, which is still one of the scariest movies ever made.  The second was the head-trippy Jacob's Ladder, a movie that I could barely sit through when I was younger.  The third, and perhaps most frightening to me, was the ABC miniseries event based on Stephen King's IT.  IT scared the hell out of me for a myriad of reasons, but most centrally, was the iconic performance of Pennywise The Clown by Tim Curry.  He forever instilled a fear of clowns in most children my age and beyond.  Looking back at the original IT, the film doesn't quite hold up in terms of quality and the performances are slightly (OK, not so slightly) campy.  However, the genuine chills still exist and I have to admit to being a little skeptical of this big screen remake.  However, after seeing the film tonight, I can say that my fears were mostly unnecessary.  IT is a top notch big budget thriller that improves upon the original in almost every way.

This version of IT focuses on the town of Derry, Maine during the summer of 1989 (different from the 1950s setting of the book and original movie).  A group of outcast children (known as the Loser's Club) discovers that children have gone missing at an alarming rate.  The Loser's realize that they have all been experiencing similar experiences involving a maniacal clown known as Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgard), who terrorizes them by invoking the children's deepest, darkest fears against them.  The Loser's figure out that the town of Derry seems to go through a cycle of terror every 27 years, and Pennywise is always at the center of it.  He preys on children, while the adults of the town gloss over it (similar to Freddie Kruger in the Nightmare on Elm Street films).  It's soon up to the Loser's Club to try and rid Derry of the demon clown before it's too late.

I think this film does a great job of portraying adolescence (granted a really messed up one), and the troubles with growing up.  The group of children are the stars of this film.  They are equal parts hilarious and vulnerable.  They band together because of their similar home settings (all experience some form of physical or mental abuse by older members of their family or society).  The break out stars of this film is Finn Wolfhard (of Stranger Things fame) and Sophia Lillis.  Finn's character is the comedic center of this film and delivers his lines with perfect timing and impulse.  Lillis' character is the lone girl in the Loser's Club, and she has perhaps, the most emotionally troubling background of all the children.  The Loser's Club draw you in to the film in a relate able way and keep you interested throughout its slightly bloated run time.

On the other hand is Pennywise the Clown.  Skarsgard had a tough task in this film.  He had to take on such an iconic role while making it his own, and I think that he did an admirable job of it.  However, I think that Curry still owns this character and the follow-up will have to do a better job of making this Pennywise stand on his own.  He didn't get much of a chance to deliver lines of dialogue the way Curry did, and I was a little disappointed in that.

Make no mistake, this film is pure popcorn movie fun.  It delivers genuine thrills while keeping the story and characters grounded.  Yes, the villains are over the top at times, and it does tend to go the CGI route a little too much (though I was OK with that).  IT is a perfect escapist film and one I would highly recommend.

I much appreciated this film focusing on one-half of King's story.  However, I'm a little worried that the box office success of IT will make the producers drag the story out into as many films as possible.

If you're a fan of horror, go check it out.  3 out of 4 stars.