Return of the Kingsman

1 minute read

One of the following is not a feature of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Matthew Vaughn’s bodaciously entertaining sequel to his equally nutso 2015 comic-book adventure Kingsman: The Secret Service. A treacherous gondola in the Italian Alps, a pug puppy, a Sistine Chapel explosion, a royal wedding, Julianne Moore as a perky yet sadistic drug lord–lordess?–with a penchant for ’50s populuxe design.

Give up? All you really need to know is that there’s enough sleek, meticulously tailored disreputability here for three movies. Taron Egerton returns as the insanely well-dressed secret agent Eggsy, member of an elite spy ring fronted by a London tailor’s shop. Colin Firth and Mark Strong also return as, respectively, Eggsy’s mentor and right-hand tech expert. Don’t be shocked if Channing Tatum shows up as a Kentucky lawman in a cowboy hat, because there’s room amid all this post–James Bond madness for almost anything to happen. Almost. These gentlemen of taste and discernment would never blow up the Sistine Chapel. At least not yet.

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