While not animated, you could argue that Kingsman: The Secret Service and its recently-released sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, are amped up live-action cartoons.
Spoiler Warning...
I loved it!
We've seen some truly incredible and well-made action movies over the past few years, such as Baby Driver, Mad Max: Fury Road, and John Wick. I happily sit Kingsman: The Secret Service alongside those films, I absolutely loved Matthew Vaughn's hyperkinetic staging of the violence (can he puh-lease direct an animated action movie for adults one day?), the constant twists and turns, the escalating energy that never lets up, and the whole story itself of a young man bettering his life via an eccentric super-secret spy organization... It was near-perfect to me.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle simply had a lot to live up to, which is why I'm not too fazed on it not being as sharp as the first film. Significantly longer, jammed with a bigger plot and more characters, and amping its predecessor's crazier elements up to eleven, it was sure to be a turn off to those who weren't quite onboard the first film. That is, if its current critical reception indicates anything. I suspect the fanbase will be divided, too, as this film - oddly enough - goes the route of Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Bigger, much more ambitious, and perhaps a little on the surreal and dare I say it, cerebral side.
The new film pits Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry against Kingsman's biggest threat yet. Their headquarters are blown to smithereens with next to no survivors, even Eggsy's pug J.B. is killed off in the first twenty minutes. I was also upset to see Roxy go, considering that she got the Lancelot position in the previous film, and I was kind of hoping they'd give her even more to do in this film. With everything gone to ruins, Eggsy and Merlin turn to the American equivalent of the organization - the Statesmen, who aren't based in a tailor shop, but rather an incredibly wealthy brewery.
Together, with a miraculously resurrected Harry Hart, they work to find the secrets of an organization known as The Golden Circle. A drug cartel run by a maniacal, reclusive, hopelessly nostalgic woman named Poppy (played by a standout Julianne Moore), the Golden Circle intends to poison people with their drugs. Her master plan is to end the American war on drugs, by compromising a good chunk of the population and only letting them live - through a to-be-mass-distributed antidote - if the President ends it once and for all. The President, we later learn, would rather let all the drug users who took Poppy's drugs just die. From there, lots of things ensue.
![]()
There's a subplot concerning Harry, who is suffering from amnesia. We get to see what's in his head, and how he often has episodes. When regaining his memories, he struggles in fights, as his coordination is all off. This adds a more surreal edge to the series, and it reminded me of how Age of Ultron used the team members' visions triggered by Scarlett Witch. Channing Tatum's agent character Tequila takes one of Poppy's drugs and is put under extensive care, revealing more info to the trio, which by then consists of Eggsy, Harry, and Whiskey (played by Pedro Pascal). We even get to see Merlin be an action hero this time!
Like its predecessor, there are plenty of good twists. Whiskey turns out to be a maniac himself, who wants to prevent the antidote from getting out, as his wife was murdered by two addicts. Failed Kingsman trainee Charlie from the first film returns as a Golden Circle henchman, complete with a bionic arm! The film amps up the batty-bonkers, cartoonish elements from movie numero uno. Moore's death-by-sugar-frosting villainess, in addition to having a hidden land in Cambodia full of 50s-styled shops and businesses, has various innocents get forcefully chucked into a meat grinder, and serves them to her henchmen in her 50s-styled diner! She has two robot guard dogs, and keeps Elton John captive! He gets some of the best moments in the whole damn film.
The Statesman agents have some wicked moves themselves, and use electrified lassos. If all of that sounds stupid and absurd to you, and you haven't seen the first film, chances are you're not going to be on board. These two films bask in their absurdness, towing a fine line between silly and actual seriousness. Main characters die left and right, awful things happen, Eggsy's relationship with the Swedish princess Tilde becomes complicated, Harry has his mind struggles. Not dissimilar to The Secret Service, which dealt with Eggsy's troubled home life and a madman's attempts to get people to kill each other. Again... This series is definitely not for everybody.
For me, this sequel worked. A little crammed, a little uneven in parts, but when it sticks, it sticks. Did Halle Berry's character, Ginger Ale, deserve better? Definitely. Was the structure off in the first half? You bet! Did it lack the sheer lightning-in-a-bottle sheen of the first movie? Yeah, but it makes up for that with its many strengths. Sometimes bigger yields uneven results, and while that's true here, most of the parts fall into place.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a solid follow-up with moments of sheer brilliance, though I can see why it has split fans and other folks. I really dug it... Bring on the third one!