Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Genre: Espionage
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Michael Gambon, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Jeff Bridges, Elton John
Duration: 141 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

Three years after the successful Kingsman: The Secret Service comes its sequel, starring some of the characters from the first film and a slew of new ones. Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class) once again directs the movie.

Taron Egerton resumes his role as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

With their headquarters destroyed and the world held hostage, members of Kingsman find new allies when they discover a spy organisation in the US known as Statesman.  In an adventure that tests their strength and wits, the elite secret agents from both sides of the pond band together to battle a ruthless enemy and save the day, something that’s becoming a bit of a habit for Eggsy (Taron Egerton).

Among the ensemble cast, one also finds Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges and the return of Colin Firth as Harry Hart or Galahad. Julianne Moore plays the villain here.

The film, which like the original is based on the comic book series Kingsman, received mixed reviews,  with some critics panning the use of new characters and overstylised action, besides the 141-minute runtime.

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Kingsman: The Golden Circle offers more of everything that made its predecessor so much fun, but lacks the original’s wild creative spark.”

Wendy Ide of The Guardian called it “a knowing sneer of a movie that shrugs off its plot holes along with a particularly unsavoury attitude to violence and a tendency to use female characters as the decorative punchline to jokes”.

Other critics, however, liked it. Dan Jolin of Empire magazine wrote: “As ultraviolent as the first film, and as ultrasmutty, The Golden Circle will leave the Kingsfans grinning, even if its characters have less growing to do this time around.”

And Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media said: “This sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service has just as much slick, inventive, crazy action and is just as much fun.”

Made on a $104m budget,  thefilm has so far grossed $100 worldwide since its release  in the UK last week. A third Kingsman is reportedly in the works.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
Empire: 4 stars

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)
Genre: Biopic
Director: Simon Curtis
Starring: Margot Robbie, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Macdonald, Geraldine Somerville
Duration: 107 minutes
Class: PG
KRS Releasing Ltd

The biopic by British director Simon Curtis (David Copperfield, My Week with Marilyn) gives a rare glimpse into the relationship between children’s author A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son Christopher Robin (played by Will Tilston and Alex Lawther), whose toys inspired the world of Winnie the Pooh.

Domhnall Gleeson and Will Tilston find ways to bond in Goodbye Christopher Robin.

Along with his mother Daphne (Margot Robbie) and his nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books which bring hope and comfort to England after World War I. But all this takes its toll on the family.

The film received mostly positive reviews, with praise especially falling on the child actor Tilston.

Jonathan Pile of Empire described the picture as a “witty and touching father-son tale” and added “at its centre, a startling debut from Will Tilston, whose compelling performance ensures its emotional moments land successfully”.

While Peter Debruge of Variety advices filmgoers to “bring your hankies to this honey-sweet glimpse into the inspirations behind and fallout from author A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh series”.

Helen O’Hara, however, warns that this film “moves far away from the glossy whimsy of Miss Potter or nostalgia of Finding Neverland” as it reveals that the family behind the cuddly bear tales was badly damaged.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is being released in the UK and Malta on Friday.

Ratings
IMDB: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Empire: 4 stars

Mother! (2017)
Genre: Horror
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson
Duration: 121 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

The pscyhological horror film by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) has sharply split critics as it made the rounds at film festivals in Venice and Toronto, receiving both boos and cheers at screenings.

Jennifer Lawrence’s character is the embodiment of Mother Nature in Mother!

In the film, Aronofsky channels his fury with the state of the world into an allegorical story that reflects mankind’s selfish relationship with nature, gender, politics and religion.

Mother! centres on Jennifer Lawrence, a naive young woman who has just married an older writer (Javier Bardem) currently suffering from writer’s block.

As Lawrence’s character, an embodiment of Mother Nature, slowly renovates a property, two strangers, played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Harris, turn up at their doorstep and kick off a series of events that blur the lines of reality and escalate into chaos.

Caryn James of BBC Culture described the film as a “pretentious mess of a film”. Mark Kermode of The Observer, however, wrote: “Aronofsky’s darkly comic blend of home-invasion nightmare and eco-parable takes some digesting – but it’s worth it.”

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes is on the same lines: “There’s no denying that Mother! is the thought-provoking product of a singularly ambitious artistic vision, though it may be too unwieldy for mainstream tastes.”

The $30m film, in fact, bombed at the US box office, grossing just $7.5m on its opening weekend.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
Empire: 4 stars