Kingsman Golden Circle is crazy, over-the-top entertainment

Movie Title:   Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Grade:  B

Rating: R, 2 hours 21 minutes

In a Nutshell:  This sequel to the original Kingsman: The Secret Service 

Uplifting theme: 

• “Being a kingsman is more than the clothes we wear or the weapons we bear." - Harry (Colin Firth)
•  "Having something to lose makes life worth living." - Harry (Colin Firth).
• Friendship, loyalty, love
• Good over evil

Things I liked:

• The talented cast is fun to watch and includes Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges.  Throw a thick mustache on Pedro Pascal and he looks like a young Burt Reynolds, right?
• The movie starts with a great action sequence and runs fast the entire 2 hours.
• I got a kick out of the British vs. American banter.
• Taron Egerton is the perfect Eggsy and really shines in his role.
• Julianne Moore is a fun villain.  You can see her play twin sisters in the dark comedy Suburbicon in theaters now.
• Yes, that’s the real Elton John in the movie!  His acting isn't very good, but he's still awesome.
• Great stunts and special effects.
• Cool James Bond types of weapons.
• John Denver and Elton John music.  Ahhh.

Things I didn’t like:

• It’s extremely over-the-top and exaggerated.
• Jeff Bridges seems to play the same crusty, old fart in all of his movies lately. 
• There is a LOT going on!  

Funny lines:
* "If I save the world, can I have two tickets to your next concert?" - Harry to Elton John
   "If you save the world, you can have a backstage pass." - Elton John


Tips for parents: 

• Lots of crude profanity, including many F-bombs.
• Lots of violence, deaths, and destruction.
• Several inappropriate sex jokes and images. 
• Gross images involving a meat grinder and other forms of death.

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice 

The Great Wall opens in China first

Movie Title:  The Great Wall

Grade:  C+

Rating:  PG-13, 104 minutes

In a Nutshell:  China!  I went on a little speaking tour in China last summer and fell in love with the country, so it was fun to see bits of China again, even if a lot of it was through CGI.  

Still, there are some beautiful Chinese elements throughout the movie, including a lot of Mandarin, which is something I have been trying to learn for many months.

This visually stunning film was released in China first and features some of the biggest blockbuster actors in China.  Directed by Yimou Zhang, the film was made in China and cost the equivalent of $150 million dollars, the most money China has ever spent on a movie.  It’s only the second time an American-Chinese collaboration has created a feature film (the first one was Skiptrace, which I saw while I was in China).  Unfortunately, both movies fall short for most Americans.  Will it make a lot of money?  Absolutely…in China.  Not so much in the USA.

Here is a picture of me and my two sons when we were in China!

Uplifting theme: 

• “All we can do is prepare.” – Strategist Wang (Andy Lau)
• “Trust in each other in all ways and in all times.” – Commander Lin Mei (the beautiful Jing Tian)
• Honor, respect, trust.

Things I liked:

• I love Matt Daman in anything. 
• I love Willem Dafoe in anything, although he’s a mousy coward in this one.  In fact, he was super annoying and I wanted him to die.
• Beautiful, colorful costumes by Mayes Rubeo! 
• Gives new meaning to base jumping.
• Fun slow-mo shots.
• You get to see the monsters up close.
• I’ve always wanted to go to a Chinese lantern festival.  This scene in the film is so pretty.  Hopefully next summer I’ll see one when I go back to China!
• Lots of humor.
• It’s fun to see in 3D and on the big screen.  Visually, it’s impressive.
• The musical score was invigorating.

Things I didn’t like:

• A lot of the CGI and stunts look really good, but sometimes it’s pretty fake-looking.
• Jurassic Park meets China.
• The Chinese characters hold the moral high ground over the white guys in the movie.
• The characters are very one-dimensional who suffer from poor dialogue that doesn’t give us much back story or reason to care about them.  The story could have really benefited from time spent exploring the theme of honor, respect, and trust.
• The First Act was intriguing.  The Second Act was ok.  The 3^rd Act was extremely predictable and silly.
• There’s a lot of exposition.  don't TELL us everything. SHOW us.
• I asked one of my friends in China what he thought of the movie.  He said, “It sucked.”   

Interesting lines:

• “This is the first war I’ve seen worth fighting.” – William Garin (Matt Daman)
• “I am alive because I trust no one.” – William Garin

Funny lines:

• “I haven’t surrendered in a while.” – Pero Tovar (Pedro Pascal)

“It’ll come back to you.” – William Garin

• “Maybe they’ll hang us now.  I could use the rest.” – Pero Tovar
• “You smell like animals.” – (Willem Dafoe)

“Thank you.” – William

• “I didn’t sign up for this.” – Pero

‘Which part?”- William

“All of it….but mostly the monsters.” – Pero

• “We are honored to be honored.” – William

“Is that the best you’ve got?” – Pero

• “So, how’s life without me?” – William

“A little slow.” - Pero

Tips for parents:

• There are some scary monsters that might scare young children.