This week we’ve seen the release of Kingsman: The Golden Circle hit cinemas all over the place. It’s been a long time coming for a lot of people following the success of the first Kingsman film back in 2015. People loved the first film because of how wonderfully loud and fun it was. Everyone was a fan of the outrageous fight scenes that were littered throughout, and we were all looking forward to the return of such things in this sequel.
However, upon its arrival, some individuals proceeded to complain that they found the film to go a little too overboard for their liking. I have to say that I have found myself to be slightly dumbfounded by these claims. The whole idea behind the Kingsman stories is they rip the p**s out of all those spy stories that have been guilty of taking themselves way too seriously over the years. It is a spoof spy franchise, for Christ’s sake. It is supposed to be stupidly over-the-top – if not, it is no longer a spoof film really, is it? At the end of the day, has anyone ever actually complained that some of the scenes in the James Bond films go unnecessarily overboard? Because you could if you’re one of those pedantic types, which some people clearly are. Just look at that scene in Skyfall where the tube train gets blown off the rails – I loved the film, but even I can admit that special effects only did so much for that sequence.
The thing is, the whole point of spoof films is to go over the top. If you can’t go overboard here, then when can you? They are the only instance where the more ridiculous a scene is, the better (provided everything is done well, of course, which is the case with both Kingsman films). Personally, I think if you’re going to complain about these sorts of films, especially when they are good spoofs, you need to just remove yourself from any screenings of the films, because clearly, you’re missing the point. They’re there to make fun of other films in that genre, and to let you have a good laugh and just take your mind off everything. They’re good entertainment that you can just switch off in front of, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want unless you’re one of those humourless people who insist on wallowing in perpetual misery from now until eternity… then that’s the exact opposite of what you want.
So yeah, if you want to go ahead and drone on about how self-indulgent the latest Kingsman film is with it’s awesomely loud and absolutely ridiculous action scenes, both it’s typical and atypical characters and villains who kind of actually have a point with the objectives they’re trying to achieve, be my guest. Just know that we probably can’t be friends because you’ve either missed the entire point of the film or you have no sense of humour whatsoever. Just accept spoof films for what they are, especially when they’re as well made as the Kingsman ones because you are getting a quality film that will take your mind off things for a couple or three hours. Trust me, when you stop thinking and just take things at face-value sometimes, your life will vastly improve.
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