Kingsman: The Golden Cirlce: watching the same magic trick for the second time

I truly enjoyed the first Kingsman, but that would lift my expectation for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. And as expected, it fell into the common pitfall for all sequels. Come to think about it, no matter how good most first movies were, most sequels just fall flat despite following back the same formula.



That is just the problem. Recycling the same formula. The first Kingsman work because it never take itself seriously, and dare to kill off one of the main character. The first movie, despite being predictable, works because of the Englishman charm and suave. Following the same formula, Golden Circle tried to double the effort in pursuing the same formula. It still never take itself seriously, but the excuse for the villains (yes, plural there) is just pathetic. The action is stylish, but having locations in different part of the world did not add to the charm. Bringing Colin Firth back from the dead is just.... not exciting. Dead character should stay dead. The only thing that still work is the suave and stylish action sequence.



The plot is full of holes. The main villain, Julianne Moore tried to hold the world ransom to expand her drug empire. Her plan began with taking out the whole Kingsman agency. Part of their backup protocol, Kingsman sought the help from their American cousin, the Statesman. There is a glaring plot hole here whereby how the villain did not target the bigger and much more resourceful American Statesman spy agency but instead went to UK instead.

The chemistry between the leads are still fun to watch, the humour still abundant. To be fair, it is still a fun movie to watch, as long as leave the brain at home before entering the cinema. However, watching it felt like watching a great magic trick the second time. It is still a great trick, but all of us know the ending, expected the climax, and left nothing for surprise. The same trick, is simply just not exciting anymore. If they do not improvise or improve, it will be mundane by the third outing.



ratings: 2 half poink~!
comments: Channing Tatum is just a guest star here.

It (2017): Stephen King at his best

I have to admit. I am a sucker for Stephen King adaptation, no matter how good or bad it is. The weird thing is, despite lots of masterpieces (come on, not all his work is suited for everyone, imagine sitting through 2 hours of Cujo), most of his adaptation turn out... flat. There are some satisfying ones (I seems to enjoy The Mist), some weird ones (uh, Thinner perhaps), but at times, there are the great ones. While many would choose Misery as their favorite (or maybe even Carrie), but my all time favorite would be Shawshank Redemption. It is on my own personal top 5 movies of all times. I would have listed The Shining also as my favorite, but the book was way better, which made the movie pale in comparison.



Which leads us to It. I still could recall watching the mini series on TV. It was scary yet emotional at the same time. Somehow, I enjoy the first part better than the second part where all the characters grew up. The series was exceptionally creepy without being gory, with the clown and red balloon appearing and disappearing sporadically. It gives me the chills, up until the clown (spoiler ahead for those who want to watch the original series) change to a giant spider. The story was a simple tale of how a group of social outcasts gather together to battle a aged demon clown, Pennywise, who feeds on children. Although the demon was able to materialize fear, but together, the children manage to defeat and subdue the evil being (until it return in second part).


Mind you, if expected to be a horror film, then It is just average. The series is way more scarier. This recent remake, is just creepy and gory. Clown with big mouth and fangs do not really bring fear to anyone nowadays, even it chew off a boy's arm. However, this film is about the children. About friendship, coming of age, how we chuckle at the young romance, hardship felt by the innocents, events that force them to mature. All these emotional levels added much depth to a ordinary story and lift it much higher than the average horror film. For the younger audience who may not have read the book or seen the earlier adaptation, this felt like a concise Stranger Things (which, by the way, is also a great series, with Finn Wolfhard starring in both). Funny one liner, great chemistry and finally, a western movie with tinge of innocent romance without hinting physical sex.


To be fair, this recent adaptation did justice to Stephen King's work. It may even be one of the best adaptation (certainly not the best though), and even capture the essence of the original story. However, it could not replace the earlier adaptation.

ratings: 4 poink~!
comments: knowing how the story turn out, I have less expectation for chapter 2 of It movie. I am just hoping now they would adapt my all time favorite novel, Needful Things into movie/ series.