#gonna go look for those eggsy/charlie fics now lol

[qveenpoppy]

kingsman the golden circle: a review

so, i kinda just jotted stuff down as my reactions during the movie, so i’m just gonna copy that over here and have that be my review. figured that’d be more authentic and i also just kinda did it for fun. i mean, it made my viewing a lot longer than it should have been but hey, i had the time, so why not? enjoy, my friends. i’ll add some overall thoughts and a score at the tail end. (i’ll bold it, for anyone who wants to jump right to that.)

Gosh that opening action sequence was BONKERS, so high-energy and kinda unrealistic that Eggsy would survive that but incredible to watch nonetheless. And it's been so long since I watched the first film in full, I've forgotten about my love for the theme/score. It's so gorgeous and epic.

I made a mistake starting this before dinner, and that first scene at Poppy's dinner was one of the most disturbing things I ever saw. I find these characters so interesting but the violence in these films is a little too much for me. I tried closing my eyes during the scene but I did so too early and then opened them back up during That part. I gotta make sure to keep them closed if something like that happens again (which I'm guessing it might).

The transitions in this movie are phenomenal, I love continuity with shapes that tie each scene to the following ones.

Because I'm watching this two years late, I saw some spoilers for the movie online. Like,  a while ago. Like, back when it first came out. I was curious and only moderately liked the first movie (it was visually great but as I said, not one for R-rated violence). That being said, the scene in which Harry gets his memories back is WAY better viewed in context. Whether you think of Harry and Eggsy as an item or not, it's very good. Eggsy knew EXACTLY what would bring Harry's memories back, and I adored their hug after Harry calmed down. (The height difference!!! Eggsy went on his toes!!!) Also, I hope Harry got to keep the puppy after that and named him Mr. Pickles Jr.

Anyone else get super hyped when they hear Colin Firth say, "Manners maketh man"? It's like you just Know shit is about to go down when those words are said in these films. I hope the prequel next year gives us an origin of that line being a battle call. Also, I heard Pedro Pascal did some rope training for this film but holy wowness, it's so good! Yeah, it's enhanced with CG effects and probably some switch-ins with stunt doubles, but it still makes for an incredible action sequence! I hope Pedro gets to show off some of these skills somehow next year in Wonder Woman 1984 or Mandalorian s2. (Can't believe I slept on him for so long as an action star, what a talent!)

You know, I can kind of see where this president is coming from? I mean, as his female aid reminds him, it's a gray area, considering those who experiment with drugs or self-medicate or teens/kids, but I can also see how taking out those who use illegal drugs kinda ends the whole "war on drugs". There's logic to it but considering those mentioned parties, it's got a devious, ignorant edge to it. I can at least say I like this movie having a little bit more of a political edge to it than the first one. I wonder if anyone had a debate like this while/after watching the movie, whether they agree with this president's stance or not. I would guess the red tie he wears points to him being a Republican, so you know most Democrats would be quick to disagree, given the climate of the country following the 2016 election (aka, more divided than ever).

Also why is Charlie hotter in this movie than he was in the first one? Is it because he's evil? The shaved head? The robot arm? (I mean, being a legit villain isn't a good thing, but he's not as psychotic as Poppy and kinda has a foot in both sides, at least since he's English and now his girlfriend is infected with Poppy's disease. I wonder if he'll change sides at some point, or just die at the hands of the Kingsman, considering what he knows about them.)

(Oh wait, nevermind, he gave her the antidote. But maybe he went behind Poppy's back to do so? Or it's a placebo version and he'll wind up turning on Poppy??? Also does he know his girlfriend got fingered by Eggsy?)

(Yeah, think I can kiss that redemption arc goodbye. Eh, at least there will be fanfics for that. Or at least ones where he and Eggsy have hot hate sex.)

Oh shit, Whiskey made Eggsy drop the antidote. But at least Eggsy and Harry are okay. But how the fuck are they gonna save the day now?

Was Harry seeing butterflies as part of the delusion stage of Poppy's virus? Did the Statesmen unknowingly treat him with one of the drugs she infected? Is he gonna die AGAIN?! (Oh wait, I saw the spoilers, he'll be fine. But they might have to use the antidote on him.)

Okay I also knew from spoilers that Whiskey wasn't gonna survive the movie but delusional Harry took him out?! Why?! Will he be revived by the Statesmen like Harry was? (Whiskey's just too cool a character to lose in one movie.)

Nevermind about the agreement thing, this president is one sick motherfucker.

Sorry this commentary is becoming much briefer and summary-esque, but Whiskey (aka Jack; they did that on purpose, didn't they?) is back. But I still don't think he'll make it till the end of the film. Is he gonna try and take Harry out? Is he actually a double agent? 

You know, with them bringing Harry back, it kinda lowers the stakes of these movies. Like, is anyone ever fully dead? 'Cause this movie especially seems to keep bringing people back, at least with that Statesman tech. So it's hard to be all that sad about Merlin's death. I mean, obviously him fucking BLOWING UP seems like a pretty permanent way to die, but I thought I saw - again, around the time this came out - behind the scenes photos of Mark with some sort of green motion capture pants, as if they'd given him some metal robot legs like I guess Gazelle's in the first film. Like he just got knocked back by the blast and could no longer use his legs, if revived. But apparently it didn't make the final cut. Still, wouldn't be surprised if they used that footage for the third film as a way to bring him back. 'Cause clearly Merlin, Eggsy, and Harry are the main trio in this franchise. (Sorry, Roxy fans.)

Ohhh, look at Elton getting in on the action sequences. Yes, Sir!!!

I love when action sequences are set to more creative choices of music :)

Harry & Elton, huh? I ship it

Oh, Whiskey is actually a bad guy. Damn. Take back all the praise I had for him. Pedro, I love you, but fuck Whiskey.

Thank god I covered my eyes this time when That happened. Ugh, gross.

Ohhh, an impeachment and removal from office. If only life could imitate art... (But only in that way, nothing else from this movie should happen in real life.)

Tequila works for Kingsman now?!

overall thoughts: a suitable sequel for this franchise. obviously pretty similar tone-wise with the humor and language and violence. i always forget that these films aren’t exactly my taste. kinda triggered my anxiety with all that violence and the whole drug-triggered virus (not that i’ll be experimenting with any illegal drugs anytime soon, but my paranoid brain will definitely keep me even further away from them now.) like, they’re well-shot and i like the characters, and i mostly wanted to watch this for some explanation of how harry was brought back from the dead, but i’m at least glad i chose to watch this at home and on my laptop/tablet. it would not have been good for me to see this on the big screen. (and i managed to watch both movies for free, and completely legally. first on xfinity on demand, this on a free rental from fandago. go me!)

as i said, the political aspects did at least make for some cool thought-provoking moments and debate. i do love when movies make you think like that. mindless action movies are the absolute worst (i’m looking at you, marvel and transformers franchises). 

i’m at least curious about that third film, how they’ll handle the loss of so many significant characters, or if they’ll magically be brought back to life, again. yeah, as cool as it was, bringing harry back may have been a mistake for this franchise. but i understand that it’s the main relationship of the series, even if eggsy is now married to that swedish princess, tilda or whatever. (meh.)

rating: 7/10. it’s hard for me to give a film any lower than that, unless i turned it off or got particularly tired/bored while watching it, so. good action, good characters, fun humor, smidge too violent. 

till next time, my dudes!

[reformedkingsmanagent]

hello!!! i was wondering if i could request a TSS!Charlie x reader fic?? like maybe Eggsy fancies the reader but she fancies Charlie and Eggsy doesn't understand WHYY?! but it's because he's not a dick to her like he can be to the others because he also fancies her, maybe? I'd just really like seeing Charlie getting some appraisal and not Eggsy as usual lol Only if you have time or feel like writing it tho!! Thank you so much! BTW I loved your Charlie discourse post and I 100% agree with you!!!

Oh anon you’ve seen deep into my soul, haven’t you? No offense to Eggsy but man, with a few minutes of extra screen time from Charlie, I’m sure he’d prove to be less of a dick and more dedicated than we saw. They could’ve explained his turncoat behavior by explaining even a sliver of his home life, but that wasn’t the goal and oh my GOD I’m going to shut up now. I just hope you enjoy.

“Total prick, am I right?”

You could hear the smile in Eggsy’s voice as he approached your side, arms crossed over his chest. You looked away from Charlie’s retreating figure for only a moment.

You disagreed with Eggsy.

“Hey, so Rox and I were maybe gonna slip out later to grab some dinner, want to join us?”

Charlie rounded the corner and was finally out of sight.

“You honestly think Merlin’s gonna be okay with that?”

Eggsy adopted a self-satisfied look now that he had your full attention. “Not to worry,” he started, stepping directly into your view, “this is a Merlin-sanctioned excursion.”

“Oh yeah?”

“‘Course! Besides, you think I’d ever get Rox to sneak out? You though, I think you and me’d tear up the town.”

“Thanks, Eggsy, I appreciate that, but I’m not feeling so great. Think I’m gonna go lie down.”

He seemed a bit surprised but he covered it well enough. “Oh, alright, yeah, you just let me know if you change your mind. Or maybe we can bring something back for you…?”

“I’ll let you know.”

You took Charlie’s path down the hall, doing your best to hide your eagerness, while Eggsy was left standing there wondering what on earth Charlie had done to earn your attention.

***

“Saved you a seat,” Charlie muttered, lifting the book up off the stone bench beside him. The sun was bright overhead, not a cloud in the sky. The evenly-trimmed grass lawn spreading out in front of the small paved courtyard looked just as inviting as the seat Charlie was offering.

The corner of his mouth ticked up in amusement as you walked right past him, out onto the lawn. He watched you finally pick a place and lay down, arms placed behind your head, legs crossed at the ankle.

“That’s not quite the right attire for suntanning,” Charlie shouted, only for the sake of reaching your ear. His tone was teasing, but not quite harassing. He watched you smile.

Ever since a breakthrough during one of Merlin’s many tests, you’d had the benefit of being on the receiving end of much less antagonistic words from Charlie. The two of you were locked in a room, stuck trying to crack a code, though you’d managed to crack through his rock-solid exterior instead. You couldn’t explain it, but it happened. One minute he was lamenting being stuck in there with you forever, and the next he was planning out the next ten years down there, with your name in his plans like he wasn’t positively annoyed with you.

Charlie was only bothered by the blemish on his otherwise-sterling record for a day, as that’s how long it took for him to see that the benefit outweighed the negative. As determined as he was to earn the Kingsman slot, he couldn’t ignore his rapidly-shifting priorities.

His father would have called him a fool.

The book he was reading was closed and placed on top of the other at his side before he stood, walking slowly across the lawn, squinting in the bright sun as he stopped beside you.

A few seconds of indecision passed before he finally sat down, arms around his knees, reluctant to lay down until you pulled at his sleeve.

“There aren’t any clouds,” he commented.

“Very observant,” you teased.

You caught a glimpse of his smile before he turned his head away, his soft brown hair blown out of his face by the breeze.

“If I’d have known this was your idea of getting some fresh air, I’d have planned a picnic.” He looked over and locked eyes with you, his smile faltering.

“A picnic sounds nice,” you admitted.

“Mmm, yeah, some fruit, cheese...some nice wine...” he trailed off, relaxing beside you. “This is a nice spot you’ve found. I’m starting to get that whole ‘English countryside romance,’” he laughed. You joined in.

He turned over on his side, his free hand reaching over to pull at the collar of your jumpsuit.

“Eggy sure has eyes for you,” Charlie sighed. His eyebrows rose as he waited for your response.

“I mean…” your nerves kicked in as he watched you. “What?”

“If I’m gonna make a fool out of myself, I’d like to know beforehand.”

The fingers tugging at the grey striped material fell away, choosing to pull at the grass instead for the moment. For the first time, you could tell that he was almost nervous.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You thought you knew exactly what he meant but didn’t want to make the leap on your own.

“I think you like me well enough to not go running into those trees,” he mumbled, reaching up to wrap a strand of your hair around his finger as he looked back at the tree line behind the two of you. You watched him until his eyes fell back down to yours. “And I think I like you well enough to do this…”

Charlie leaned down, his face blocking out the sun as his lips gently pressed against yours.

***

“I mean Rox, what’s a guy gotta do?”

Roxanne Morton rolled her eyes for the fifth time that hour.

“Eggsy, you know, sometimes people just like other people.”

“That I understand, but him? Honestly? He’s a menace.”

“He’s a man. As dreadful as you may find him, he’s possibly…” Eggsy shot her a look, “maybe, capable of emotion.”

“I doubt it.”

Roxy rolled her eyes, turning to glance out the tall window as they walked through the halls up to the rooms to get changed.

She didn’t tell Eggsy what she saw, and did her best to hide her smile.

[sweetdimplesbruv]

My initial thoughts upon my first viewing of Kingsman 2:

There was a look on Harry’s face a couple times after he found out about Eggsy’s relationship with Tilde...oh my. Prime angsty fic material, I am tellin’ you! 

Poppy’s death was so anti-climactic. All that and then...? 

They never should’ve allowed the opportunity for pap pics of Mark Strong on set of the wedding with the green screen legs because that is my own personal headcanon now. I know they went with death because it gave weight to the scene/movie, but nope! :D He’s alive as fuck!!!!! With badass prosthetics.

Who was the new white dude? What happened to Ryan? Why did they introduce a new friend only for him to die? Why?

The Eggsy/Tilde interactions were cute to me. 🤷🏼‍♀️ But I wish they hadn’t already got married? They should’ve taken a little more time to build up the foundation of their relationship for the viewer because it came across a bit, “Ah yes, might as well get married now.” But I like them together. They’re cute.

I wish that Tilde would have a little more characterization though. I understand she’s a minor part of the movie, but reducing her to The Prize in two different movies???????? Do better! Her existence is only a means to give Eggsy more depth and that’s annoying.

Roxy ain’t dead and I won’t hear anything to the contrary.

For that matter, Brandon and JB aren’t dead either because...um.....y’know.......Harry fortified his office to withstand...y’know...missiles and stuff. Yeah... That’s what happened.

That fucking hug with Eggsy’s face all squished up on Harry’s shoulder just about murdered me in my chair.

I love how deeply Eggsy cares for everyone in his life. He is just the sweetest.

The finger condom scene was unnecessary but at least it wasn’t as bad as I’d psyched myself up for. In a way, I thought it was nice that Eggsy was really, really reluctant to do it. He DID NOT WANT TO. I like that he wanted to call Tilde, even if she got mad at him (rightfully so....lol). I also like that the second that he did what he had to he was like, “Nope.”

And I liked the little bit of topless!Eggsy. 😈

Eggsy full on fucking snapped Charlie’s neck. Daaaamn!!!

Elton John was magnificent. What percentage of his lines was the word “fuck” do you think? 😂😂😂😂

When you were a kid, did you play with those little paper dolls that had the paper clothes you could put on them with the little notches to hold the clothes in place? Yeah, that was about the level of characterization for the Statesmen. What a waste of talent. I liked everyone and all, but???? Why kill off already established people that are well liked by your audience only to replace them with little paper dolly personalities?

Honestly, I just want a poly fic now where Harry and Merlin both mercilessly tease Eggsy by calling him “Your Highness”...preferably while they’re fucking him. Maybe while Tilde watches???? Or participates. Honestly, I’m open to it all. I am a simple woman of simple desires, what can I say?

The throwbacks to the last movie veered too far into cheesy territory for me a couple times.............

I’ve read better plotted fanfic, just sayingggg. Still enjoyed the movie though.

Anyway, that is all. I’m gonna go see it again tonight. 

Edit: I keep reading posts by other people sharing their opinions and I think it’s funny how we all walk away from the movie with wildly different interpretations. And I don’t mean that in a condescending way!