Let’s be honest here: I should only have to say “Taron Egerton, shirtless,” and you should all go running to see this movie. Seriously.

But y’all are “frugal” and “financially responsible,” so I have to actually do my job.

Borrowing the same satiric model, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” is on an even playing field with its 2014 predecessor. With an even more star-studded cast, a wild plot and comedy around every corner, it also has an emotional depth in regard to its characters. Taron Egerton is still doing a wonderful job alongside Colin

Firth and Mark Strong, as well as the new additions to the cast; they take the form of Pedro Pascal, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and (rather surprisingly) Elton John.

The marks this movie receives are many, and I am especially appreciative of what appears to be the film’s satire of James Bond and other spy classics. Why do I say satire? Well, how Colin Firth’s Galahad is resurrected, for one thing; he is brought back to life by a machine that repairs neuron damage done by bullets. Another example would be the rampant gadgets throughout the film, like a bottle of cologne that can explode to create a freezing blue goop that captures enemies in its grasp. However, there are also a number of comedic moments that go part-in-parcel with these aspects of the film.

Another praise I would give would be for Julianne Moore, who plays the movie’s villain, Poppy. She is absolutely wonderful as the sickly-sweet psychopath that could turn on a dime from pleasant conversation about the artist playing in the theater to, “Would you kindly kill your friend?” It’s awesome, and I love how well Julianne Moore did here.

Then there is the action; the sweet, plentiful action that seasons this movie beautifully. There are numerous gun-fights and hand-to-hand combat scenes that are well-choreographed, while keeping the same familiar style from the first movie.

However, there are places where this movie just did not work for me; my primary concern is with the plot. For me, the plot felt jumpy and didn’t seem cohesive at times. Between some of the subplots and some of the character development, there was a loss of focus on the main plot. It detracted from the movie and seemed to be a vehicle for the action at times.

This is remedied toward the end, as some of the subplots cleared up and focus was put on the main plot again.

The only other detractor to the movie for me was that some of what made the original movie good was repeated here, making it somewhat of a rehash of the previous movie in some scenes. For example, Pedro Pascal almost completely reenacts the bar fight scene from the first movie, with very few changes made.

Overall, this movie was a lot of fun to watch and I appreciate the performances of the actors. The action scenes were fun to watch, and I would recommend that if you don’t have much studying to do give this one a watch. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.