Star-studded spy romp goes around in circles
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE ★★★ (Cert 15; 141mins)
BIGGER is not better with Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a bloated, mindless sequel that revels in grisly violence and cartoonish overkill. The plot is convoluted, the running time is excessive and the cast is top heavy with underemployed Oscar winners. But fans of the original may still enjoy the ride.
Taron Egerton’s Eggsy is still an engaging presence as the spy who came from the wrong side of the tracks, now comfortable in his transformation into a dapper Savile Row secret agent. But when the Kingsman intelligence agency is destroyed, Eggsy and Scots boffin Merlin (Mark Strong) are the only survivors. The fiend responsible for the carnage is drug cartel boss Poppy, blandly played by Julianne Moore.
Her Bond villain-style lair is a vast complex in Cambodia guarded by robotic hounds. It is a lurid theme park vision of 1950s America containing everything from a movie theatre to an old-fashioned diner
OUR LAST TANGO ★★★★ (Cert 12A; 84mins)
IF THE return of Strictly put you in the mood for sequins and nimble feet then Our Last Tango should appeal.
This absorbing documentary tells the story of Maria Nieves Rego and Juan Carlos Copes, two of the greatest exponents of the tango, now in their 80s. Long after their love died and their marriage ended the pair continued to perform together.
The film reunites them for one last dance, charting the backstage friction of their past and offering recreations of their finest performances.
It is a maudlin affair but the beauty and precision of the tango remains spellbinding. where Poppy serves orders, making mincemeat of her enemies, quite literally in some cases.
She has also kidnapped a spectacularly grumpy Elton John as the provider of her in-house entertainment. A game Elton doesn’t have to do much acting but is required to bitch and swear. A lot.
The quest for revenge takes Eggsy and Merlin to Kentucky where they discover a parallel intelligence agency, The Statesmen, under the stewardship of Champ (Jeff Bridges). Agents here include swaggering cowboy Tequila (Channing Tatum) and tech expert Ginger Ale (Halle Berry).
The introduction of a raft of new characters should add some freshness to the formula but sadly most of the big hitters are sidelined for much of the film.
Our dynamic duo also discover that Eggsy’s beloved mentor Harry (Colin Firth) is alive despite having apparently been shot dead with a bullet to the head in the original film. Petty details.
Soon Eggsy and the gang are haring from Glastonbury to the ski slopes of Italy and the jungles of Cambodia, determined to thwart Poppy’s fiendish plot to hold the world to ransom. Just to up the ante in an already frantic story, Eggsy is also in love with a minor member of European royalty who makes endless allowances for the demands of his day job.
The Golden Circle barely pauses for breath between bone-crunching fisticuffs, athletic, gravity-defying fights and blazing shoot-outs.
The stunt team do an amazing job but all the non-stop action in the world couldn’t distract from how silly The Golden Circle is. The plot doesn’t make much sense as it brings people back from the dead, zips around the world and ricochets between corny and cheesy. Even great sacrifices intended to tug at the heartstrings don’t come with
much in the way of justification. Superficially entertaining but disappointingly hollow beneath all the exhausting razzle-dazzle.
BORG VS MCENROE (Cert 15; 108mins)
THE 1980 Wimbledon men’s final was one of the finest matches in the history of tennis. In the one corner stood the ice-cool four-time champion Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason), in the other, brash young “Super Brat” contender John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf). Borg Vs McEnroe focuses on that all-important final but also explores why it mattered so much and reveals that these two polar opposites may have had more in common than we thought.
Swedish star Gudnason is the absolute spitting image of Borg. The resemblance is uncanny and he expertly captures the Swede’s reserved manner and the way he played without betraying a flicker of emotion. It is an extraordinary impersonation in a film tilted towards Borg.
We learn that he too once had a volatile temper but he was forced to overcome it by coach Lennart Bergelin (Stellan Skarsgård).
Shia LaBeouf doesn’t entirely convince as the 21-year-old McEnroe but he is spot on when it comes to temper tantrums, rants and angry outbursts at umpires.
A handsome, well-made trip down memory lane that works best if you’ve forgotten the final score.
IN BETWEEN (Cert 15; 101mins)
MAYSALOUN Hamoud’s striking first feature has been winning fans around the world over the past year and it’s easy to see why. There is a freshness and sincerity to this tale of three women defined by the expectations of their families and trying to be true to themselves in a world moulded by men.
Muslim lawyer Laila (Mouna Hawa) and Christian DJ Salma (Sana Jammelieh) work hard and play hard in Tel Aviv, spending their free time dancing, drinking and having fun.
When quiet, pious Muslim Nour (Shaden Kanboura) becomes their new flatmate, the women feel she is cramping their style.
Each of them is looking for love but, as young Palestinian women, finding a relationship on their own terms is difficult. What sustains and inspires them is the common ground they discover. In Between may seem a little cartoonish at times but ultimately emerges as a joyous celebration of sisterhood.
ON BODY AND SOUL (Cert 18; 116mins)
TWO lonely souls edge towards an emotional connection in On Body And Soul, a melancholy Hungarian drama that won the top prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
Endre (Géza Morcsányi) is the financial director of an abattoir. New quality inspector Maria (Alexandra Borbély) alienates everyone with her icy, robotic manner. She hates being called by her first name and bridles at human contact. But Endre is smitten.
He is too shy to bridge the yawning gap between them. Then the annual work psychiatric investigation reveals they share exactly the same dream of a stag and doe wandering through a wintry, snow-covered forest. It is a sign that encourages the possibility of a relationship as Maria learns to be human and Endre tries to follow his heart’s desire. An offbeat romance that also contains some graphic scenes of animal slaughter.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Cert PG; 191mins)
DAVID Lean’s Oscar-winning Lawrence Of Arabia is the very definition of a film that demands to be seen on the big screen, with epic drama, landmark performances and stunning images that fill every corner of the frame.
The latest re-issue only confirms the majesty of Peter O’Toole’s riveting central performance as the mercurial TE Lawrence, soldier, adventurer, dreamer and a man who saw himself as the only person to unite fractious Arab tribes.
Robert Bolt’s intelligent screenplay captures a portrait of a fiendishly complex, hopelessly idealistic individual and explores the politics at play. A marvellous cast includes Claude Rains and an unforgettable Omar Sharif as Lawrence’s ally Sherif Ali. If you have never seen Lawrence Of Arabia before, you are in for a treat.