Kingsman: The Golden Circle didn't run, burst, or explode into theaters.
It strode in, gentleman-like, to grace our eyeballs with posh car chases and debonair
fight scenes.
Director Matthew Vaughn once again went to outrageous extremes with the action and violence,
pursuing what he called "my Spinal Tap of trying to find 11 with every scene."
Polish your Oxfords and drain that martini, because here are all the Easter eggs you missed
in Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Deadly briefcase
Neither Kingsman movie has been shy about referencing James Bond, the granddaddy of
all spy franchises, but The Golden Circle went a step further and appropriated one of
007's own weapons for young Eggsy — with upgrades, of course.
The machine gun briefcase he uses during the film's climactic raid on Poppy Land was a
callback to Sean Connery's Bond, who used a similar weaponized business accessory in
From Russia with Love.
Of course, that one didn't fold out into a bulletproof shield, but hey, it had a knife.
And speaking of Bond…
Flying colors
Midway through the film, The Golden Circle delivers an action-packed sequence in which
Eggsy and Whiskey find themselves skidding down a mountain slope in a ski-lift car, barreling
toward a bunch of tourists in the lodge at the bottom of the mountain.
In a flash of gentlemanly genius, Eggsy pops Whiskey's parachute to slow them down.
Since Whiskey is a Statesman, the parachute is the brightest American flag Betsy Ross
ever dreamed of.
Bond lovers probably caught the reference.
In Roger Moore's 1977 The Spy Who Loved Me, the opening scene has Bond ski off a cliff
to certain death…only to open his parachute at the last moment, blazing the colors of
the British flag.
Snowy mountains, a plunge to the death, and a last-minute parachute emblazoned with stately
pride?
Definitely a nod to Bond.
Marquee master
Keeping Elton John as her piano slave is just one of the villainous Poppy's messed-up moves,
but it gave us one quick Easter egg.
On the marquee outside the theater where she makes Elton play is a sign advertising Captain
Fantastic, an obscure reference to his album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
And if you caught the other side of the marquee, you probably saw the lettering saying "The
B---- Is Back," which is an Elton John song.
- Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, also makes an appearance
in the film - Elton tweaked it a little in the film to celebrate Wednesday - the day
he was getting rescued.
Bennie and Jet
Poppy's got a real thing going for Elton John in The Golden Circle.
Not only did she kidnap him — she also named her dogs for him.
We're talking, of course, about the robo-pooches.
If you watch closely, you can see their names pop up on screen several times: Bennie and
Jet.
And you might know where this is going — "Bennie and the Jets" is a song John released in 1973
on his album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Comic rockets
The opening chase sequence is a death-defying spectacle, employing Matthew Vaughn's signature
frenetic camerawork.
When Eggsy finally gets the go-ahead from Merlin to return fire on Poppy's goons, he
does it in the most badass way possible, pushing a button and sending three rockets flying
into the air to come back down on the three vehicles pursuing him.
In the original comic the movie's based on, The Secret Service, Eggsy uses the same weapon
to shake murderous pursuers, again in the opening scene of the story.
Granted, he's on a snowmobile at the time, and the people chasing him are on skis, but
the result is still exactly the same: exploded bad guys.
Deleted scene
In January 2017, Taron Egerton revealed that the Kingsman sequel would feature a deleted
scene from the first movie.
He told Den of Geek, it was one he "personally thought shouldn't have been cut, and that's
now in the second film.
But what it is…I don't think I can say."
But now that the movie's out, we can tell you what scene he was talking about.
Nope, it's not the one with young Michael Caine.
It's the one when Harry teaches Eggsy how to eat like a gentleman at breakfast.
In The Golden Circle, the scene shows up when Eggsy's girlfriend is trying to prepare him
for dinner with her parents, the king and queen of Sweden.
So why was it cut?
"It had a really bad effect because it also looked like they might have slept with each
other the night before."
Heroic reward
One of the funniest — and most controversial — scenes in Kingsman: The Secret Service
came at the end, when the Swedish princess offered Eggsy a certain sexual favor in return
for saving the world.
Of course, Princess Tilde is back in The Golden Circle, this time in a much larger role as
Eggsy's girlfriend.
Their relationship has evolved since the 30 seconds of screentime they had together in
the first film, but Tilde still knows how to motivate her boyfriend.
Just before he jets off to save the world, she reminds him what he'll get if he does
a good job.
Considering the backlash against the joke in the first movie, it took a certain amount
of moxie for Vaughn to stick another reference to it in the sequel.
Who says chivalry is dead?
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