History Film / KingsmanTheGoldenCircle

** Poppy has some amazing tech of her own, and yet she also uses a mundane UsefulNotes/{{Apple|Macintosh}} laptop.

* {{Irony}}: Ginger Ale has repeatedly tries to become a field agent, but Whiskey keeps voting her down. [[spoiler:After he betrays Statesman and is killed, she is promoted to take his place and code name.]]

''Kingsman: The Golden Circle'' is a 2017 spy action film, directed by Creator/MatthewVaughn and written by Vaughn & Jane Goldman. It is the second film in the ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'' series, and a sequel to 2015's ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService''.

* BoomHeadshot: Thanks to the Statesman's far more advanced technology, they have found a way to cure this. A person getting shot in the head can still be treated using the Alpha Gel, before bringing the body back to the base and applying nanomachines to fix the brain. It's still treated as a serious issue, as the process has a side effect which causes the patient to have amnesia, and the only way to fix it is to recreate a ''very'' traumatic experience to trigger the memories to come back.

* {{Irony}}: Ginger has tried to become a field agent, but failed every time because Whiskey voted against it. [[spoiler:She ends up taking ''his'' codename after he betrayed the Statesman.]]

* WhipItGood: Whiskey wields a whip that can retract into its handle.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: When Charlie picks up a bowling ball to throw at Eggsy with his cybernetic arm, he starts spinning his fist including the ball at the wrist at high speed for no apparent reason.

See also: "[[https://youtu.be/sFZkoNJ3DxE That Time Archer Met Kingsman]]", an animated {{crossover}} shown at San Diego Comic Con 2017 with Eggsy meeting [[WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} Sterling Archer]].

* AmericansAreCowboys: In contrast to the Kingsmen and their [[BadassInANiceSuit Lounge, Dinner and Siren Suits]], Statesmen wear cowboy hats, use spy gadgets disguised as whiskey flasks, and even have extendable bullwhips as melee weapons. Whiskey wields revolvers and Tequila looks exactly like a modern cowboy[[note]]It's mentioned he was at one point part of the rodeo crowd, so he sticks to the aesthetic more than anyone else[[/note]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: The Statesmen's super tracker, able to provide GPS tracking, along with audio. The problem is that it has to be implanted on a mucous membrane (e.g. the inside of the mouth, nose, or an intimate portion of the human anatomy) to be absorbed into the bloodstream, which is not something that can be done in a casual brush-pass.

** The land mines around Poppy's base [[spoiler: end up killing Merlin]].
** [[spoiler: The molten gold at Poppy's base is used to destroy the second robot dog.]]
** [[spoiler: Subverted with the hole Charlie made in the bowling alley, as Harry is stopped before he can get through it.]]
** [[spoiler: The program preventing the robot dogs from hurting Elton John is used to stop one long enough for Harry and John to kill it.]]

* CombatStilettos: Of all people, [[spoiler: Sir Elton John - AsHimself, no less -]] pulls off a very impressive Get-the-hell-out-of-Dodge fight in a flamingo-esque costume complete with very Glam-Rock puppy heels that are at least two inches high. [[spoiler:The finishing move is particularly painful to watch-- a gravity-defying flying kick to the face of one of the guards. But it's hilarious since it's Elton John.]] All to the sounds of a live version of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU0HTgV9aQc Saturday]]'', after confusing his guards by varying the text with ''Wednesday, Wednesday…'' [[spoiler:because it is Wednesday and he's realising that the sounds of a firefight outside might mean he'll be rescued]].

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Merlin]], who takes Eggsy's place on a landmine, then lures in some of Poppy's goons and blows them up with said mine to give Eggsy and Harry an opening to get inside Poppy's base. All while singing "[[Music/JohnDenver Take Me Home, Country Roads]]", to boot.

* FocusGroupEnding: Blame test audiences for [[spoiler:Merlin's death: he was supposed to live, but they didn't like it because it cheapened his HeroicSacrifice.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:

* {{Leitmotif}}: The tune of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Road" is used many times in the film after Merlin reveals that it is his favourite song. [[spoiler: It is first played over the opening logos with bagpipes [[note]]A ''Scottish'' instrument commonly associated with funerals[[/note]] to foreshadow Merlin's death, where he sings the song out loud with a VictoriousChorus backing him up]].

-->'''The President:''' [[spoiler: We ''appear'' to give in to her demands, and then we let the junkie scum die.\\

* RecycledSoundtrack: The electric guitar piece from "Rage and Serenity", a track created by Henry Jackman for Matthew Vaughn's ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', is used when Harry [[spoiler:regains his memories of Eggsy and Kingsman]].

** The film itself incorporates the tune of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Road" as a {{Leitmotif}} for [[spoiler: Merlin]].

** [[spoiler: Harry received a MoeGreenSpecial in the previous film, but was rescued by Statesmen, and now has an EyePatchOfPower. He now has no depth perception, no vision on his left side and is rusty from lack of training due to recovering from his wounds. When he tries a CallBack to the "Manners maketh man" thing in an American bar, the thrown glass ''completely misses the guy's head'' and he is easily overpowered by his gang. Merlin tells him that it will take him a while to get his coordination back.]]
** [[spoiler: After defeating Poppy, Eggsy and Harry inject her with contaminated heroin to force her to give up the password to release the antidote, like a TruthSerum. Because she's not a heroin user, it makes her too loopy to talk, then she dies of an overdose.]]

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Merlin, upon stepping on the landmine, lures the henchmen over to him with a badass rendition of "Country Road Take Me Home" and sets it off when they're near, blowing them up along with him.]]

* ToAbsentFriends: [[spoiler: Eggsy and Merlin toasting to those killed by Poppy's missiles, until intoxication ensues and Merlin starts [[InelegantBlubbering Inelegantly Blubbering]]]].

* PyrrhicVillainy: Although Poppy dies before she can find out this has happened, [[spoiler:her master plan to have the millions of legal and illegal drug users (or people tangentially affected by drugs, such as babies from women that used while pregnant) hostage hits a ''massive'' snag when the POTUS decides it's best to let them all die. Had it not been for the Kingsmen obtaining the antidote, all Poppy would have obtained is going down in history as the architect of a world-wide genocide and she would have also completely annihilated her financial base.]]

* NiceHat:
** Part of the Statesmen's uniform: they all have to wear tailored cowboy hats, by Texas Hatters no less.
** [[spoiler:At the end, Tequila, who has moved to London to work with Kingsman]], wears a bowler with his Kingsman suit.

* AutobotsRockOut: Invoked by Elton John by playing, "Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting" on a Wednesday.

* BigBadEnsemble: [[BadBoss Poppy]] [[SmugSnake Adams]], a drug lord with the demeanor of a 1950's housewife, and one of the leaders of the Golden Circle drug cartel who spikes her drug supplies with poison, and plans to distribute the cure in exchange for legalizing drugs. We also have the [[spoiler:[[{{PresidentEvil}} US President]]]] pretending to give in to Poppy's demands, only to allow all drug users to die, and [[spoiler:in the [[FinalBattle finale]], [[RogueAgent Whiskey]]]] who intends to prevent the cure from being distributed, agreeing with the [[spoiler:President's]] motive despite not actually working with him.

* AdultFear: That because of one bad decision or one small indiscretion, your friends and/or loved ones may possibly die, and the one person that can prevent that doesn't seem to [[spoiler:(and is proven to ''not'')]] care.
** Especially prominent with [[spoiler:Tilde, who only smoked pot to [[DrowningMySorrows drown her sorrows]] over her troubles with Eggsy. Her parents were facing the fact that their only child would die]].
** Also, [[spoiler:Jamal, who breaks down crying when he thinks Liam's going to die. And this is ''on top'' of already losing Brandon (in an attack that he may or may not know was meant for Eggsy)]].
** And also, [[spoiler:some of those victims ''didn't'' make it. At least one person caged near Fox bled out, and it's likely there were more]].

** [[spoiler: Subverted with the hole Charlie made in the bowling ally as Harry is stopped before he can get through it.]]

* CombatStilettos: [[spoiler: Sir Elton John, as himself no less]] of all people pulls off a very impressive Get-the-hell-out-of-dodge fight in a flamingo-esque costume complete with very Glam-Rock puppy heels that are at least two inches high. [[spoiler:The finishing move is particularly painful to watch – a gravity-defying flying kick to the face of one of the guards. But it's hilarious since it's Elton John.]] All to the sounds of a live version of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU0HTgV9aQc Saturday]]'', after confusing his guards by varying the text with ''Wednesday, Wednesday…'' [[spoiler:because it is Wednesday and he's realising that the sounds of a firefight outside might mean he'll be rescued]].

->''"My name is Poppy Adams, CEO of the Golden Circle. We engage in an aggressive business strategy, invest in the latest technology and take strict, disciplinary action. I'm speaking to you today because our world leaders have let us all down, so we are coming out of the shadows and taking over. And to make sure no one gets in our way... Kingsman is crumpets!"''

** At least one of [[spoiler:Poppy's cruise missiles]] hit a building in the middle of London (Saville Row, even), yet we never hear anything about civilian casualties. Might be justified by downtown London
being almost empty at night.

* DisproportionateRetribution: While Poppy-being a cold-blooded drug dealer and murderer-gets off easier for threatening and killing so many by [[spoiler:dying of an accidental overdose during interrogation, Whiskey-who has a hell of a good FreudianExcuse for wanting all drug users in the world to be gone-suffers far worse when Harry and Eggsy hurl him all the way through the meat grinder during a fight]].

* AndThisIsFor: [[spoiler:Before killing Charlie, Eggsy says that it's for Roxy, Merlin, the other Kingsman agents, JB, and his friend Brandon (who was killed with JB when Poppy's missile strike destroyed Eggsy's house).]]
** Doubles as a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.

*** This trope could also be used to justify why Statemen agents beat Kingsmen whenever the two fight; when the two sides make contact, Statesmen are all at their peak while Harry is recovering after a year of relative inactivity, Eggsy is the agency's newest known field operative and Merlin likely doesn't operate in the field much.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Charlie's girlfriend reams him out for having told her not to do drugs, but not explaining ''why''. Since she didn't have a clear idea of the risk, she gave into temptation and now [[spoiler:has the blue vein disease]].

* RealityEnsues:
** [[spoiler: Harry received a MoeGreenSpecial in the previous film, but was rescued by Statesmen, and now has an EyePatchOfPower. He now has no depth perception, no vision on his left side and is rusty from lack of training due to recovering from his wounds. When he tries a CallBack to the "Manners maketh man" thing in an American bar, the thrown glass ''completely misses the guy's head'' and he is easily overpowered by his gang. Merlin tells him that it will take him a while to get his coordination back.]]
** [[spoiler: After defeating Poppy, Eggsy and Harry inject her with contaminated heroin to force her to give up the password to release the antidote, like a TruthSerum. Because she's not a heroin user, it makes her too loopy to talk, then she dies of an overdose.]]

** High-speed car chase in the middle of a major city, involving the use of missiles and multiple gatling guns? The police ''will'' show up to investigate, and if you don't want to have to answer some very awkward questions, you'd better not be there when they do.
** [[spoiler: After surviving a bullet to the head, losing his left eye (and his depth perception along with it), spending some time without training and having amnesia (which leads him to sometimes having episodes where he sees butterflies which distracts him on the field), it isn't very surprising that Harry unfortunately cannot fight as well as he could in the first film -- for example, when he tries the old "[[CallBack Manners maketh man]]" thing in an American bar, the thrown glass ''completely misses the guy's head'' and he is easily overpowered by his gang. Merlin does say to him that it will take him a while to get his coordination back.]]