Kingsman: The Golden Circle picks up not long after the original movie left off, and for newcomers to the franchise there will be a few references they won't understand. It's certainly difficult in sequels to get the balance of referring back to previous movies without repeating storylines and Kingsman 2 struggles to do this well.
That is not to say that Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn were wrong to make so many references to the original movie, Kingsman: The Secret Service. Fans of the first film will enjoy the nods it makes, but for new viewers there's a quite a few plot details that might not make sense. The Golden Circle does make it clear who antagonist Charlie (Ed Holcroft) is pretty early on and they literally explain his history as a disgruntled former Kingsman applicant.
However, new viewers will be confused as to why Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is dating a Swedish princess. Kingsman 1 ended with the British spy saving the world and getting to claim his reward from Princess Tilde (Hannah Alström) who had promised him anal sex if he saved her life. Apparently they're now a proper item but audience members who haven't seen the original film may be wondering how he's ended up dating some posh Royal.
There's also two references concerning Harry (Colin Firth), who has miraculously survived the gunshot would to the face he suffered in the first movie. The spy formerly known as Galahad pops up about a third of the way into the movie and certain scenes featuring him will confuse new viewers to the franchise. One moment refers back to the Kingsman training program, which saw the applicants attempt to escape a drowning situation.
The second concerns his late dog Mr Pickle. In the first film we learn that each Kingsman is giving a pet dog to look after and train but at the end of their training they must pass their final test of loyalty by shooting their canine. Eggsy fails to shoot his pug but learns after that the gun he was meant to kill the dog with was actually filled with blanks. This scene is alluded to in the sequel, which Kingsman fans will remember, but new viewers may be slightly confused about the whole dog thing as it's not best explained in the film.
It certainly shouldn't prevent new viewers going to see the movie though as these original Kingsman references aren't significant enough to affect the overall narrative. And parents should be reminded it's definitely not one to take your children too so they should heed the R-rating. However, it's definitely worth brushing up on your Kingsman knowledge before going into the movie theater so that you can get the best enjoyment out of your visit. You can do that by either watching Kingsman: The Secret Service or doing a quick google search for a synopsis if you haven't got enough time before your screening, but don't feel the need to wait for a post-credit scene at the end of the movie.
Read our Kingsman: The Golden Circle review here
