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The main Kingsman theme receives fantastic renditions throughout "Eggsy is Back" starting at the 0:40 mark, racing through several great action performances. It opens "Incoming Missiles" with lighter, jazzy renditions and extends in chords only (appropriately) in "You May Shed a Tear in Private" before consolidating into the theme. A heroic burst late in "The Lepidopterist" is its last major performance for a while, overlaying the Statesman theme briefly in "Statesman" and returning in the middle of "Ginger's First Test" before an annoying synthetic crescendo to close the cue. It's extended on bass flute at 0:38 into "The Gondola Experience" and is beefed up in tumultuous action at 5:23, ripping with electric guitar coolness. The main theme is accompanied by the twangy American spirit in the middle of "Flying to Poppyland," dilutes to heroic fragments early in "No Time For Emotion" for the concept of sacrifice, and overtakes the villain material at the three-minute mark in "Temple Battle." By 1:07 into "A Man Who's Honorable," its confidence is restored and formally joined by the American twang and fragments of the Stateman theme; the positive conclusion to this cue is exemplary. The album leaves listeners with a parody of the theme in "Kingsman Hoedown" that takes the bluegrass element to intentionally hideous extremes. Meanwhile, the franchise's interlude for this theme, most prominent in "To Become a Kingsman" and "Finale" from the previous score but appearing elsewhere there and in 2021's The King's Man, is more closely attached to Harry here. It returns at 1:23 into "Memories of Harry" with dramatic gusto and again at 2:01 into "You May Shed a Tear in Private." Subtle late in "Rescuing Harry," the idea recurs in "Dancing Disease" but achieves more weight at 1:17 into "Flying to Poppyland." A quick reference against the main theme at 3:05 into "Temple Battle" yields to a more outright statement of melodrama for the theme at 3:50 and at the end of the cue. It's very slight at 2:53 into "Not in Vain" and opens "A Man Who's Honorable" on strings, by this point suggesting it as something of a broader, romantic representation of "honorable men." These two Kingsman themes are only barely referenced in The King's Man, which is understandable given that film's shifting of the story to the past. The main franchise theme is largely replaced in that score by a similar but more complicated melody that references some common chord progressions before finally building up to the main Kingsman theme at its climax.

The villain of the 2014 movie didn't receive particularly well-developed material in that score, but Jackman and Margeson don't make that same mistake again in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. The Golden Circle theme is infinitely superior to the stewing Valentine music, even if it's a humorously demented version of Alan Menken's "Belle" material from Beauty and the Beast. (One can only hope these connections were purely coincidental.) The primary melody of bloated importance for the group and its leader, Poppy, is often joined by a plucky rhythm representing the bio-weapon of mass destruction she intends to use on humanity. Both are introduced during the entirety of "The Golden Circle," the Golden Circle theme expanding to full action mode in "Poppy" but never shaking that underlying rhythm. The theme explodes at 1:24 into "Incoming Missiles" in full menace mode for the attack, and the rhythm becomes more sinister over brooding fragments of the theme in "Poppy's Terms," gaining over-confidence in the last minute for a great performance. It drives action rhythms early in "Dancing Disease" and turns melodramatic and huge early in "The Gondola Experience," during which it later overtakes the main theme on bass flute and belts out on full brass at 3:25 with power. The theme returns at 3:01 into "Cabin Ambush" over driving propulsion and informs the early suspense of "Horrific News Report" before busting out in full form. The Golden Circle theme remains prevalent throughout the score's later action sequences, extending directly out of two hero themes at 2:37 into "Flying to Poppyland" while its rhythm becomes pronounced again. It repeatedly defines early force in "Temple Battle" and includes its rhythm in the third minute; by 5:15 into that cue, the rhythm becomes even more dominant. The villain theme is subdued in the middle of "Viva Las Vegan," with deep choral lament joining, and the weapon's rhythm closes out the cue over blasting bass notes. The evolution of this theme is better than one would expect from a standard "Bond villain" affair, matching some of the better identities conjured by David Arnold for that concept. The constant reminders of the weapon's rhythm are a keen and effective choice, its descending nature adding something of a ticking clock notion to the music. Perhaps most importantly, Jackman and Margeson offer this theme in direct musical conflict with those for the Kingsman and Stateman gangs by the final cues. This thematic interplay is especially effective in "Temple Battle."

The new theme for the Stateman group opens with a similar three-note structure to the main franchise theme to denote a Kingsman connection and is introduced in "Rescuing Harry" with bluegrass instruments in action form. Its formal statement follows in the optimistic fanfare of "Statesman" for various brass layers. The theme comes to the rescue late in "Tornado in a Trailer Park, " returns at 4:22 into "The Gondola Experience" (a brief respite from the villain theme), is hyperactive in the middle of "Cabin Ambush," becomes integrated with the main theme in the middle of "Flying to Poppyland," and interjects at about four minutes into "Temple Battle." It takes a solemn form at 2:10 into "Not in Vain" and closes the cue with redemptive sadness. Related at times is a twangy bluegrass spirit for the Tequila and Whiskey characters of that group, though in "Tequila" the fiddles and guitars are a bit much to tolerate. This influence extends to shades in "The Lepidopterist," opens "Whiskey's Demons" on guitar, becomes cool and aggressive on guitar in the middle of "Tornado in a Trailer Park," and formally serves as counterpoint to the Statesman theme in the middle of "Not in Vain." Finally, of course, there, is the use of the Denver "Country Roads" melody for the Merlin character who puts himself in a situation that didn't require him to outright sing the song, but he does anyway and manages to lure in and wipe out a slew of bad-guys in the process of sacrificing himself. The composers use uilleann pipes to humorously foreshadow the usage at the outset of the film in "Eggsy is Back." At 1:24 into "No Time For Emotion," actor Mark Strong's rather poor but effective performance is a source-like application that includes sound effects from the film as part of the album track; the pipes, snare, and choir join the crescendo to his destruction, with the supplemental vocals provided by members of the score's crew. Arguably the highlight of the entire score is the strikingly gorgeous symphonic performance of the Denver song's melody that opens "Not in Vain," eventually yielding back to the uilleann pipes. Hearing the pipes perform this theme is a wink and a nod to the countering contribution by the bluegrass style to the sophisticated spy music of the British, and the blend works wonderfully by the end of the score. On the whole, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is an improved overall package compared to its predecessor, containing twenty minutes or more of truly outstanding action and melodic material. The action mode is particularly finely tuned, stylish and entertaining. Together with the slightly inferior The King's Man, these follow-up scores to the concept are riotous fun deserving of appreciation in a lossless presentation.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Henry Jackman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.8 (in 25 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.79 (in 7,751 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 76:13