The sequel to the successful British spy film Kingsman, Kingsman: The Golden Circle has been in theaters for a few weeks now and while reaction to it has been mixed, one thing it did damn well was the death scene of Mark Strong’s head trainer and tech support wiz, Merlin. For an admittedly primarily action focused, often goofy movie with lots of plot holes, Merlin’s death was far and away the standout moment of the film and something that filmmakers can look to for how to properly set up an epic film death.
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The bagpipes filled remix of John Denver’s classic “Take me Home (Country Roads) was used in the opening of the film along with Merlin singing the song prior to he and Eggsy going to America. Both great uses of foreshadowing as they were combined in the penultimate death sequence.
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The character’s conversation with Berry’s character Ginger Ale about going out into the field added a sense of pride in the audience for Merlin as he was able to wear a suit and arm up with his Kingsman comrades as a peer. This made his demise all the more tragic and brave in the context of the story.
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His taking down multiple guards with him added a more direct and material positive impact to his death beyond that of just motivating Harry and Eggsy.
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Lastly, throughout the previous film and up to his death in the sequel, he was portrayed as the “steadfast supporting character with lots of plot armor” of the franchise who wouldn’t normally be killed off. If anything, the audience would have expected Harry to die.
I think despite its flaws, Vaughn did a phenomenal job of creating characters the audience cared about in the two Kingsman films and that is no better exemplified than Strong’s epic death as Merlin.
Submitted September 29, 2017 at 06:35PM by BillBeyondTheWall http://ift.tt/2xJjRdg
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