Matthew Vaughn’s latest film, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle", just hit theaters. It’s a follow-up to his first film in the franchise which came out back in 2014, "Kingsman: The Secret Service". For those of us who saw the original, this sequel has been a long time coming. However, I want to start this all off by saying that I recommend this film to pretty much anyone and everyone regardless of whether or not they saw the first film. Even though "The Golden Circle"is a sequel, you’ll be caught up to speed on everything that you need to know and not having seen the first movie won’t keep you from enjoying and understanding the plot of the film.

We learned from the trailers that the basis of this film is about the English intelligence agency, Kingsman, teaming up with their American counterparts, the Statesmen. It’s the two groups coming together in a very “gentleman goes wild west” kind of way. The two groups, although their agents are different in many ways, are teaming up against a common enemy who goes by the name of Poppy. Poppy, played amazingly by Julianne Moore, is the villain that you almost don’t want to hate. By the end of the film you’re applauding her ingenuity and insanity even though you know she’s the bad guy, and who doesn’t love a villain like that?

The big reveal, once the official trailers for "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" came out, was that Harry Hart, played by the ever-lovely Colin Firth, was going to be back in action. The end of "The Secret Service" left many of us fans heartbroken but Matthew Vaughn did not disappoint. Harry Hart is back with an eyepatch and plenty of emotional baggage to keep the crowds entertained and emotionally invested. And, to keep the cosmic balance, if a good guy is coming back then a bad guy had to too, right? And we got a quick glimpse of Charlie Hesketh’s return in trailer-clips of him trying to hurt our heartthrob of a hero, Eggsy Unwin.

If the trailers aren’t enough to rope you into the movie, allow me to break down (in a very spoiler-free fashion, of course) a few more things to consider when you’re walking up to the box office and trying to decide if "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" is really worth your ticket money.

Now, as I said, you can go and watch and enjoy this film without having watched the original "Kingsman" movie. One of the main differences is that "The Golden Circle", unlike its prequel, has much more action infused with the plot. "The Secret Service" certainly wasn’t lacking in the action department in any way, but this second film brought it up to an entirely different level. Because this entire movie was centered around saving the world, because there wasn’t as much of an exposition period as the first film, Vaughn got to devote a lot more time to incorporating action in wherever he could. The fight scenes were exhausting simply to watch, so I can’t imagine how tired all the actors and stunt-doubles must have been when they were filming this. But we get to see some good old hand-to-hand combat, some sharpshooting, and this movie makes you realize that just because you’ve never used a lasso as a weapon in a fight, doesn’t mean that it can’t be used as one.

No film can survive on just action, though. There always has to be more to the story to make a film successful, and "The Golden Circle" delivers on that front as well. The characters that people grew to love in the first film are the characters that you will continue to fall in love with in this sequel as well. Plus, with the addition of the Statesmen, we get a whole new host of agents to fall in love with. Who doesn’t want to see Halle Berry as a tech goddess or Channing Tatum as a cowboy?? Vaughn managed to strike just the right balance of emotional turmoil and comic relief to make this plot and these characters mesh together perfectly. The character dynamics in this film are so rich and believable, it’ll have you rooting for them every step of the way.

Just like any film, especially an action film, there has to be a good soundtrack. The film score and soundtrack for both "The Secret Service" and "The Golden Circle" delivered in the absolute best of ways. The sequel gives us music that we all know and love, and a soundtrack that builds in intensity along with the plot and it makes you feel like you’re the one about to help save the world. Along with a studio soundtrack, we also get some in-film performances this time around. A long time ago, the one and only Elton John announced that he was going to be joining the cast of "The Golden Circle", but after that, he went dark and we never saw him in the trailers or heard anything more about it. But trust me, he’s there and you can’t miss him. He’s not the only one who serenades the audience, though. I’ll let that one stay a surprise, though.

Finally, and believe me there is a long list of things that I could list that are great about this movie but I can only expect you to read so much, this sequel does what every good follow-up film should: it gives due credit to its prequel. Like I’ve said more than once, it isn’t mandatory that you see "The Secret Service" in order to enjoy "The Golden Circle". However, if you were fortunate enough to watch the first films, there are some parallels and references to conversations and events in the original that I know certainly made me happy and I think it will make you happy as well.

There is so much more I could say about this film and this franchise, but I don’t want to give it all away. The actors tell the story better than I ever could and I hope that you feel inclined to give this film a chance next time you find yourself at the mall, or bored and wanting to find a way to kill a couple hour’s worth of time. The two hours it will take to watch "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" will be time that is so well spent. It’s a spectacular film with a spectacular cast and I believe that it’s a sequel that was worth the three-year wait.