Cardiff On Film

Cardiff is abuzz at the moment with news that a major thoroughfare in the city has been closed off to allow filming of a feature film. Mark Wahlberg's latest film Infinite has been able to close off a portion of Newport Road for a couple of days in order to film a car-chase sequence. 

Cardiff is becoming very well known as a filming location. Several big-budget TV shows (including Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sherlock, and Merlin) have utilised the city onscreen and films are starting to follow suit. 

Here are ten films that have been shot in the Welsh capital.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Opened in 1999, Cardiff's Millennium [now Principality] Stadium is one of Europe's finest sporting arenas (although I might be biased). It's hosted everything from international rugby fixtures and massive concerts, to speedway and monster trucks. Unsurprisingly, it's also in demand as a filming location. The second Kingsman film used the stadium as a holding ground for cages of those infected by Poppy's (Julianne Moore) deadly drugs.

28 Weeks Later (2007)

The Millennium Stadium also appeared in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's sequel to 28 Days Later..., doubling for Wembley Stadium.

Yesterday (2019)

Danny Boyle's musical fantasy, in which aspiring musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) wakes up one day to find he's the only person on Earth that remembers the Beatles, also used the Principality Stadium as a venue for filming, during Ed Sheeran's record-breaking four-night residency there in June 2018 (Sheeran appears as "himself" in the film)

The Contractor (2007)

The former British Gas offices at Helmont House on Churchill Way (in Cardiff's city centre) have been used on TV a few times (in both Doctor Who and Torchwood), and are used in this Wesley Snipes action thriller. Tez used to work for British Gas and says it was an incredibly surreal day to look out of the window and see Wesley Snipes standing outside work doing fight choreography!

Sword Of The Valiant: The Legend Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight (1984)

Cardiff has not one, but two castles, in the city: there's a large one in the centre of town (home to the Bute family) and there's a smaller one- Castell Coch [the Red Castle], known for its fairytale turrets- on the outskirts of the city at Tongwynlais. Both castles were used for this ripping tale of sword-and-sorcery starring Miles O'Keeffe as Sir Gawain and Sean Connery as the Green Knight. 

A Kiss Before Dying (1991)

Much like some of the other films on this list, you might not expect it to have a Welsh connection. The opening sequence to this crime drama, starring Matt Dillon as a murderous student and Sean Young as both his girlfriend and her twin sister, is set in a steel mill - and was filmed in Cardiff! 

Human Traffic (1999)

OK, so the film is actually set in Cardiff and isn't pretending to be anywhere else - but I couldn't leave it off the list. Justin Kerrigan's cult flick about five friends on a massive weekend features many of Cardiff's pubs and clubs (including the Philharmonic, Club X, Emporium, and what used to be the Firedrake and Firkin [and is now Gassy Jacks]) as their backdrops. 

Solomon & Gaenor (1999)

One of two Welsh-language films to date to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (the other being Hedd Wyn, the 1992 biopic of the eponymous Welsh poet), this romantic drama set in 1911, about a young Jewish man (Ioan Gruffudd) and a young Welsh girl (Nia Roberts) who fall in love, was shot throughout Cardiff. 

Flick (2008)

A one-armed detective is on the track of a 1950s Teddy Boy who was murdered and has been brought back from the dead in the modern day and is out for revenge. Now I've got your attention... this is (believe it or not) the basic premise of David Howard's comedy-horror Flick. And as if this wasn't surreal enough, the one-armed detective is played by Faye Dunaway. Yes, that Faye Dunaway. The film was shot throughout South Wales, including Cardiff. 

Killer Elite (2011)

Dubai, Marrakech, Melbourne... Cardiff? The globetrotting cast of Killer Elite certainly got around! They filmed in the Welsh capital in July 2010, with stars Robert De Niro and Jason Statham seen filming on Windsor Place in the city centre. Filming also took place in the Pontcanna area of the city.

Review: Kingsman: The Golden Circle (UK Cert 15)

Three years after Kingsman: The Secret Service introduced us to Eggsy, Harry and Merlin, the boys are back together for highly anticipated sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, once again directed by Matthew Vaughn. 

When an attack wipes out nearly all of the Kingsmen, the surviving members (Eggsy and Merlin) have to get help from their transatlantic cousins, the Statesmen, to find out who was behind the attack. Along the way, Eggsy is reunited with Harry Hart, thought dead after being shot by Richmond Valentine. But Harry isn't Harry. Can Eggsy get through to him and stop the dastardly schemes of a cunning drug cartel operator before her deadly merchandise wipes out a large portion of the worldwide population?

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is loud, ludicrous, bombastic, silly... and bloody brilliant. Easily one of the best films I've seen this year.

This could have easily been a lazy, by-the-numbers cash-cow retread of the original film. And whilst they do reuse some of the scenarios from the first film (there is a bar-fight, there is a car-chase), screenwriters Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn are careful to add a different twist on it so expectations are confounded. There's still a gleefully anarchic streak here, but whereas the first film mined some comedy out of the class differences between council estate boy Eggsy and the other posh toffs in Kingsmen training, here the differences between the US and the UK come in for some ribbing. Luckily, this culture-clash comedy doesn't overpower anything else that goes on. Just as in the first film, there are some interesting social comments made (here about why some drugs are illegal and others legal, and how you wage a war on drugs) but it never feels like tubthumping or soapbox standing. It blends in nicely to the overarching, over-the-top, narrative. 

The Statesmen team, all named after drinks instead of figures from mythology, are a great addition to the Kingsman world with Jeff Bridges impressing as their leader Champagne, Halle Berry adding much-needed tech support as Ginger, and Channing Tatum charming as the bruiser Tequila. However it is Game Of Thrones' Pedro Pascal as agent Whiskey who stands out; he's a dab hand with a lasso and more than willing to kick a little ass if needed.

As for the Kingsmen? Well, both Taron Egerton and Mark Strong slip back into their roles like a well-tailored suit. Eggsy hasn't gone full gentleman; he still has his friends on the estate and- even when looking as dapper as all get out- he's quick with a well-placed swear-word. You can take the boy out of the estate... it's a warm and winning performance by Egerton. And it's Strong by name and strong by nature as the tech wizard provides Eggsy and Harry with support and forms a lovely bond with his opposite number Ginger. Colin Firth is superb as Harry and I love the way the script plays with the idea that Harry might not be the full shilling. 

Julianne Moore is inspired casting for the big bad, Poppy Adams. A ruthless drug cartel operator with a penchant for 50s kitsch Americana and industrial meat mincers, she wanders round her fortress- PoppyLand- like Martha Stewart on crack, mercilessly dispatching those who displease her. You can tell Moore is having a ball vamping it up as the villain, but she never goes into caricature. There is also an extended cameo by Elton John which is absolutely hilarious. I won't say any more, but his screen-time is a particular highlight in a film full of great scenes. 

There is also an absolutely jaw-dropping, audacious sequence when Eggsy tries to plant a tracer on an unsuspecting mark which had me absolutely howling with laughter and dumbstruck that they'd been able to get it past the BBFC! You will know it when you see it.

It's a film which achieves a delicate balance between heartfelt drama, raucous comedy, and high-octane action without any one element overwhelmed by or dominating another. I would happily sit through it again at the cinema. It's rare to make a sequel that matches the heights of its original, but for me Kingsman: The Golden Circle delivers in spades. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez