Kingsman – The Golden Circle

2015’s sleeper hit Kingsman: The Secret Service introduced the cinema-goers to the weird and wonderful world of Mark Millar’s acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. Not only was The Secret Service a welcome relief from the increasingly dour post-Bourne spy genre, but a genuinely funny and charming film in its own right. Director Matthew Vaughn cleverly managed to bring down to earth Millar’s larger-than-life characters, welcoming Taron Egerton as a rising star for his performance as Eggsy, the lovable chav-turned-secret agent, as well as casting Colin Firth against type as Eggsy’s bad-ass mentor, Harry. Two years later, with Vaughn back in the director’s chair and Egerton and Firth both returning, the Kingsmen are back in The Golden Circle — a sequel that doubles-down on the vibrant action set pieces of the first instalment, but lacks any of the charm and subtlety of its predecessor.

After the Kingsman headquarters are destroyed in a series of coordinated attacks perpetrated by drug kingpin Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the remaining operatives require the help of their American counterparts, the Statesmen. Lead by Champ (Jeff Bridges), the Statesmen consist of Tequila (Channing Tatum), Ginger (Halle Berry) and the electric-lasso wielding Whiskey (Pedro Pascal). While this decidedly American take on espionage is entertaining to watch, it is indicative of The Golden Circle’s larger problem: its scale. As is often the case with the sequels to a successful first franchise entry, Vaughn has been given a bigger budget and more creative freedom than before. Rather than focus on what made The Secret Service so triumphant in the first place, Vaughn decides to add more of everything; more characters, more locations, more action. But more isn’t always better.

Rather than streamline the story, Vaughn and his writing partner Jane Goldman decide to let the film run for nearly two-and-a-half hours, and unfortunately, it feels overlong. Entire subplots, particularly one involving a finger-sized condom and Glastonbury music festival, feel unnecessary within the larger context of the film. With so many characters darting back-and-forth between multiple countries and locations, across a 141-minute runtime, The Golden Circle feels far more scatterbrained than it’s predecessor. In an attempt to give every new character as much depth and charisma as those introduced in the Kingsmen’s first outing, Vaughn loses track of the quieter character moments that made his original film so special.

It is the performances of the first film’s central characters, namely Egerton, Firth and Mark Strong as the witty operative Merlin, as well as newcomer Pedro Pascal that redeem The Golden Circle. The returning actors’ chemistry is just as strong as the first time around, with Firth living-up to his Oscar-winning credentials, giving a nuanced performance as the now-amnesiac Harry Hart. Pascal is also excellent as the enigmatic, whip-slinging cowboy Whiskey, who accompanies the Kingsmen as they attempt to stop Julianne Moore’s Poppy Adams from infecting the population with a deadly virus. Truthfully, it is only Moore herself who feels out-of-place in The Golden Circle — whereas the rest of the cast feel like real people in a larger-than-life world, Moore’s bombastic performance and unrealistic writing feels forced and cartoonish.

In addition to introducing new characters into the existing Kingsman universe, setting-up a third instalment in the franchise and trying to be an entertaining film in it’s own right, Kingsman – The Golden Circle also attempts to comment on the ongoing war on drugs, particularly the American government’s attitude to addiction. Tonally, the inclusion of this more serious subject matter feels tacked-on and disparate from the light-hearted, fast-paced action set up in both The Secret Service and the first half of The Golden Circle, and the message itself is delivered ham-fisted at best.

While Kingsman – The Golden Circle has moments of excellence, they are buried within a convoluted and somewhat contrived plot that fails to balance action, romance and a deeper message. Fortunately, the cast and most of the performances make the film an entertaining, if somewhat mindless, late summer blockbuster. No doubt, the star-power of The Golden Circle along with the goodwill from the first instalment mean a third film is inevitable; hopefully the team behind it realise what made its predecessor so great and manage to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time.

5/10