The original Kingsman was a breath of fresh air in the action-spy genre. James Bond has been pretty hit or miss since the essential reboot and any other fare has been played for laughs. Kingsman was different in the best of ways. It played with early era James Bond with the camp, but was still filled with enough cool to make everyone happy.
With the success of the original a sequel was inevitable. Where would the series go next after a stellar first outing; what sort of character development will we see with the mysterious return of Harry; how will the Statesman play into the spy world. Unfortunately, the writing team seemed like they were backed into a corner and felt like upping the action set pieces instead of doing much of anything else.
Much of the same main beats of the original film are back, only lacking the same impact. We get a distinct “been there, done that” feeling with much of the plot. The main characters from the original film are back, only to be used as mostly disposable fodder. The writers seem to only be able to make Eggsy grow by taking away people from him. That worked well with Harry in the first film, but here is lacks any impact.
We also get a friend turn evil and betray the Kingsman/Statesman, but this turn lacks any sense or impact. Where Arthur turned on the Kingsman in the first film to help save the world in his own twisted way by helping the villain, this time it’s simply for money. Not on that, but I’m pretty sure the person that turned didn’t even know the main villain; or at least the film never made it clear as they never appear together to communicate.
And this is where the film really falls apart –it’s villain.The first Kingsman had a silly villain in Samuel L. Jackson as a Steve Jobs type looking to save the world by killing off millions. It was campy, sure, but at the very least he had a great bodyguard that was amazingly unique, and he also, you know, did stuff. He was active in the plot and got his hands dirty. That isn’t the case here.
The titular Golden Circle is nothing but a simple drug cartel that wants all drugs to be legal so she can reenter society. Drug cartels are scary things to be sure, but the leader, Poppy (not the singer) plays this ’50s mom type that somehow managed to form the worlds largest cartel and infects her stock of drugs, with her holding the antidote.
That’s it. That’s all we get with regards to backstory or motivation. The film just tossed the audience a bone by saying she has some mental issues out of college. She does nothing and fails to push the film forward in any way. She loves robots because they don’t betray people, but we never get a reason for her immense skill in robotics. There are no scientists around that she’s captured and she isn’t ever seen working on them, or anything for that matter.
Again, there is a bodyguard because the film loves treading old ground, but at least he’s an interesting one –again. It’s a minor villain from the first Kingsman film and I felt like he should have been more involved with the plot. He’s a far better developed character and would make for the better main villain because he has a good reason to hate Eggys and the Kingsman.
And then there are the Statesman who are just sort of there. They don’t serve much more of a purpose other than to provide some cool cameos from famous actors and a few American jokes. Oh, and Channing Tatum dances a bit and then goes away. The films trailer really isn’t very good as it really twists the film into something it isn’t. But if you do really want to see Channing Tatum be sure to pay for this one so they can make another because that’s cool!
At the end of the day Kingsman: The Golden Circle is still a lot of fun with far bigger set pieces than the first, but everything else falls short. Instead of developing the Kingsman world the writers just try to one-up themselves by pumping the action and creating gadgets that even camp-era James Bond would laugh at. Look, if you think fingering a girl at a music festival to plant a tracker with your finger condom is funny, you have some real issues.
If you liked the action of the first film them you are going to love this one, but if you want to dive deeper into Eggy and the world of the Kingsman, you are probably going to be let down. Also, Merlin is fucking incredible and the movie can fuck right off with how they use him this time around.
Final Score:
2/5
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