Loosely based on a comic book property, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was something of a surprise hit of Summer 2015. With its dark humor, bold visuals, ridiculous plot and stylish action sequences, the film was praised by critics and audiences alike for its revival of the lighter side of the spy thriller genre. However, a tedious second act and a poorly-structured climax did not leave it without its flaws.
In culinary terms, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was like a delicious Sunday roast with too many potatoes and slightly undercooked beef. However, its sequel — “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” — is more like a 12-course meal consisting of nothing but appetizers.
Anyone unfamiliar with the first “Kingsman” should be forewarned — the sequel’s plot follows on from the first’s with almost no exposition to brief any newcomers. Or rather, the sequel’s multiple plots do so, because its problem lies in plurality — “The Golden Circle” can’t decide what it’s actually about. Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) is a secret agent of an independent British intelligence agency called the Kingsmen, and he sets off on a quest to … Save the world? Save the girl? Save his friends? Avenge the fallen? Redeem himself? Redeem his friends? The film has no emotional core and can’t choose between themes of “Business as usual” or “This time it’s personal,” leaving most of its dramatic moments lacking in any kind of depth.
Roughly speaking, Eggsy must join forces with the Statesmen — the American equivalent of the Kingsmen — to oppose the psychotic drug lord Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore). Even if identifying any other characters or plot points as relevant to the “main” conflict was possible, describing them here would inevitably feel like a spoiler. The movie takes entirely too long to establish its many, many characters and subplots, all of which end up underdeveloped and none of which fit together. It’s a shame because most of these characters are fun and well-acted — Moore’s performance in particular points to a glaringly underutilized villain and a fascinatingly demented twist on mid-20th century American feminist iconography.
None of the first “Kingsman’s” strengths actually work in the sequel’s favor. Some of the jokes initially land but get weaker and more annoying as the film goes on, and they are not helped by the constantly wavering tone. The first film’s visuals found a balance between homage to the classic Bond films and sleek modernism brushing the edge of sci-fi. However, “The Golden Circle” takes that combo and doubles down on the sci-fi while adding in cowboys, American suburbia and a dash of zombie apocalypse along the way. The result can be glorious in isolated moments but doesn’t mix well overall. The competing plots can’t agree on what should or should not be intentionally ridiculous, amounting to a frustrating mess of plot holes.
And finally, the action scenes. All the action scenes in “The Secret Service” were heavily stylized but not necessarily superb, and the film may have been coasting somewhat off of favorable comparisons to the lamer action thrillers preceding it — who even remembers “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”? On the other hand, 2017 has more bombastic fare like “Atomic Blonde” and “John Wick: Chapter 2” to stand for comparison.
Many of the action scenes in both “Kingsman” movies tend to have either boring setups with exciting execution or exciting setups with rather boring execution, with stylism to bridge the gap between. That worked in the first movie, but not so in “The Golden Circle,” which ultimately doesn’t seem interested in building up to its action scenes at all. What action scenes do exist are mostly contrived, basic and surprisingly meaningless.
Overall, though, “Kingsman: the Golden Circle” isn’t all that difficult or painful to watch. As aforementioned, the performances are impressive and there are occasional funny jokes and entertaining action scenes. The film is weighed down by extraneous parts that really should have been left on the cutting room floor, but it doesn’t assault the audience with stupidity or condescension. Anyone looking to kill some time or just remind themselves of “Kingsman: The Secret Service” may find the sequel serviceable. Twelve appetizers can certainly be filling — they just aren’t substitutes for an actual meal.
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