To be fair, Kingsman: The Golden Circle -- the sequel to 2015's cheeky spy-parody Kingsman: The Secret Service -- manages to deliver on almost everything that made its original a surprise hit. The exaggerated sense of style, zany spy-gadgets and over-the-top fight choreography make their way from the first film, bolstered by an extended all-star cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal.
And yet, this is merely checking boxes to please its fans, as it hurriedly rushes us from one thrilling set-piece to the other. In the process, many of the new characters and setting feel largely under-utilised. At more than 140 minutes, fans of the original Kingsman can probably enjoy all the action, humour and cartoonish realism, though it won't do anything to convince other people to like it.
Picking up shortly after the first film, everything is looking up for our protagonist Eggsy (Taron Egerton), who is now not only a full-fledged Kingsman, but is also enjoying domestic bliss with his girlfriend Tilde (Hanna Alström). His happiness is short-lived when the identities of all Kingsman agents are leaked, allowing super drug-lord Poppy (Julianne Moore) to kill every single agent in a rocket strike, leaving only Eggsy and Kingsman tech-support Merlin (Mark Strong) alive to avenge them. Following an old emergency protocol, the two head to Kentucky in the US, where they team up with the American Statesmen organisation to capture Poppy.
No surprise, the strongest aspect of The Golden Circle is the action. From the very first set-piece involving a car-chase through the streets of London, director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-ass, X-Men: First Class) treats audiences to sequence after sequence of fast, acrobatic action, often in what looks like a single shot. Each fight is also backed by an upbeat (and often ironic) pop song, giving every set-piece a sense of jubilant energy.
Speaking of cartoonish, the first Kingsman was known for its gleeful pokes at the general ridiculousness of the gadgets employed by Hollywood spies. The second film, meanwhile, seems to go one step ahead, almost deliberately presenting us with increasingly zany and outlandish spyware. While the Kingsman's trademark bulletproof umbrella makes a return, it is largely overshadowed by such inventions as an electrified lasso (which can sever a person in half), robot dogs with chainsaw teeth and -- most puzzlingly -- a gel-pad that can save a person from a head-wound, with the relatively mild side effect of memory loss.
But while The Golden Circle undoubtedly delivers on the more visual and thematic aspects, the film doesn't really give much emphasis on its characters or its plot. The Statesmen organisation, despite playing a central role in the film, isn't as fleshed out as it could've been. While there are certain glimpses into the organisation's supposedly vast resources and influence, much of the scenes involving the Statesmen see them confined in drab rooms or hallways, with only a handful of members shown. Only one character, Pedro Pascal's Agent Whiskey, manages to get a meaningful role in the story, but even then he's more of a plot device than an actual fleshed-out character.
The plot, meanwhile, is largely similar to the first, with a not-so-subtle attempt at social commentary that ultimately doesn't really go anywhere. Having single-handedly monopolised the global drugs trade (admittedly an impressive feat), Poppy wants nothing more than to be recognised for her achievement. To do so, she deliberately poisons her own buyers, which is pretty much hundreds of millions of drug users around the world, using them as hostages to force the US president into legalising all drugs so she can finally do her business in the open. There's a message there about the futility of the war on drugs and that drug users are actually just innocent everyday people. But the film's message becomes convoluted thanks to the unnecessary need to develop many character arcs, like Eggsy's romance with Tilde.
Watching Kingsman: The Golden Circle, you always get the distinct feeling that the director and cast are having a ball of a time making the film. In fact, they had too much fun. Depth is probably not what most people are going to the film for anyway, but it's certainly not a direction that will prove sustainable for the franchise.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Starring Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Hanna Alström, Julianne Moore
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
