Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) - Written Review
A year after saving the world from Richmond Valentine, Eggsy is now a fully-trained Kingsman agent - working under the code-name Galahad - working through life as both a super-spy and also the boyfriend to a Swedish Princess. However, when a face from the past shows up on Kingsman's doorstop, Eggsy begins to uncover a sinister conspiracy revolving around the Golden Circle - but not before Kingsman itself is attacked. Together with Merlin, Eggsy seeks help from the American branch the Statesmen as they try to stop a sinister plot that could threaten millions of people around the world...
I suppose I should be clear before I go much further: I don't want to spoil The Golden Circle for those who haven't seen it, but in order to discuss it, I will need to discuss some minor spoilers - nothing too major, and everything is covered in the trailers and marketing for the film. However, for those who want to go in completely blind, you might be better off skipping to the last paragraph.
Starting off with the positives, I will say that The Golden Circle is a really fun, roller-coaster of a movie balancing moments of heart and drama with some questionably tasteless comedy. Most of the cast are clearly having a riot here, and it's one of the most fun movies we've had all year. The cinematography and production values are stellar, the score is brilliant and the action sequences are pretty spectacular. There's some terrific original ideas in here, and the film definitely rewards fans of the first film with some nice call-backs and continuity that most film sequels don't always provide - either through recasting or even dropping supporting characters for seemingly no reason. It's also worth mentioning that Taron Egerton is an absolute revelation as Eggsy, and his interactions with Mark Strong's Merlin.
However, Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn't without its problems. Firstly, Harry Hart (Colin Firth) is brought back from the dead. There isn't some ploy here, there isn't some big twist, they just bring him back - as seen in the trailers. While the film tries to play with him having amnesia, sadly one can't help but feel that he shouldn't have been brought back. Firth clearly isn't having as much fun as he had with the first here, and never really serves much purpose in the film overall.
The Statesman, despite being a fun inclusion, are hindered by a lack of actual development. Agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) is seemingly our main Statesman, but lacks much actual character or any kind of development. There's clearly ideas in there, and Pascal is a fantastic presence in his standout action set-pieces, but the character feels constantly pushed to the sidelines, much like Halle Berry's Ginger. The Statesman agents just don't really add much to the film, and one wonders if they're simply here to cater to the American market - an audience the film otherwise just slaughters, whether it be through the depiction of the President, or the stab at American business culture through arch-villain Poppy (much like Valentine in the first film).
That being said, Poppy's a really fun villain. It just seems as if her plan and her character don't really fit together. Maybe that's intentional, but the whole film feels like a patch-work of various different ideas and action sequences Matthew Vaughn had in mind. There aren't any real iconic sequences in the film, and although the third act is pretty awesome, most of the fights just aren't too exciting. Most seem to be deliberate call-backs to the first, or just a little too similar in terms of style. That being said, the ski lift, taxi and third act sequences are pretty fantastic.
Overall, Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn't Kingsman: The Secret Service. It's a hell of a lot of fun, but the film has very little staying power. There are a few too many call-backs and references to really make it stand on its own, the plot is a mish-mash of too many ideas, and the end result just feels a little lacking in the focus and the strong narrative of the first. A step down, perhaps, but a strong film nonetheless.
Comments
Post a Comment