Saturday, September 23, 2017

Review: Kingsman: The Golden Circle

            
            Kingman: The Golden Circle plays out the third entry of an unplanned trilogy. The first problem you’ll notice is that this is only the second entry in the Matthew Vaughn-directed feature based on the Mark Millar comic series. You get the sense from the opening 20 minutes that Eggsy had done a series of competent adventures but nothing worth writing home to his mother about. That in & of itself is not a criticism of the movie but a reality I needed to grasp in order to enjoy the two hours to follow.
            But that arose a general problem I have with this installment compared to its predecessor: I was totally confused about some of the choices for the characters. Remember the Swedish princess from the end of the 2015 installment? She’s here as Eggsy’s serious girlfriend. Remember Roxy, the young lady who actually won the right to be in the Kingsmen? Well…(spoiler but not spoiler)…she dies in the attack that is supposed to end the Kingsmen about 20 minutes in. Remember their rich, douchey classmate who ratted out the Kingsmen during training? He’s back as one the henchmen who attacks Eggsy as the movie opens.
            As far as new characters go, they are way more plentiful in quantity than they are in quality. The villain this time around is Julianne Moore as The Golden Circle drug kingpin Poppy Adams whose defining characteristic is her love of the 1950s. She lacks any of the cheese that oozed out of the villain in the previous adventure. Moore shows signs that she can be this diabolical character in her first scene but the rest of her scenes don’t back that up. We also meet the American version of the Kingsmen, the Statesmen, represented here by alcoholic names like Champagne (“Champ” as he prefers) & Whiskey. Jeff Bridges’ Champ & Channing Tatum’s Whiskey exist solely to let the audience know where the producers want to go in the next adventure. I wouldn’t be shocked if Bridges were on set for two days because that’s how easy his part is. Champ has about three scenes & they’re all on the same set. The presence of Tatum is by far the most disappoint aspect of The Golden Circle. He is in probably in six scenes, two of which he’s frozen & a third he’s in the background dancing for about five seconds.
            Vaughn’s frenetic style is still there but there is missing something. The screenplay by Vaughn & frequent co-contributor Jane Goldman is so jammed with new ideas that the sense of fun is lost. There are action scenes that try to replicate the joy last time but only the injection of a certain superstar entertainer can get it close to that level. The final showdown between our protagonists & the unsuccessfully established second villain tries to be the church scene from the last movie but the insanity is only turned up to 6 instead of the 11 it needed to be. The mission goes all over the world from a dull shootout in the Italian Alps to some uncomfortable moments in Glastonbury. Those who accuse this series as misogynist won’t get an argument from me after the tent scene about 35 minutes in. There are so many little moments here that don’t work. In particular, there is an emotional death scene at the beginning of the third act that goes on too long with a song whose inclusion makes no sense.
            As far as the actors go, Taron Egerton is still just fine as Eggsy. His thick cockney accent still gets on my nerves. However, Mark Strong is still solid as Merlin. The worst kept secret in Hollywood, Colin Firth returns as Harry/Galahad & is his usual great self. Halle Berry is the only member of the Statemen that works as her Merlin-equivalent Ginger Ale has a full arc.
            Kingsman: The Golden Circle can be summed up by the set direction of the villain’s hideout. Vaughn & company went all out on the 1950s period detail. It looked exactly like the utopias you’ve seen on the best nostalgic pictures. But once the doors of the diner or the bowling alley or the salon were opened, you found the emptiness of the story. To the left, there were the boring villains from the not-over-the-top-enough Julianne Moore to the didn’t-want-to-see-again failed Kingsman Charlie. To the right, you had the disappointing new additions the Statesmen included an under-utilized Jeff Bridges & a criminally sidelined Channing Tatum. And right in front of you, you get too many uncomfortable moments many complained about & not enough of the grizzly, fun action beats the first time around. A sad way to start the fall.

**

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