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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