The first Kingsman, which was also directed by X-Men: First Class filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, was not only funny and over-the-top, but action-packed and had a genuine sense of thrill the current James Bond set of films has been missing as they've taken a darker and more serious tone in a similar style to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. The first Kingsman worked so well in terms of satisfying audiences, because it was self-aware of the type of film it wanted to be and never tried to be anything more than what it was. The first film was over-the top in regards to it's action, it's story, and it's level of comedy, but at the heart of all that, it possessed a creative spark that meshed it all together so beautifully while showing audiences that Spy films can very much be fun again. Kingsman was stylish, subversive, but above all else, it was fun most importantly. Three years after the release of the first Kingsman, Matthew Vaughn attempts to outdo the first Kingsman by giving audiences more of what they loved about the first film, even going to the extreme with the stylish and fun aspect of the story. There's no question that The Golden Circle feels like a true continuation of the first movie as it maintains the consistency of that films story, its that the sequel insists on throwing so much absurdity at the audience in hopes that they will be impressed enough to say that more means better when it actually says it's less effective this time. The fun aspect of the story is there along with the actors all delivering solid performances which also shows they're having much fun with the films concept. The problem with The Golden Circle is not that it doesn't have the talent behind it to make it an awesome sequel. its that it doesn't feel as fresh nor have the creative spark of the first film.
The plot for Kingsman: The Golden Circle centers around the Kingsman headquarters being destroyed with the world becoming hostage. The group soon uncovers an allied spy organization in the U.S with the two elite secret organizations must join together to fight a common enemy. On paper, the sequel to Kingsman sounds much more epic than the first movie and involved plot wise, but somehow the overall execution comes up short of he first film's quality. Perhaps the lack of freshness can be attributed to the sequel being less strong despite the performances from the main cast being among the film's strong points. Taron Egerton does a fine job continuing the role of Eggsy from where audiences left him in the forest movie. In this one he feels very much like he molded into the Spy Colin Forth tailored him to be in the previous film. For anyone who watched the trailers going into this movie, its no secretive plot twist that Firths character is alive in the sequel after surviving the church scene from the first movie, but the film loses its biggest surprise twist in a questionable and ultimately poor marketing strategy. Mark Strong delivers a strong performance reprising the same role from the first film along with Hanna Alstrom as Princess Tilde, Sophie Cookson as Roxy, and Julianne Moore as the film's main antagonist Poppy. Although his character isn't present in the sequel due to his characters fate in the first one, audiences do feel Samuel L. Jackson's absence in this movie despite Moore proving to be a worthy successor at being the main antagonist of the story. The film's newer additions to the cast such as Halle Berry Ginger, Channing Tatum as Tequilla, Jeff Bridges as Champ, and Elton John as Elton John all prove to be fun additions to an already effective and appealing cast.
It's not a question that the films cast had something to do with the movies shortcomings as they all did great, it's the film itself that is somewhat of a mess as it runs longer than it needs to be at 142 minutes of running time. On top of the film's overlong length, the film feels like it overdoses in terms of being sillier than the first movie, particularly with character names such as Tequilla and Ginger, and a ridiculous bar fight that starts off awkward and cringe inducing yet ends on an satisfactory note. The film itself never ceases to be amusing, but it delivers more nonsense than what is required of it, and Matthew Vaughn's directorial touch isn't as sharp and impressive, making the audience wonder if he had his heart in this film like he did with the first movie. The Golden Circle combines all the ingredients that made the first movie surprise hit with audiences such as the comedy, the action, the slick style that comes with the story, and the James Bond type plot in hopes of putting it's on spin on the Spy genre much like the first film did, but instead feels like a mush up of the first that lacks the spark that made it special as well as being a great deal of fun to watch. The problems with The Golden Circle is how much it feels as if the producers desperately wanted to Americanize the franchise instead of letting it be its own thing. One of the best things about the first Kingsman is how confident it was in telling it's story with the style it presented itself as being. Vaughn took what was basically a generic Spy genre and added a high dose of energy to it with pure laughter and a slick apprentice type story with a young lead character the audience can get behind as he molds into being a professional Spy. With the first Kingsman, Vaughn gave the audience characters they grew to care about and love with the sequel maintaining that development despite the story being messy. The audience cared about Eggsy being mentored by Firth's character Harry Hat, and felt Eggsy's pain when he thought his mentor was killed in the first film. Their relationship played out almost like a Spy version of Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. One of Vaughn's greatest strengths as a filmmaker, is being able to juggle and flesh out his ensemble cast of actors/actresses, giving each of them their moments to shine. The ensemble cast isn't the problem with the film, its the overlong running time and messy scriptwriting that holds it back from being as good as it could've been.
As far as sequels made in 2017 go, Kingsman: The Golden Circle doesn't exceed the first film both critically and financially, nor does it end up as a failure like some of the ones mentioned, it falls somewhere in the middle of being entertaining despite being a disappointing sequel to the first film. The sequel offers much of what the first film such a hit with audiences, even if it feels a bit excessive at times. As a sequel to the first Kingsman, The Golden Circle is passable and fun to watch, but the spark that made the first film such a hit is missing here. The Golden Circle is worth watching for it's high-octane action, as well as its surplus of starpower and impressive cinematography. Despite the sequel being reasonably decent, one wishes that Matthew Vaughn worked harder on the script, not went so excessive with the films over-the-top silly tone which exceeds the first movies absurdity, and that the marketing team didn't spoil the films surprise twist with Colin Firth's character being revealed to be alive in the trailers. What could've been a genuinely surprising twist became the victim of poor marketing. Overall, The Golden Circle is not the great sequel the first Kingsman could've gotten, but it's also not the disaster many critics made it out to be, it's just decent.
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