Kingsman: The Golden Circle lacks charisma

This past Friday, Kingsman: The Golden Circle premiered in theaters. If you’re unfamiliar with the title, then you missed out on one of the best comic book films of the past five years. The Golden Circle is the follow up to the impressive Kingsman: The Secret Service (adapted from the comic book of the same name).

The first film draws from the graphic novel, which follows a secret society of English spies that has been stopping criminal plots for years.

The first film follows the agents who, after losing a member, are tasked with finding someone who they think would be a good Kingsman.

Harry Hart (played by an incredibly charismatic Colin Firth) recruits a hard street kid named Gary “Eggsy” Unwin and played by Taron Egerton.

We see the trials that Eggsy must go through to prove his worth (against various other recruits, including Sophie Cookson as Roxy) while Harry does battle with Samuel L. Jackson’s incredibly over-the-top but hilarious villain Richmond Valentine.

Valentine, with his sidekick Gazelle — played elegantly by Sofia Boutella (star of this summer’s The Mummy!) — plans to decrease the world’s population.

The Secret Service is a fun, hilarious addition to the comic book genre that, at times is excessive in its use of profanity and gore, but that is what makes the movie so enjoyable. The success of the film allowed Fox to greenlight production on a sequel with the same creative team as the first.

The film finds our heroes from the first film, Eggsy and Roxy, having to join forces with the American version of the Kingsman known as the Statesmen (not very creative here).

The Statesmen are led by Champagne (played by Jeff Bridges), Tequila (played by Channing Tatum) and Jack Daniels (played by Pedro Pascal, from Narcos), the three of whom are tasked with helping the members of Kingsman.

Rounding out the cast is Halle Berry as the tech savvy Ginger Ale (sensing a theme amongst the Statesmen members), Elton John as himself and Julianne Moore as Poppy Adams, who is the leader of the new crime organization called “The Golden Circle.”

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is not based on a pre-existing comic book story, since the original was told in the first film. I wasn’t sure how to feel at first about the formation of a sequel. A lot of what made the original movie work was the feel from Mark Millar’s original comic book.

Just like with Kick-Ass, what made the humor and violence work in the first Kingsman was the direction of Matthew Vaughn.

Before taking on the job for The Golden Circle, Vaughn had previously stated in interviews that he was not interested in directing any sequels to his films, so I was curious to see what director would be brought aboard. Thankfully Vaughn decided to come back for the sequel.

Vaughn is one of the most entertaining directors to follow, with his slow-mo shots and the wit you can find in his films. There’s a certain uniqueness to his vision that allows for diversity in the genre, something that is needed since most superhero films are leaning towards a dark color palette with brooding characters at all times.

That being said, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is neither the genre changer that the first film was nor is it as genuine. We are shown Eggsy and Roxy’s new life as secret agents in England and how Eggsy’s love life has a little more focus as he finds himself dating the princess of Denmark, which makes the stakes a little more personal towards the finale.

Egerton is fantastic as Eggsy, finding the balance between a rising member of society that doesn’t forget his upbringing.

The supporting cast is excellent, with the exception of Moore who plays Poppy. Her performance feels phoned-in, and her character is far more campy and veers into self-parody too often for the audience to appreciate the message that is trying to be conveyed.

The plot revolves around the use and regulation of the drug business and the hypocrisy that governments display when it comes to the issue. This idea gets lost occasionally when faced with the subplot of the Kingsman working with the Statesmen,

since there’s the inclusion of new characters who — other than Pascal’s, Jack Daniels — don’t contribute much to the plot of the film. So if you were hoping for loads of Channing Tatum, I’m sorry for the disappointment.

That being said, Pascal is fantastic in his role as the top Statesman agent whose motivations, although a little predictable, are a nice way to avoid the creation of a one-dimensional character.

Of course Colin Firth in his return as Harry Hart is spectacular, channeling charisma that makes you wish for him to have played the role of James Bond when he was younger.

His relationship with Eggsy plays a significant role in the film due to his *spoiler warning* near death experience (which mind you, the way that they explain his survival seems like a bit of a stretch, but in a movie with a suitcase gun I’ll let it pass).

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the controversial sex scene in the film. Around the midpoint of the film our hero Eggsy, accompanied by Jack, find themselves at a music festival (again, recreational drug use is a major plot point) where they need to seduce the girlfriend of one of Poppy’s minions.

I won’t get into major details, but the amount of time that we spend on this one part feels excessive and unnecessary and certainly leaves a foul taste in your mouth for the rest of the film.

Like I mentioned previously the film doesn’t take as many risks as the first one did, and although that could be attributed to my expectations for the film based on its predecessor, Golden Circle certainly does feel repetitive at times. One thing that the first one did well was satirize the tropes found both in comic book and spy movies.

The second film more or less falls into those very tropes. Golden Circle is also not for the faint of heart, with a lot of cussing and bloodshed, but you expect this since it is rated R.

Overall The Golden Circle provides two hours of entertainment that are at times bogged down by the film’s excessiveness. Nevertheless the performances and general charisma from the cast makes the film an enjoyable addition to the comic book genre.