STARS: 2/5
Director Matthew Vaughn’s second installment of the “Kingsman” franchise keeps to the same tone and theme as the original, but differs in its slow plot with minimal decent plot devices.
The beginning of “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” starts with an overdramatic, 10-minute car chase that leaves the audience checking their watches to see how much time is left in the film.
The plot picks up later on, thanks to the acting talent of Julianne while playing the sadistic villain Poppy - leader of the world’s largest drug cartel — but drags on for most of the 141-minute runtime.
The film’s camera techniques were interesting enough, especially in the classic spy fight scenes, but not enough to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats. None of the dialogue, plot points or narratives were enough to warrant the runtime and its $104 million budget.
Taron Egerton reprises his role as the underdog Kingsman Eggsy, but doesn’t show growth as an actor. Colin Firth does well with his portrayal of Henry, as his character suffers from a type of amnesia and attempts to regain his memory. Aside from Firth and Moore, the acting is subpar at best. Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges’ characters are not in the film enough to make a true impact.
Bridges and Tatum are members of the Statesman, the American counterpart to the Kingsman. The Statesman are gunslinging, southern twang-speaking, baseball-loving caricatures of Americans. The cliche isn’t as overdone and silly as some would presume it to be, but it is a caricature nonetheless.
The Statesman don’t do much for the plot, which is surprising since many of the promotional posters and commercials placed them in nearly equal importance to the Kingsman.
As mentioned above, the plot points were plain weak. The essence of the film can be summed up in this one sentence: The Kingsman are destroyed by Poppy and must rely on sparse help from the Statesman to stop Poppy’s agenda.
The one saving grace to the film is Moore. Poppy’s behavior is disturbing to the audience at times, but her sweet ‘50s feel creates a strange sense of curiosity for viewers.
If this film was screened at a home or casual viewing setting, viewers would likely switch to something else. The multiple subplots of Eggsy’s romantic life and techies Merlin and Ginger’s interactions isn’t enough to maintain interest. Even Elton John’s cameos aren’t enough to grab viewers’ attention.
The social agenda was noticeable but subtle and could have been omitted. The portrayal of a seemingly ruthless U.S. president, commentary on the war on drugs and the use of American stereotypes wasn’t necessary in telling the story. They added nothing of value to the film and made for a silly interpretation of today’s events.
Overall, the film is entertaining for fans of the first film and its funny, quirky moments are enough to merit an audience, but the loose plot and long runtime overshadow any pros the film has.