'Kingsman:The Golden Circle' Does Everything A Sequel Shouldn't - Review (2017)

Catch It On Cable: Don't rush to see this in the cinema. If you see it at all.

It's hard to fully explain what's wrong with 'Kingsman The Golden Circle'. I'm tempted to not write a review at all. My first instinct is to posit ways I think it could've been done better. Maybe I will. For now though, I'm going to say what I thought of this movie.

Back in the directors chair for his first ever sequel, Matthew Vaughn brings us 'Kingsman The Golden Circle'. A movie that continues the high octane, wicked smart adventure of Taron Edgerton's, Egsy. A true Kingsman this time around. His mentor gone, he must face a new threat to the world, for Queen and for country. After things go explosively awry, Egsy is forced to venture cross the pond to his America counterparts, The Statesmen. Together they have to fight to preserve peace and prosperity for all mankind. Even if they can't agree on how to spell programme.

For the record.

In many ways, 'The Golden Circle' is a fine sequel. Not in the same way one admires a fine wine, but moreso that way you respond when something's wrong and you say "I'm fine". Something is wrong here, but I don't really want to talk about it. It's not the sort of egregiously bad that you care to discuss. In fact, the film does everything that your run of the mill sequel does, it just does them so poorly that the effect is something of a mess.

For starters, it's one of those films that's unfocused. Busy. Confusing. It has so many elements that go woefully underdeveloped. There's a gaggle of new characters that either do nothing, or do so little, you question their involvement. It renders them as plot devices rather than actual personalities. That's just in the second half. By the time it switches locales from London to Kentucky, the movie has already overstayed its welcome.

And much like a Kingsman, I couldn't possibly ask them to leave.

So the new stuff isn't very good, but what about the old? How do our heroes fare in their second outing? Well to be honest, not much better. Egsy is preoccupied with balancing his new relationship, and his duties as a Kingsman. That plays out as sitcommy as you might expect. Like everyone else our main character just feels ineffective. Even Colin Firth's return as Harry is not the triumphant victory that it's presented as. Most of 'Kingsman The Golden Circle' can be summed up mostly by one word: Empty.

At least the crumbs are tasty.

Something that was a huge part of the original film, was the action. Matthew Vaughn has a very distinct style, and it's certainly returned here. It's unmistakably Kingsman. When the film would irritate me the most, I could at least forget the most recent confusing moment it has, and shift my attention to the fighting. While some of the action does suffer from an overall lack of stakes, I still absolutely admired it on a technical level. There's simply nothing else like a Matthew Vaughn fight scene.

Watching 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' was like eating a pack of assorted starburst, where most of it is yellow, and every now and then a pink one shows up. It's not a film I'd rush to watch again. Perhaps I'd revisit it in the future, maybe with a new perspective on it. For now, the movie is mostly uncompelling, with a few moments that serve as saving graces. It's not bad enough to be written off completely, but there's no reason to rush out to see it if you haven't already.

Rating: Catch It On Cable.