Overcompensating

It should come as no surprise to those who are reading, that a sequels purpose, whether it’s from a film production, a televised series or an acclaimed novel, is to provide a continuation of the story that was initially established in preceding works in a manner that not only expands upon on a particular scenario or character, but introduces new concepts that are refreshing and engaging to perceive. In the case of cinematic sequels, it’s common-place to see a follow-up feature that, alongside the chronological continuation of the over-arching story, bestows ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ filmic aspects that makes the preceding cinematic outing seem redundant. This is indeed what Writer, Director and Producer Michael Vaughn has done with his latest outlandish feature of Kingsman: The Golden Circle; the sequel to Vaughn’s successful and much-acclaimed spy-caper of Kingsman: The Secret Service which, like its predecessor, boasts in its ability to amalgamate comical and espionage genre conventions to an off-the-wall degree that is crazy yet fun to take in. However, as much as its star-studded appearance may fool the common cinema-goer, there’s much left to be desired of The Golden Circle since it reluctantly tries to incorporate too many aspects all at once; resulting in a rather stagnant and unfulfilled viewing experience that diminishes certain expectations…

A year has passed since the events that followed at the end of Kingsman: The Secret Service, where the Kingsman spy-organisation saved the world from Richmond Valentine’s neurological wave broadcast, and Eggsy Unwin, now taken his mentor Harry Hart’s title Galahad, faces another world-threatening problem. After the Kingsman headquarters is destroyed by a psychotic criminal named Poppy Adams, Eggsy and Merlin’s journey leads them to an allied spy organisation based in Kentucky, names Statesman. In a new espionage adventure that tests both organisations agents’ strength and wits to the limit, Eggsy must band together with agent Tequila and old acquaintance to defeat a ruthless common enemy in order to save the world…Again!

Being that the initial film of Kingsman: The Secret Service combined the comical yet outlandish notions you might expect to see within an Austin Powers feature with the swarve espionage constructs seen in many James Bond films of the past to create a concept that was fun and impactful – which resulted in a viewing experience that wasn’t to take itself too seriously – it was always going to be difficult for Vaughn to match his prior success and present something fresh within a franchise that already adopts a stylisation that is rather favourable. Although The Secret Service implemented a rather formulaic context which made the structure of the film rather predictable, it was an enjoyous and thrilling watch due to its Kick-Ass-esque action choreography which suited, mind the pun, well with the over-the-top bravado that Vaughn purposefully interjects. In the case of The Golden Circle, it’s unfortunate that this continuation doesn’t match it’s forerunner with there being no refreshing constructs that seamlessly match with the source material. As much as the opening sequence, with Eggsy encountering with an old nemesis through a taxi chase/fight sequence through the streets of London, which pays an odd homage to the night-bus moment in Prisoner of Azkaban, reminds the affiliated personnel how pleasurable this quirky franchise is with the zany choreography and how the camera never needlessly interjects by cutting-away, it mainly serves as a metaphor for how stagnant this sequel can be; with its evident use of CG effects resulting into a cinematic involvement that’s underwhelming, boring and frivolous. Not once throughout the bashful opening scene was I ever wooed by the formalities that culminated the action presented since it’s a stylisation that’s not as surprising to witness as the first time around and really doesn’t provide the necessary gravitas one might expect in a sequel such as this. It’s as if Vaughn is only capable of creating these moments of innovative action grandeur and that’s it. Much of the same can be said about The Golden Circle’s plot and how the narrative structure willingly and unnecessarily deviates from the main context, which annoyingly parallels the context from the preceding film, and focuses its attention on the sub-plots which take-up the majority of the rather lengthy run-time. As highlighted in the introduction, what’s common place to perceive of any given sequel, whether it be the norm of a superhero continuation or an expansion of a well-received franchise, is how ardently they utilise cinematic formalities that far excel the previous films antics. Oddly, what’s paramount to take notice of in The Golden Circle is how devoted the plot deviates from one sub-plot to the other; rather than focusing on a well-fleshed cohesive story and other creative aspects that would make this a bracing experience. Indeed, there are so many convoluted mini-stories within this film, that take characters from one place to the other which conveniently advances the main context of the feature, which in turn makes the whole viewing experience rather boring and tedious in comparison to The Secret Service which followed a linear and understandable structure that audiences could invest in. This can be seen particularly mid-way through this action-flick, as the feature initially focuses on a particular sub-plot, then abruptly cuts away to focus on another meaningless mini-story and then finally goes back to the original sub-plot that was displayed before; which conveniently ties into the main context of the film. It’s messy story-telling to behold and it doesn’t help Vaughn’s case further when the actual main circumstance that Eggsy and the rest of the protagonists have to contend with, brazenly parallels events that took place in the first feature of the franchise. Even the way in which characters go from one place to the other, such as when Eggsy and Pedro Pascal’s character of Whiskey have to seduce and place a tracker inside a socialite, played by model Poppy Delevingne, at Glastonbury Music Festival so they can follow her to a base that has the answers what they were looking for, is mind-numbing and it’s these unnecessarily elongated sequences the weigh down many audiences expectations. Don’t get me wrong. As much as Vaughn subtly retains this sense of subversiveness and comic-reverence in the highly detailed action scenes that were first utilised in The Secret Service and tries to apply a rich-universe through the introduction of the Statesmen organisation, the American equivalent of Kingsman, The Golden Circle’s exploitation of events ultimately comes across as boring fodder that, in return, makes you question the writing quality as well as the lengthy run-time; which could have easily been reduced.  

Naturally, if you’ve glimpsed even the slightest bit of promotional material for The Golden Circle, you’ll know that Harry Hart’s demise from the preceding feature wasn’t as permanent as first assumed and makes his presence known to Eggsy and Merlin in a shocking fashion. It would be criminal to give away the circumstances of how Colin Firth’s character returns since it does keep in touch with the films rather ludicrous espionage notions. However, what’s nagging about Firth’s inclusion into the sequel is how devoid Vaughn’s film is from any sense of jeopardy. Indeed, for it to be as fun as its acclaimed to be, The Golden Circle wholeheartedly has to retain comical notions. Yet, since Vaughn has the aforementioned character placed as a device of emotionalism as well as a component to drive the main story forward, what this film shows itself as being is a feature that doesn’t uphold any consequence despite the situation. There’s never a moment that makes you feel uneasy when the events unfold which eludes to the aforesaid argument made about The Golden Circle coming across as a boring experience. Even Firth’s enactment of Eggsy’s former mentor isn’t something that stimulates the gaze since there are scenes where it seems as though the highly-distinguished actor is blandly looking on-wards past the absurdist material. Much of the same can be said of Julianne Moore’s performance as the villain, Poppy Adams, who, although gives a devoted acting demonstration despite the eccentric circumstances, the actual character in question is underutilised to the point where you don’t even recognise right until the final moments of the film. It’s often said that a film is only as strong as its antagonist and in this case, this is very much true considering how the script manages to isolate Moore’s character from everyone right the way through; even if her character has created an elaborate 1950’s oasis in the jungle filled with robot dogs and Elton John. With this being the case, her menace is only ever brought about by whoever happened to do something wrong from her own perspective. Like with the story-telling, it’s poor characterisation which not only is bestowed upon the villains of the peace, but also exhibited through the hero’s of the hour and how especially wooden and derivative Taron Egerton is as Eggsy second time around. The only real strong performances that are left to consider are Mark Strong as Merlin and Channing Tatum as agent Tequila who are also limited to a certain amount of screen time. 

If there’s any consolation to take out in viewing this continuation, it would be the exhilarating action sequences that Vaughn has adopted ever since the days of Kick-Ass. Infused with an ever-curious camera that never deviates away from what’s displayed, the action scenes are a definite silver-lining to the contextual misgivings that The Golden Circle has to offer. If there’s one obvious thing to take note of however in regards to the action scenes shown, is how pivotal it relies on CGI to stitch shots together to make it seem like one un-broken take. This subtle addition of generated effects can be, at times, a little jumpy and unforgiving with the way in which a particular character is moving; especially when the use of high-to-slow-motion trickery is deployed. It doesn’t feel like something is actually happening and it instead presents itself to be a figment you stumble upon whilst playing a video game. Whereas they’re fun to watch, there’s ultimately too much going on within these sequences that doesn’t warrant any satisfaction. It suffers from characters performing impossibly-looking scenarios that take you out the experience; unlike the first film of the series which subtly grounded itself in terms of what a spy-character can and can’t perform. 

Along with Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, Matthew Vaughn’s continuation of Kingsman: The Golden Circle goes down as one of the more disappointing films of 2017. Considering how straight-forward and boisterous the previous film of Kingsman: The Secret Service was in reflection, it’s rather startling how lousy the follow-up is in comparison. With it adopting a structure that doesn’t seem to follow a linear path, instead deciding to focus on pointless sub-plots alternatively, and misuses the cast that it has at its disposal, it’s no wonder to perceive just how wrong this film truly is and how much of a boring experience it can be seen as. Indeed, The Golden Circle suffers the second album syndrome, to be put lightly, and doesn’t do any justice for those who were anticipating an expansion filled with intriguing and invigorating new ideas; both in terms of the context and film-making formalities. There’s no denying it, this is an example of sequel that tries too much, but falters due to its ambition…

On that note, it’s time for to end this week’s Film Review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my film review of Kingsman: The Golden Circle and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read! 😉 If anyone has an opinion on either the film or the review itself, you’re more than welcome to comment down below your thoughts. For next week, you’ll either see a T.V. Review of Netflix’s Stranger Things: Season 2 or the last Marvel feature in Thor: Ragnarok. Thank you once again for reading this week’s Blog Post and, as always, I’ll be back next week! Hope you all have a nice start to the week tomorrow! Adieu! 😁✌😎🔫💥🕵

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte