Review // Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Just when I thought sequels could be worthwhile, Kingsman: The Golden Circle proved me wrong. Kingsman: The Secret Service was a feature worth watching and after smashing up the box office in 2015 an announcement quickly followed that 20^th Century Fox would produce a sequel. The key creative team (director Matthew Vaughn, screenwriters Vaughn and Jane Goldman, stars Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Mark Strong, plus producers David Reid and Adam Bohling) returned and, phew, this sequel is in good hands, the hands that created one of my favourite films of 2015. Sadly I was mistaken.

The Golden Circle mimics the elements that made The Secret Service such a success: it’s ballsy, it’s crude, the action is exciting. But the drawback is that everything feels like a copy, not an extension of the original story. After an unknown organization called The Golden Circle destroys all Kingsman outposts and attempts to kill all active members, the only known survivors – Taron Egerton’s Eggsy and Mark Strong’s Merlin – regroup and follow the organization’s doomsday protocol: make contact with Statesman. A similar organization to their own, Statesman was founded by a Kingsman member who relocated to the states. Unlike the Kingsman tailors their American counterparts went into the liquor business, thriving in the free market, and adopting alcohol based code names because that’s ‘merican. The Statesman are a bit of a weird reflection of how two British writers see America, and it’s a bit sad. Instead of mimicking the Kingsman code names with American heroes (the founding fathers come to mind) the organization is more infatuated with their cover business. Granted, there’s nothing more American than whiskey and commerce, right? Similar to the first film we’re introduced to a secret society of ace covert ops with interesting quirks that help add a layer to otherwise two-dimensional characters. The introduction of Statesman as a whole is too soon. There should have been more adventures focused solely on the Kingsman agency before introducing a bigger firm with deeper pockets, more seasoned agents, and bigger stars. Although to be fair the Statesman were probably just created to include more Hollywood A-listers in the sequel.

While the relationship gets off to a rocky start, the remaining Kingsmen are quick to adapt and work with the available Statesmen, leader Champagne (Jeff Bridges), senior agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), junior agent Tequila (Channing Tatum) and tech support Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). They soon uncover the plot of The Golden Circle leader, drug lord Poppy Adams played by Julianne Moore. Another textbook act of mimicry, Poppy has a grey evil agenda much like Valentine and is a little kooky weirdo trying to better the world in an offbeat way. I say grey agenda because the end game – much like Valentine’s plan to wipe out enough people to save the planet on an environmental front – was somewhat justified. Poppy wants the world government to legalize the drug trade so she can return home to America and be celebrated for her business savvy. The legalization gambit is topical as more and more governments weigh the cost effectiveness/benefits of legalizing recreational drugs like marijuana. Granted, Poppy deals with harder narcotics. Her ultimatum also poses another interesting social inquiry about the worthiness of someone’s life and if drug users are a population worth saving. Grandiose social commentary aside Poppy is a carbon copy of Valentine. She’s rich, powerful, zany and has big plans. Like Valentine her right hand man is a fighter with a missing limb. Poppy’s recruited Charlie – you remember Charlie, the posh Kingsman candidate who never made it to the Round Table. If you thought he died in the first film, he didn’t, he just lost his arm. He’s not the only character that gets resurrected for the sequel.

Goldman and Vaughn do an excellent job of manipulating the story to include the return of Harry Hart (Colin Firth) but for purely sentimental reasons. Story wise, Harry Hart’s return takes away from Eggsy’s growth. In The Secret Service we saw Eggsy transform into an agent after Harry fell, and now we see him regress back to a protege. Harry’s return is also lazy storytelling. He might have some recovery issues but for the most part he fits a deus ex machina trope, returning to full form just in time to solve the whole problem.

Instead of harnessing the qualities that made The Secret Service great and envisioning a fun, exciting new adventure for the characters we’ve come to cheer for, The Golden Circle just attempts to apply the same film format to a new setting. Transforming a franchise that was celebrated for its fresh take into stale and predictable in just the second venture out. If you’re craving a fun, spy adventure this weekend, rent Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.