Actor Taron Egerton stars in the Kingsman sequel as Gary “Eggsy” Unwin.
Photo courtesy of Youtube.
Back in 2014, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was released and took movie-goers by surprise. Not only was it a super clever spy spoof, but it was able to stand on its own as one of the year’s funniest and most action-packed films. It was one of my favorite films of the year, and I planned to rewatch it. However, sometimes in Hollywood, a crappy sequel has to be made.
“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” lives up to its predecessor in its name alone. The clever moments and incredible action sequences were gone. There was no impressive storytelling. What we get now is a movie that is sure to impress 14-year-old boys, but will confuse everyone else.
“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” is more over-the-top and ridiculous than the first film. It felt as if the writer and director, Matthew Vaughn, was not as involved with this film, since it lost self awareness. The original “Kingsman” film set the bar high of how to be a self-aware spoof film and effortlessly played fun at formulaic spy movie tropes.
This film, however, is the exact opposite. Instead of making fun of these said tropes, it fully embraces them. In the end, it comes off as unfunny and dumb. For example, the running joke in this movie is that Elton John is in it. Seriously. That’s it. He is given nothing to do except to remind the audience that he is in the film so that they can clap when they see him. He is actually given more screen time than most of the main characters.
Speaking of main characters, everyone in the film feels like they have nothing to do. The returning characters, played by Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Mark Strong, act as if they are at certain places and do certain things with no purpose. There is no scene with any real significance.
The new characters are boring, predictable and unmemorable. Channing Tatum, who I was especially looking forward to because of his previous comedic roles, is reduced to being in this film for less than 15 minutes.
Julianne Moore is basically a cookie cutter superhero villain. Halle Berry is wasted as all she does is give expository details to the main characters. No character is memorable or worthwhile.
It may seem like I hate “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” on every technical aspect, but I cannot say that it was the worst movie I have seen all year. I did chuckle at some parts, and though ridiculous, it could be considered a turn-off-your-brain summer popcorn flick. I expected more from this movie and I wanted it to have the substance that the original movie had. I didn’t want it to pan to a simpleminded audience, but that is exactly what it did. Stay clear of it and its inevitable threequel.
5/10
