Kingsman: The Golden Circle
(B- or 2.5/4 stars)
In 2015, Matthew Vaughn gave us Kingsman: The Secret Service, a surprising, cynical, uber-stylized R-rated James Bond spoof -- it was very cool. Now he's back with a sequel, 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'. It's still a cynical, uber-stylized R-rated spoof of James Bond, but Vaughn turns the dial up way past 10 on every aspect of the filmmaking and, while there are many pleasures to be had, it's perhaps all a bit too much. This is a toughie to critique. With her kitschy, retro-1950s headquarters hidden deep in Cambodian rainforest, megalomaniacal villain, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the world's biggest – and most psychopathic – drug dealer, manages to destroy most of the Kingsman spies. That leaves only Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), the cheeky London street kid-turned-spy who's in love with Sweden's Princess Tilde (Hanna Alstrom), whom he rescued in the 1st film's climax.
Eggsy & gadget-whiz Merlin (good 'ole Mark Strong) trek to Kentucky to find American spy allies at 'Statesman' bourbon brewery, run by Champagne (Jeff Bridges), whose team includes Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) & Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). Their goal is to stop Poppy, who has now implanted a mysterious virus to infect (people turn blue & then die) every drug user in the world. One of her intentions is to blackmail the POTUS (Bruce Greenwood, in Trump-like form) & chief-of-staff (Emily Watson) to bargain for the antidote. But her plan backfires when he opts to double-cross her. Alllll the while, having miraculously {big eye roll here, folks} survived being shot in the eye by villainous Sam L. Jackson in the 1st film, debonair Harry "Galahad" Hart (Colin Firth) is suffering from amnesia. Locked in a padded cell, the poor guy believes he's a butterfly collector. After much time, Harry regains his memory, and off our protagonists go to obtain the antidote & take-down Poppy. Mayhem, tragedy & "fun" ensue.
Right at the top, I thought we might be in trouble as the film opens with a ridiculously overproduced, fairly unexciting chase sequence through the streets of London. But what occurs next - and for the next 130 minutes or so - is an incessant volley of very cool, very fun things followed by ludicrous, nonsensical things ... and all in succession. I felt yo-yoed. One moment, I'm loving a character interaction or a production set piece or a blast of deadpan/irreverent humor, the next moment, I could be cringing at absurd stupidities or being bored by superfluous subplots -- back & forth, back & forth. That was my experience for 141 bloated minutes.
The problem is that the 2015 film found the balance, or, really, never had to find a balance; it was just a consistently kinetic, naughty, rollicking time. As mentioned, this sequel just throws too much at us and hopes it sticks -- too much exposition, too many characters, too many asides, too many gadgets, too many over-the-top moments. The downfall of 'Kingsman 2' {as I'll call it} is Vaughn not being able to rein-in his excesses, & the sloppy script. But then, there are more than enough moments of exciting snap, crackle & pop. Taron Egerton is endearing as Eggsy. His chemistry with Colin Firth is still strong. Mark Strong is always an amiable presence; even when he's a villain {not here}. Julianne Moore is deliciously unhinged {especially with her robot dogs & human hamburger meat grinder!). Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry & Pedro Pascal are fine but have little to do. And Elton John pops-up as Poppy's colorful, profane, piano-playing prisoner.
On the positive side of things - wackadoo excesses aside - this sequel {as violent as the 1st} shows more empathy toward human loss; whereas brutal deaths of many were played for laughs in the 1st film. Yes, this movie is convoluted & batsh*t insane, but it is spirited, sassy, wraps things up nicely with the promise of a sequel, and we feel that 'loss' when certain characters die -- life is more valuable if there's something/someone to lose. I also think it that - amid the chaos - this film manages some sly political commentary on the 'war on drugs'. I think that a good 60-65% of this film works; 35-40% doesn't; hence, my sliiiightly positive lilt. I can't hate on the cast. There's a runaway gondola lift sequence that entertained me to no end. Poppy's 50s-inspired hideout is very cool. I just wish 'Kingsman 2' didn't try so hard to one-up its predecessor. If you can center yourself amid all the subplots, CGI, sex gags, maniacal action, et al ... it's a hard movie to hate.
Eggsy & gadget-whiz Merlin (good 'ole Mark Strong) trek to Kentucky to find American spy allies at 'Statesman' bourbon brewery, run by Champagne (Jeff Bridges), whose team includes Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) & Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). Their goal is to stop Poppy, who has now implanted a mysterious virus to infect (people turn blue & then die) every drug user in the world. One of her intentions is to blackmail the POTUS (Bruce Greenwood, in Trump-like form) & chief-of-staff (Emily Watson) to bargain for the antidote. But her plan backfires when he opts to double-cross her. Alllll the while, having miraculously {big eye roll here, folks} survived being shot in the eye by villainous Sam L. Jackson in the 1st film, debonair Harry "Galahad" Hart (Colin Firth) is suffering from amnesia. Locked in a padded cell, the poor guy believes he's a butterfly collector. After much time, Harry regains his memory, and off our protagonists go to obtain the antidote & take-down Poppy. Mayhem, tragedy & "fun" ensue.
Right at the top, I thought we might be in trouble as the film opens with a ridiculously overproduced, fairly unexciting chase sequence through the streets of London. But what occurs next - and for the next 130 minutes or so - is an incessant volley of very cool, very fun things followed by ludicrous, nonsensical things ... and all in succession. I felt yo-yoed. One moment, I'm loving a character interaction or a production set piece or a blast of deadpan/irreverent humor, the next moment, I could be cringing at absurd stupidities or being bored by superfluous subplots -- back & forth, back & forth. That was my experience for 141 bloated minutes.
The problem is that the 2015 film found the balance, or, really, never had to find a balance; it was just a consistently kinetic, naughty, rollicking time. As mentioned, this sequel just throws too much at us and hopes it sticks -- too much exposition, too many characters, too many asides, too many gadgets, too many over-the-top moments. The downfall of 'Kingsman 2' {as I'll call it} is Vaughn not being able to rein-in his excesses, & the sloppy script. But then, there are more than enough moments of exciting snap, crackle & pop. Taron Egerton is endearing as Eggsy. His chemistry with Colin Firth is still strong. Mark Strong is always an amiable presence; even when he's a villain {not here}. Julianne Moore is deliciously unhinged {especially with her robot dogs & human hamburger meat grinder!). Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry & Pedro Pascal are fine but have little to do. And Elton John pops-up as Poppy's colorful, profane, piano-playing prisoner.
On the positive side of things - wackadoo excesses aside - this sequel {as violent as the 1st} shows more empathy toward human loss; whereas brutal deaths of many were played for laughs in the 1st film. Yes, this movie is convoluted & batsh*t insane, but it is spirited, sassy, wraps things up nicely with the promise of a sequel, and we feel that 'loss' when certain characters die -- life is more valuable if there's something/someone to lose. I also think it that - amid the chaos - this film manages some sly political commentary on the 'war on drugs'. I think that a good 60-65% of this film works; 35-40% doesn't; hence, my sliiiightly positive lilt. I can't hate on the cast. There's a runaway gondola lift sequence that entertained me to no end. Poppy's 50s-inspired hideout is very cool. I just wish 'Kingsman 2' didn't try so hard to one-up its predecessor. If you can center yourself amid all the subplots, CGI, sex gags, maniacal action, et al ... it's a hard movie to hate.