‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ has a lot to live up to. Like
most sequels, it has to have the essence of what made the first so good and yet
do its own thing. That isn’t an easy thing to do as the myriad of failed
sequels attest. It’s all to do with how the story advances established
characters whilst maintaining their charm which appealed to audiences.
Having the same type of stunning action and focussed direction, ‘Kingsman: The
Golden Circle’ is a fair follow-up to the previous blockbuster.
Galahad (Taron Egerton) is young secret agent for the
Kingsman spy network. When its British headquarters are destroyed by a
mysterious organisation called The Golden Circle, Galahad aims to find the
culprits. He follows the trail to Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore) the deadly
Golden Circle chief. Needing help against the wicked agency, Galahad has
help from Harry (Colin Firth) and Merlin (Mark Strong). Together they
blast their way around the world to eradicate evil-doers in fine British style.
It can’t be said ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ doesn’t go
all out to entertain. It does in spades with a myriad of gravity-defying
action sequences upping the fun factor. The performers are all having a
great time as well as spouting the silly comic-book style dialogue.
Matthew Vaughn directs in broad colourful strokes with each high-octane scene
looking like a comic panel. The script occasionally feels like it’s
working too hard to entertain but it achieves its aim more often than not.
Going against its pluses is a threadbare story and weak
villains. As much as Moore tries to be a classic ‘James Bond’-style
baddie, she fails. Her character rarely displays the genuine menace such
villains should have. Moore deserved better as she’s a wonderful
performer as indeed are everyone in the film. They are let down by the
over-abundance of CGI-infused spectacle even if what’s on offer looks
incredible. The mix of humour and drama works and it provides grand
escapism few seem brave enough to tackle these days.
‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ may not succeed in besting its
forebear but it generally presses the right buttons. It’s rarely dull and
is uncompromising in following its wild path. Whether it’s successful
enough to warrant a third entry is debatable. But as the James Bond
series proves, you can never keep a good secret agent down for too long.
Movie Review Rating out of 10: 6
Movie Review by Patrick Moore
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