One can see why Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) earned cult status. A stylish action-packed spy film directed by Matthew Vaughn, The Secret Service was at once a parody of old-school James Bond films as well as an extension of them.

The action was over-the-top yes, often overly so for my tastes, but thoroughly entertaining in the comic book style the filmmaker is known for. The flaws were more forgivable thanks to a sometimes witty and often hilarious narrative, and even more because the flamboyant style came as a surprise after the trailers sold a classier, more understated spy film.

The sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle — with Vaughn once again in the driver’s seat — isn’t quite as enjoyable as its predecessor. While entertaining, it suffers from a classic case of sequelitis.

Without the element of surprise, The Golden Circle doubles down on the outrageous special effects. If you haven’t enjoyed The Secret Service or other Vaughn films such as Kick-Ass (2010), then The Golden Circle won’t change your mind. For the rest of you, the action here is fun, imaginative and may occasionally leave you clapping in surprise.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn’t quite as enjoyable as its predecessor

Unlike The Secret Service, The Golden Circle doesn’t really parody the spy genre, and is a straight-up action/comedy set in what feels even more like a comic book universe going by the nature of the gravity-defying stunts and the director’s rewritten rules of physics. This leaves the film feeling a bit soulless. This feeling is reinforced by the flimsiness of the plot, which is paper-thin and only designed to take us from one explosive set-piece to another.

The Golden Circle picks up a year or so after its predecessor. The story begins when our young hero, Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) is attacked by Charlie Hesketh, the former Kingsman in training. Eggsy escapes, but not before Hesketh hacks into the Kingsman car, locates the Kingsman HQ and destroys it, leaving Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) the sole surviving British Kingsman operatives.

The duo then makes contact with an organisation called the Statesman that functions as the American counterpart to Kingsman. With the help of Statesman agents such as Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Champagne (Jeff Bridges), the Kingsman investigate and uncover a plot led by drug queen Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore) to blackmail the world using a toxin that has been placed on recreational drugs. Amusingly enough, Poppy holds Elton John as hostage to demonstrate the lethalness of the chemical. Using the pop legend as bait, she demands amnesty as well as an end on the drug war from the President of the United States (Bruce Greenwood).

The throwaway plot could have been forgivable but, unfortunately, the characterisation isn’t particularly impressive either. Though the performances are adequate with plenty of energetic commitment from the cast, the characters themselves aren’t particularly compelling. Unlike The Secret Service, where I felt the tiniest bit of investment in the fate of the characters, in the The Golden Circle I felt nothing. If I had to pick a loose end, I’d put my finger on Poppy’s character. Although Julianne Moore is an excellent actress, even she isn’t able to sell a mediocrely written villain, especially in a blockbuster film that desperately needs a memorable baddie.

Rated R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual material

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 1st, 2017