Kingsman The Golden Circle feels like a big step down if the prequel‘s whiff is still fresh in your mind. While thematically the plot kind of remains the same, and has that same old comic feel to it, Kingsman The Golden Circle stretches too much for a simple storyline. What makes matters worse is its sloth editing and the inclusion of dispensable bits that we all could have lived without. The movie compels you to shout “bullshit” at the screen on so many occasions that you end up feeling – “nothing feels right”.

If you are watching this movie for mere entertainment, it packs aplenty nevertheless. The action bit is outrageously dope. Humour goes great at times which makes the movie still very entertaining.

Bringing in Harry (Spoilers)

With Marv Films keen on taking this franchise out for a spin, it couldn’t have possibly lived without one of its lead characters. The precise reason why it decided to resurrect its dead. With Harry Hart (Colin Firth) back in action, the series wished to pick once again the crumbs that it had left with the first. But the way he has been brought in will try to once again reassure you that you have been watching a comic take shape all this time. What do you expect?

Plot of Kingsman The Golden Circle

The plot of Kingsman The Golden Circle is good actually but made absurd and ludicrous with many hard to digest things. Starts off and ends with an eye-popping spectacle but stretches pointlessly for so long, you start questioning the editing of the flick.

To begin with, we have Taron Egerton reprising his role as Eggsy. One year has passed since the prequel, and Eggsy has taken in the identity of his mentor Galahad and is living in with his girlfriend Crown Princess Tilde of Sweden (Hanna Alstrom). We find an old colleague of his, Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft) attacking him in insane theatrics as Eggsy narrowly escapes leaving Charlie’s mechanical arm in the car which ends up hacking into the Kingsman servers. Missiles completely obliterate the headquarters of Kingsman leaving only Eggsy and Merlin in its wake.

We discover there is a secret drug cartel named The Golden Circle headed by Poppy played by Julianne Moore responsible for the onslaught.

Statesman

As part of their emergency protocol, the desperate duo then end up tracking Statesman, another secret intelligence Agency based in America headed by Champagne (Jeff Bridges). It is here they find Harry Hart alive and kicking, the only problem being – he has lost his memory, ooh, ooh, and an eye!

When one of Statesman’s agents Tequila (Channing Tatum) develops a weird blue rash on his face, Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) replaces him as a field agent.

Manners maketh man. Let me translate that for you.

It is later revealed that the blue rash is the first symptom to a sure shot death, and was actually Poppy’s plan to lure the US government into stopping the War on Drugs and ensuring full immunity for her cartel to run smoothly in exchange for the antidote. While the President of US (Bruce Greenwood) seemed to openly agree to Poppy’s terms he secretly decides to win the War on Drugs by letting all the drug consumers die by Poppy’s innate methods.

Eggsy and Whiskey together go on a mission to track Charlie’s ex where Eggsy successfully plants a tracker. Eggsy triggers Harry’s memories and helps him remember everything from the past. In a conversation to save his ex, Charlie gives away the main location of antidotes. Eggsy, along with Whiskey and Harry, go on a mission to retrieve a sample of the antidote. However, things go out of hand and their only sample breaks with the interception of The Golden Circle men. It is there, Harry shoots Whiskey acting on his instincts, believing Whiskey to be a double agent. Eggsy still goes on to save Whiskey assuming Harry to be loco, and still recuperating.

Taking The Golden Circle Down

Eggsy discovers his own girlfriend to be suffering from the toxin. On discovering the President’s intention to let the “using populace” wipe out on their own, Kingsman takes matters into their own hands. Alongside Merlin and Harry, Eggsy reaches Poppy’s Land in hopes to retrieve the remote control to release antidote drones, and save the world.

Eggsy makes a sloppy start, accidentally stepping on a land mine. Merlin sacrifices himself for Eggsy taking out a considerable chunk of The Golden Circle henchmen before exploding with them. Although you feel it could have been avoided if only Merlin could sit tight for the rest of the movie.

Eggsy and Harry then go on to eliminate the remaining men eventually leaving Poppy with her briefcase and the drone codes. Eggsy gives her a taste of her own medicine killing her in the process, before retrieving the password. Whiskey shows up as Eggsy realizes Harry was right all along. A theatrical fight ensues as Eggsy and Harry somehow manage to shove him down the meat grinder. Antidote drones are released and the world is saved.

Eggsy marries Tilde, Ginger Ale (Halle Barry) replaces Whiskey as a field agent and Tequila moves to London to work for Kingsman.

You can order Kingsman: The Golden Circle from here:

Humour and Plot Issues

Kingsman The Golden Circle tries to squeeze out humour by introducing Elton John. It is like a subplot that runs by being deliberately funny. Although it does manage to bring a smile to your face, running it for too long spoils the fun. Eventually, we see Elton breaking the fourth wall once again reminding us it was all a comic after all, and nothing should be taken seriously. The movie has plenty of such moments which fail to amuse you even though you could sense the director Matthew Vaughn planting them on purpose. For rest of the parts, the humour stays great, letting the movie stay delightful.

We’ve got brains, skills, skipping rope?

Amongst other issues, there is that apparent inability to part with your favorite characters. It is evident with its daft storyline that the writers/producers were keen on resuscitating the dead. Harry gets revived, but really at what cost?  They layer it with a new story making things look more garish than they already were. An unfathomable device to operate, really? If that were the case, every character in the franchise could be revived, and death would never be taken seriously.  If that weren’t enough they went an extra mile to redo that plot by playing it on Whiskey. The way his amnesic brain was activated ends up being worse than Harry’s. Totally dispensable!

The Final Verdict

Kingsman: The Golden Circle fails to be what it used to be owing to a haphazardly running plot. A ballsy move of letting the dead stay dead isn’t resorted to. Too many side plots running wild takes away all the seriousness from a good story away. Some of the characters are so dispensable you wonder why were they even there in the first place.

If you recall the good bits, they were all masoned in the fighting sequences of the flick. Pedro Pascal’s Whiskey was a badass fighter, and it’s great to see him in action twice. Both his seqs are dope!

The action and the lurid technology makes the movie fairly enjoyable, although you can’t say the same for its stretchy plot and editing.

Check out the trailer of Kingsman The Golden Circle here: