2017’s “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”, directed by Matthew
Vaughn.
Starring Tarron Egerton, Colin Firth, , Julianne Moore, Mark
Strong, Edward Holcroft, Hanna Alstrom, Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal, Halle
Barre, and Channing Tatum.
What is it about?
Tarron Egerton returns as a member of the Kingsman, an elite
and secret non governmental spy agency. We see Egerton, now fully enmeshed in
the technology and values of his agency, have an unfriendly visit from an old co-applicant,
(Edward Holcroft), whom we remember not making the cut for the Kingsman in the
previous film. We meet Holcroft’s employer, a drug kingpin (Julianne Moore),
who wants to decriminalize drugs throughout the entire planet, and be recognized
as a great business woman. Living in the middle of a jungle in a theme park
like compound, from the 50’s diner where she occasionally grounds underperforming
underlings into hamburgers, she strikes out at the Kingsman via coordinated
missile attacks. Moore manages to wipe out the entire agency, save for their
technology specialist (Mark Strong, back for more), and Egerton, who is meeting
his girlfriend (Hanna Alstrom) ’s parents for the first time. Adrift and
looking for answers, Strong and Egerton end up in Kentucky, where they meet the
American versions of their agency, the Statesmen. Lead by Jeff Bridges, with
Channing Tatum and Pedro Pascal infiltrating while Halle Barry takes care of
the technology, they attempt to stop Moore. Moore’s final plan involves
poisoning her narcotics so that their users succumb to paralyzing and fatal
positions, with her also making an antidote that she can blackmail world
leaders into accepting. Will our British and American heroes be able to stop
her before hundreds of millions die agonizing deaths?
Why is it worth seeing?
“Golden Circle” continues director/co-writer Vaughn and
co-writer Jane Goldman’s efforts to modernize the James Bond trope. Back for
more, we see a second super secret non governmental agency, more gadgets, and
more brawls that spill across every section of a car, not to mention continents.
Vaughn brings more of the flash that we’re accustomed to seeing, and “Golden
Circle” features at least 4 stunning scene transitions that are quite kinetic
to watch. It’s a testament to his talent that this is even palatable.
Unfortunately, “Golden Circle” both suffers from franchise
fatigue (that was fast) and takes things way too far into cartoon land. As I’ve
stated about the previous movie, Egerton does not have the prowess to carry the
franchise, and with Firth sitting out a bunch of this film (for those who
didn’t see the first film, he was thought to have been killed), we feel largely
amiss without his presence. The narrative doesn’t help, with Egerton’s family
life not being addressed (at the end of the last film, we know that his mother
was with an alcoholic prone to domestic violence, not to mention an infant
sibling- topics that have been abandoned). Instead, we watch a large amount of
scenes between Egerton and his Princess girlfriend (Hanna Alstrom), who decided
to hook up with him in the previous film because he saved the world. Although
we get to meet his mates (who cares), it’s a mystery whom he is other than a
hothead who continues to strike me as not being Kingsman material (he’ll never
be a sapper, either).
Continuing the theme of villains with great ideas who are willing to do terrible things to achieve them, here, Moore is spectacular in her character’s cognitive dissonance, wanting to play waitress, live in a theme park with a kidnapped Elton John performing when he’s not swearing and jump kicking at his abductors, with robotic canine killers and robo waitresses to do her bidding, along with her non descript henchmen who look like they wandered in off the set of “Back to the Future”. She’s not scared of a couple hundred million people dying while she retro bowls, in order to meet her goals. Finally, the American spies introduced here are completely uninteresting, and Oscar winner Bridges’ turn as the head of the American agency feels both phoned in, and stunningly lazy once you consider he doesn’t seem to understand if any of his agents are true to the cause (nor how to address it if there is an issue), nor what the difference is between hiring perfect strangers instead of promoting his existing agents for empty job positions. However, he seems excellent at nosing different whiskeys, so that will impress alcohol fanatics.
Continuing the theme of villains with great ideas who are willing to do terrible things to achieve them, here, Moore is spectacular in her character’s cognitive dissonance, wanting to play waitress, live in a theme park with a kidnapped Elton John performing when he’s not swearing and jump kicking at his abductors, with robotic canine killers and robo waitresses to do her bidding, along with her non descript henchmen who look like they wandered in off the set of “Back to the Future”. She’s not scared of a couple hundred million people dying while she retro bowls, in order to meet her goals. Finally, the American spies introduced here are completely uninteresting, and Oscar winner Bridges’ turn as the head of the American agency feels both phoned in, and stunningly lazy once you consider he doesn’t seem to understand if any of his agents are true to the cause (nor how to address it if there is an issue), nor what the difference is between hiring perfect strangers instead of promoting his existing agents for empty job positions. However, he seems excellent at nosing different whiskeys, so that will impress alcohol fanatics.
We also get to continue the themes of offensive pandering to
the poor and middle class hordes who deserve to root about in chicken cages in
football stadiums while the elites figure out what to do with their respective complications.
“Golden Circle” has a lot of interesting movies lurking in the skipped over
aspects of this fear and loathing mess, especially in the grips of a full blown
opioid crisis. It’s sidebar where a Chief of Staff argues with the President of
the US about acceptable drug policy is more interesting than any other aspect
of “Golden Circle”. But there’s also the world’s first panty penetration shot (sure
to delight gynecologists/home surgery network fanatics), a pointless trip to
Glastonbury’s largest tent, and a ski gondola that features a helpful spin
cycle. Vaughn has made some really solid movies in the past, but here his
considerable talents can’t help this practically incoherent mess. This is one
circle you don’t want to complete- stay tuned for the inevitable second sequel.
No comments:
Post a Comment