Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Since the first made money, a sequel was absolutely inevitable. So was it worth the wait?

On the bright side, they have  a stellar cast. Joining Egerton, Strong and Firth are Julianna Moore, Jeff Bridges, Hally Berry, Channing Tatum and Elton John. On the not so bright side, none of them really leave a mark on this film. Berry is so unnecessary, it's staggering. The first instalments best feature was the swagger of Colin Firth, so why they would make him into a fumbling baboon this time around, is a question of mythic proportions, and a huge letdown. Moore deserves a bit of credit for showing restraint over a role that could easily have been cartoonish and irritating. Other than that they're mainly there to make the film cooler. Simply by showing up.

But Vaughn does know cool and he works very hard (sometimes too hard) to provide it. There are so many variations of cameraspeeds and -angles, that at times it's just tiresome to watch. Most of the time, the action and set-pieces are absolutely state of the art though. And since it takes about 20 seconds for the first huge action-scene to start, it's impossible to be bored. The part where Vaughn has improved upon the original is in tension. Whereas the original was just action and speed, this one has suspense and I caught myself at the edge of the seat several times.

Humour however seems to have been virtually forgotten. Though it had one brilliant oneliner, the lack of a feisty Firth sets it back many steps. Egerton has the cheeky look, but his lines aren't good enough and neither are anyone else's, quite frankly. And since this genre really needs some tongue-in-cheek, it is a matter of concern that this film comes up so short. The idea of a sister-company in USA is actually quite clever though. Not bad in a genre where good ideas mostly dried up years ago.

Henry Jackman's music is a bit too frantic, and at times so stolen (from himself and Elfman) it's a miracle he didn't have to pay for copyright. Much of the time it fits OK, as long as you don't already have a headache. Vaughn continues to blend in modern music at a hit-and-miss ratio. The best uses of modern music here by far is Elton John's "Saturday Nights alright for fighting" and Buddy Holly's "Raining in my Heart"

But Vaughn still has brilliant attention to detail, and there are a couple of gems for the extra alert viewer. Such as the fact that every car in Saville Row is of British make. How perfectly fitting.

At 2.21 they have enough action scenes, but nowhere near enough dialogue and script for what they've set out to do. But you are highly entertained for most of the time, though your brain is likely to ask for breaks the next 12 hours due to stimulation overload.

6/10