Kingsman 3 is set to forge ahead, but any new entries in the franchise need to learn from the mistake of Kingsman: The Golden Circle. The original Kingsman: The Secret Service made a big splash upon its 2014 release. The film, with its emphasis on eccentric action that called back to old-school spy movies, successfully distinguished itself from the dour tone of the modern spy genre. Kingsman‘s cast is highlighted by Taron Egerton as Eggsy, a streetwise young man who becomes recruited by a secretive and historically elitist spy organization.
The film raked in over $400 million at the box office, spawning a franchise and even a possible Kingsman spy movie universe. However, the Kingsman follow-ups haven’t been up to the standard of the original so far. The film saw a disappointing prequel, The King’s Man, which will still be continued with the upcoming The King’s Man 2. Likewise, Kingsman’s direct sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, was plagued with problems. Nevertheless, the franchise will continue with a confirmed Kingsman 3; it’s worth looking into what The Golden Circle did wrong and how these mistakes can be avoided.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle Dropped The Original Movie’s Plausibility
It may seem rich to imply that the first Kingsman film was grounded. After all, the movie culminated with a dizzying, musically synchronized sequence in which the heads of the world’s elite exploded in colorful pops of smoke. Kingsman had no shortage of heightened elements, but these elements were earned. Rather than starting at 100, the movie gradually introduced greater and greater levels of spy-movie fantasy before finally reaching its absurd crescendo. By easing the audience into Kingsman’s world, even the most ridiculous aspects became plausible. Kingsman: The Golden Circle’s biggest mistake, however, was declining to repeat this gradual escalation.
Instead, the Kingsman sequel tonally picked up right where the last one left off, already at a tonal 100. The Golden Circle maxed out its plausibility with its antagonist introduction. Once Golden Circle’s villain pushed a henchman through a meat grinder, made a hamburger out of him, and forced another henchman to eat it in a ’60s-style diner, there was no going back. Without any initial grounding, the audience became numb to further escalation, and the film’s action and stakes felt bloated and cartoonish.
Kingsman 3 Must Be More Like The First Movie, Not The Second
Despite this misstep, the franchise can still correct itself with Kingsman 3. It’s only necessary to take a closer look at what made Kingsman: The Secret Service one of the best action comedies of the decade. The film managed to earn its action absurdity, not only through gradual acceleration but by taking a character-driven approach to the story. At its core, the first Kingsman was a story about a young man’s struggle to overcome the inherent elitism of an institution, as well as his own feelings of inadequacy, in order to become the man he was always meant to be.
The film spent most of its first act introducing Eggsy’s life on his council estate, allowing the audience to become familiar with his potential and shortcomings before seeing him embark on his journey into the Kingsman world. The second Kingsman film largely dropped the character-focused storytelling of its precursor. Eggsy battled a great deal of external conflict, but his character saw precious little internal growth; there was a meager thread of Eggsy being unable to commit to his girlfriend, but it failed to compel and rapidly resolved. In a bid to amp up the cartoonish fun, the Kingsman sequel lost track of the human story that made the original great.
How Kingsman 3 Can Return To The Franchise’s Roots
The upcoming Kingsman 3 has a chance to return to what made the series great. If the movie can successfully ground itself once again in Eggsy’s character, rather than simply focusing on packing in as much high-octane action as possible, the spirit of the original Kingsman could return. Granted, the first film already saw Eggsy develop into a self-realized Kingsman agent, but there’s still room for the character to grow, particularly since he still resides within an institution founded on hereditary elitism.
The upcoming film’s working title, Kingsman: The Blue Blood, is an encouraging indication that the movie will once again center itself on questions of lineage, class disparity, and prejudice. What’s more, when asked about the new Kingsman follow-up, franchise star Taron Egerton affirmed (via Radio Times) the need to recenter the franchise’s priorities, stating: “I’d want it to be about that character, as opposed to just about saving the world.” Confirmed facts are still scarce about Kingsman 3, but these preliminary details may imply that the franchise has learned its lesson from Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
