TheKingsmanfilms are a riotous film franchise that always manages to surprise and entertain audiences, and with a fourth film planned for the franchise, this is unlikely to change going forwards as the graphic novels continue to be adapted for the big screen.
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But whether sticking with Eggsy and the modern Kingsman team or going back in time for a prequel was the better move for the franchise after the huge success of the first film is still up for debate amongst fans and critics, as the series looks to bebeginning to struggle at the box office.
Taron Egerton Vs Ralph Fiennes
The leads of the two films are hugely important, and while Ralph Fiennes was considered an excellent choice to replace the youth and vigor of Taron Egerton’s Eggsy Unwin from the first two films, it wasn’t without flaws in changing the lead for a film.
This is a common difficulty for prequel films in franchises, and while Fiennes did an excellent job as the Duke of Oxford, Taron Egerton is the star of theKingsmanfranchise and coming into his own as a box office star through the first film attaches him to it in a way that cannot be replaced.
The Supporting Characters
The King’s Mansucceeded in staying true to the style of the original film, keeping a small team together around the lead that was filled with interesting characters. Gemma Arterton, Harris Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were just a few of the great actors filling the screen and bringing endless charm to help the film feel as Kingsman as possible,as well as many memorable quotes.
Unfortunately, in the traditional curse of sequels going bigger but not better,The Golden Circleintroduced the Statesman organization and filled the screen with so many big names from Halle Berry and Channing Tatum to Elton John that it never felt like there was enough focus or personality from any of the side characters.
Scale Of Focus
Similar to the supporting character issue,The Golden Circlegenerally went for too big a story, trying too hard to replicate the success of the Bond-parody style in the first film. The attempted expansion of the universe to include Statesman while continuing to focus on Eggsy and the Kingsman, an organization that the film basically destroyed, was too much.
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The King’s Manalternatively manages to focus on a story that while grand in scale is simple and focuses on the bond between father and son, a focus which was consistent in the firstKingsmanfilm and was somewhat lost inThe Golden Circle. Sure,not everything about The King’s Man made sense, but it was still smart in choosing to stay a little smaller on scale than The Golden Circle.
Battle Of The Twist Deaths
EveryKingsmanfilm is notable for a strangely consistent aspect, that of the surprising death of a heroic character, usually occurring near the end of the second act or into the third. In the first film, it was the supposed death of Harry which shocked Eggsy into action. The sequel and prequel continued this trend with the deaths of Merlin and Conrad respectively.
While the death of Merlin was a poignant moment that holds a lot of weight for emotional power and dark humor in the history of the franchise, the death of Conrad was definitely the more shocking of the two and possibly worked better overall. The emotional pull of Conrad’s death did a better job of fueling the story instead of being purely for shock value and was thus the more impressive storytelling device. WhileKingsman hasn’t received the third entryin the official trilogy yet, look out for this trend to continue if it does happen.
The Setting
The setting ofThe Golden Circlewas more of a globe-trotting, Bond-esque adventure that moved between the UK and US as well as Italy and Cambodia. While the film felt jumpy at times, it never felt static and utilized the various set-piece locations well.
By comparison,The King’s Manpossibly moves around even more frequently, but it moves back and forth between several of the same places often. While some set pieces are excellently done, and the period time setting helps keep things fresh as well, the cinematography in general ofThe Golden Circleis perhaps better overall.
The Gloriously Extreme Violence
TheKingsmanfranchise has always been known for absolute brutality and unabashed gore when it comes to the violent scenes throughout the films.Kingsman: The Secret Servicewasnotable for several excellent action scenesincluding the head-popping and church scenes as memorably explosive and brutal.
Following up on it, both the sequel and prequel retained at least some charm in action scenes.The Golden Circleagain took things too far in this case and used a meat-grinder on several people, as well as introducing cannibalism.The King’s Manmanaged to keep things a little more tasteful despite going for a similarly ludicrous feel to some of the action that the first film captured.
Poppy Adams Vs The Shepherd
While Samuel L Jackson as Richmond Valentine was one of the highlights of the first film, neither of the follow-ups managed to quite recapture that magic. Julianne Moore played Poppy Adams in the sequel and gave a different sort of lunatic in her performance, but it played off as too silly for many fans.Her evil scientist vibes weren’t as goodas other similar characters.
Alternatively,The King’s Manintroduced a secret society led by a mysterious leader, The Shepherd. The reveal of his true identity was underwhelming and the whole secret society, a clear take on Spectre from theBondfilms, was a little on the nose, but this still worked fairly well as another homage from Kingsman toBond.
Overall
It is easy to say thatKingsman: The Golden Circletried to do everything bigger and better when it just wasn’t necessary and fell short of achieving status as a great sequel.The King’s Manseparates itself enough and goes back to some basics, allowing it to become a better follow-up for the franchise overall. WithMatthew Vaughn teasing Kingsman 3 recently,it is likely that the franchise isn’t finished just yet.
