By Justin Taylor

“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” (dir. Matthew Vaughn) starts out well enough, with a high-octane chase sequence / fight scene across London that promises to deliver the same surprising and fresh action that made its predecessor stand out from the crowd. But this sequel manages to fall flat. Most of the action sequences are full of flashy yet distracting camera work, and most of the choreography of the fights rises to almost superhuman levels (which deescalated the stakes and took me right out the scene).

Though this flick has some genuinely interesting set pieces and design, all of the elements are strung together really poorly. It often felt like the movie was pushing these characters into the next set piece with no real setup. The movie dragged on, and before it had even reached its finale at the villain’s base, Poppy Land, I was just waiting for it to end.

The characters in the film were not much more developed than the were in the original. In fact, a few major players in the first “Kingsman” were given very little or nothing to do. Mark Strong’s Merlin felt like a tacked-on character, but he’s not even the worst example in “The Golden Circle.” Newcomers like Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges feel like cameos as opposed to characters. Tatum’s Agent Tequila spends most of the film literally on ice, while the actual cameo, Elton John (as himself) gets an alarming amount of time on screen and is still used as cheap joke.

Though “Kingsman” offers some genuinely cool moments at times, its poor writing, thin plot structure and flimsy characters bog the film down to the point of no return. Even Colin Firth’s Harry Hart, a high point of the previous film, returns to the screen less interesting than the last time. Considering the hoops the creative team had to jump through to bring him back, it makes the choice to revive the character feel pointless and unnecessary. “The Golden Circle” has a lot of potential as a whole, but is ruined by sloppy execution.

Rating: C-