The spy who bored me.

Every now and the - for the sake of his inflated ego, if nothing else - James Bond needs to be taken down a peg or two. Despite the character’s enduring popularity, his inherent silliness and penchant for cliché make him perfect spoofing material. Austin Powers did a superb job of just this amidst those weird Pierce Brosnan years but, with the dawn of Daniel Craig’s overtly po-faced Bond, a different tact was needed to ensure the franchise didn’t disappear into a cloud of self-importance.

Step forward Kingsman: The Secret Service. Based on Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar’s popular comic book series, the film came from nowhere to give the spy genre a firm kick in the 007s; becoming one of the biggest hits of 2015 in the process. Not only was it a razor-sharp parody, complete with outrageous gadgetry, impeccably-mannered Brits, and comically OTT supervillains; but it came with a swagger and style that entertained as effectively as it lampooned.

Sure, it had its flaws, but the film’s spark and hyperactivity were the perfect answer to the genre’s growing trend for dourness and angst. As is often the case, however; to follow up such a surprising and resounding success isn’t easy and, to avoid things getting stale, fresh ideas were needed. It’s fine bucking expectations when there are none, but when you’re now on that lofty perch you once parodied, there’s nowhere to hide. While Kingman: The Golden Circle certainly isn’t the hiding type, neither is it the shot in the arm the spy genre badly needed.

With their headquarters destroyed and their mission compromised, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) are the Kingsman’s sole surviving members. As the world is held hostage by ruthless drug lord, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the Kingsman appear outnumbered and out-gunned, until they discover an allied US spy organisation known as the Statesman. Frictions run high but, with nowhere left to turn, Eggsy and Merlin must combine forces with their American counterparts to defeat a merciless common enemy and, once again, save the world.

If the measure for success for a sequel is to take what the crowd loved from the first film…just do it louder, then Kingsman: The Golden Circle undoubtedly triumphs. However, for those looking for a little progress in a sequel, this follow-up is nothing but a huge disappointment. Like many sequels, The Golden Circle is all too happy to ride the coattails of its predecessor, offering precious little to distinguish itself and, while The Secret Service arrived as a bold, hyperactive bolt from the blue; its sequel fizzles in its struggle to recapture the magic.

It’s hard to escape The Golden Circle’s overwhelming déjà vu, as director, Matthew Vaughn, and writer, Jane Goldman, demonstrate a stubborn unwillingness to go that extra mile to recapture the energy and creative spark that made its predecessor so successful. With the creative well clearly running dry, the entire franchise looks dangerously close to implosion before it’s even had a chance to get going.

While unoriginality is far from the be-all and end-all for action fare such as this; when your film is so brazenly unconcerned with pushing the boat out and all too ready to rip off your predecessor’s plot, you know you’re in a whole heap of trouble. From start to finish, The Golden Circle is riddled with unoriginality and cliché, to the point that it starts becoming the precise thing the franchise was set up to spoof.

As a like-for-like substitution for Samuel L. Jackson’s Richmond Valentine, Julianne Moore has been drafted in as The Golden Circle’s token OTT supervillain and, for all the character’s quirky idiosyncrasies, her painfully predictable world domination plot falls just as flat as that from the first film. Gone are the rogue mobile phones of The Secret Service, replaced by a half-baked, interchangeable drug plot that plods along with barely an original thought in its head; making for a frustratingly sterile viewing experience.

Outside of the shameless doppelganger plot, The Golden Circle makes it its mission to recycle every character, set piece, and joke going from The Secret Service; with large chunks of the film seemingly contrived as no more than cynical, winking call-backs. Villainous sidekicks with bionic legs are replaced with villainous sidekicks with bionic arms, while those ill-conceived sex gags are back and cruder than ever. It all smacks of a desperate deficiency of imagination and, while the introduction of the Statesman is at least an attempt to inject some originality into proceedings, it just can’t shift stink of monotony.

Despite the sloppy script and dull, repetitive plot, Matthew Vaughn does, however, do an admirable job in keeping the action engaging and is a prime example in what can be achieved if you identify your strengths and stick to them, while allowing for new ideas to seep through.

Since his directorial debut with the stylish cockney thriller Layer Cake, Matthew Vaughn has carved out quite a reputation within Hollywood as a filmmaker with a keen eye for kinetic action and, with the momentum built through Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, the director has been able to expand on his dynamic vision exponentially with Kingsman.

The Golden Circle sees the director’s kinetic style in full flow, as the dynamism of the film’s elaborate set pieces inject some much-needed punch into things. Nothing quite matches to the pure, visceral thrill of witnessing Colin Firth tearing an entire hate church a new one in The Secret Service’s 3-minute bonanza of brutality, but The Golden Circle comes damn close. The action may feel a tad repetitive but there are moments of inspiration, like the opening car chase, that arrive as a timely reminder of just how talented Vaughn is as a director of visually impressive action.

For better or worse, Vaughn has fully embraced that classic idiom, ‘bigger is better’, and, as if to hammer this point home, he proceeds to drop the relentlessly brash Statesman on us. Their introduction is a neat trick, adding an interesting counterbalance to the Kingsman’s well-mannered Bond antics; however, it all falls flat, with many of the new faces left sorely underutilised.

With Hollywood big-hitters Halle Berry, Geoff Bridges, and Channing Tatum introduced to the fold, the potential was clearly there for something big, so it’s massively disappointing that they all end up adding little of substance. As perhaps the biggest name of them all, Julianne Moore is by far the film’s biggest let down. Much like Samuel L. in The Secret Service, the usually stellar Moore phones in a villainous performance so painfully wonky and hammy that you’ve got to wonder what on Earth she’s getting out of it all.

Surrounded by far more illustrious names, the fantastic Pedro Pascal pulls back some respect for the newcomers. As the smooth-talking, lasso-wielding Whiskey; Pascal not only outshines his big-name colleagues but does well to steal the show from the Brits with a performance of effortless charisma and brash style. With a burgeoning reputation in the television world, it’ll be a huge shame if big screen success wasn’t forthcoming for the Chilean after this.

Despite the film’s newfound American influence, however, Kingsman’s heart remains in its quintessentially British core. Although the film’s opening sees the Kingsman’s very foundations turned to dust, the franchise’s central trio of Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, and Colin Firth (if he’s in the trailers, I’m not considering that a spoiler) remain solid.

Although the charming My Fair Lady dynamics have largely evaporated since the first film, there remains an amiable quality present whenever the trio are together that just about manages to keep The Golden Circle ticking, even in its most questionable moments. Acting as the perfect foil for the overblown antics of their American colleagues; Egerton, Strong, and Firth are always available to supply some much-needed gravitas and a surprising dash of emotion here and there. Mark Strong’s rousing rendition of the John Denver classic, ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, is possibly worth the price of admission on its own.

Taking its lead from the highly questionable sex joke in the final moments of The Secret Service, problems remain with the franchise’s dubious approach to humour. If you thought the Kingsman had grown up since the last film, think again, as The Golden Circle makes a point in lowering its brow so far that things become old and downright awkward, pretty damn fast.

Considering the broad, often misogynistic, material it’s looking to parody; the crudity of The Golden Circle’s humour could potentially be justified within the context of satire, but there’s certainly a tipping point where this no longer becomes a valid excuse. The blokey, bantery, lowest common denominator humour is persistent throughout the film and the lack of visible tongue-in-cheek feels troubling, as an uncomfortable level of pride is taken in making the kind of ugly, lad jokes that went the way of Nuts Magazine years ago.

Of course, there’s ample room for a cheeky sense of humour with any spy movie, and Kingsman certainly wouldn’t work without it in some form, but there’s definitely a limit. While The Secret Service waited until its final moments to nudge itself over this limit, The Golden Circle has no such problem. On a mission to test your resolve (and your stomach) as rapidly as possible, the film reaches the point of no return roughly halfway through with a Glastonbury scene so ill-conceived that there’s little chance of redemption from that moment on.

At its heart, the Kingsman franchise is a rather disposable, knockabout spoof of a genre that’s always in need of a good roasting, yet, mere imitation will only get you so far. By doubling-down on the leery jokes and ludicrous action in lieu of originality, the filmmakers appear to have given up the ghost on offering anything of worth to the series. With a tired plot and woefully clichéd villains, there’s little innovation on display and, while the introduction of the Statesman is a nice touch, it all feels like a massive missed opportunity. While the action is on point and a welcome break from the film’s crass monotony, it’s ultimately undermined by a truly dubious brand of humour. The leering, laddish comedy is often hard to stomach and, quite frankly, there aren’t explosions loud enough to mask just how ugly Matthew Vaughn’s spy vision has become. No doubt Kingsman: The Golden Circle will make enough money for the films to continue but, if the franchise is to have a viable future, it’ll have to grow up fast.