Iâve ranted about this before on Twitter, but to summarize; the reason why TGC feels so aimless as a movie in the franchise is because it completely lost whatever anti-elitist tone + Eggsy character development drive that the first one had.
The whole point of TSS was that Eggsy was being manipulated, abused, or taken advantage of by the rich and powerful of society as a means to an end for the entire film. Valentine and Arthur are two versions of this; Valentine being the rich who donât know you or care for you, whereas Arthur represents the rich who know your anger as a lower class citizen and seek to exploit it while calling themselves an ally.
Harryâand Merlin, to an extentâare the few authority figures in Eggsyâs life that do not outright take advantage of his socioeconomic standing, and actually scold him for thinking it matters (which is technically also a privileged take to an extent, as socioeconomic status does dictate a LOT of our daily lives, but I donât think Vaughn thought that deeply about it). They encourage Eggsyâs growth and are core figures that aide in his development as both person and agent.
Anyways, this brings me to my point: TSS was about Eggsyâs struggle against the system; against elitism; against being the underdog, of being perfectly capable (if not more) than his peers with better resources and still being looked down upon. This is something that Eggsy clearly is shown to struggle with and thus fights viciously to prove himself through the entire film up until the end; his worth is deeply personal to him, and he wonât go down without a fight especially when he has a good support system believing in him (Harry, Roxy, Merlin, etc).
You see my point: TSS is deeply personal to Eggsyâs struggles; in fact, we revolve around his crawl to the top against all odds. At the beginning, he is largely self deprecating, believing himself to be incompetent or incapable despite all evidence saying otherwise. We grow with him, and by the end, he shows that he has become a braver person who doubts very little about himself.
Right. Drugs. Itâs a good topic that we know Eggsy has had history with, as evidenced by his conversation with Harry in TSS and Poppy in TGC. Thereâs the personal connection to the main antagonistic element we need for a good movie.
âŠUnfortunately, this never actually blooms into its own conflict.
If Vaughn knew what he was doing, this could have been an incredible film about not being ashamed of a past of addiction or drug abuse; he could have showed how drugs are used to oppress the disadvantaged lower class, and how Poppy represents that upper class greed that comes at the crippling cost of life. And while TGC does show a bit of that, it is never truly personal to Eggsy; it isnât something heâs shown to struggle with, and thus we, the audience, end up feeling gravely disconnected from the main antagonistic element of the film.
TGC could have been about trying to take pride in finding your footing for yourself. It could have been about recruiting more of his friends for Kingsman, likely struggling in the same background as him, or sourcing help from his own folk (think the Bowery Mob in John Wick; these things have been done before to incredible success!); after all, isnât that the point? Eggsy is the man with a foot in both worlds; heâs supposed to be the bridge, the socializer, the posh gentleman and the average citizen.
The Eggsy we meet at the beginning of TGC is the same as the Eggsy we get at the end; and as Iâm sure we all know, as action-packed as Kingsman is, it is still a very heavily character-driven film. We learn about the world through Eggsyâs eyes, and we root for him; hell, thatâs the whole point of TSSâs Act III. But TGC ends up trying to please all sides; Vaughn doesnât have the balls to try a drug addict recovery story, even in the lighthearted but crass Kingsman flavor of comedy, so instead we got a halfbaked story where Eggsy kind of kicks ass and Harry comes back as a fanservice plot. And Merlin dies. For some reason.
But yeah; if you were ever wondering why TGC feels so lackluster and unmoving compared to its predecessor, this is why; itâs because Vaughn was too afraid to let Eggsy grow as a person.
(And no, getting married doesnât count. That isnât a deeper insecurity or backstory element we have been teased before.)
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