DESPITE the multiple exploding heads, the outrageous church-turned-into-slaughterhouse scene (set to an ear-splitting instrumental from a Lynyrd Skynyrd classic), not forgetting assorted scenes of murder and mayhem (delivered with a wink and a nod), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) had an endearing freshness that enabled audiences to not only tolerate it, but also to embrace it.

The same can't be said of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a bloated follow-up from director Matthew Vaughn, whose desire to ramp up the frenzied action to alarming proportions comes at the expense of everything else - such as narrative and dramatic tension.

The result is an overstuffed film that fails to deliver (sort of like Fat Elvis versus Lean Elvis).