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Dec 22, 2021 · Ralph Fiennes' solid central performance in The King's Man is done dirty by this tonally confused prequel's descent into action thriller tedium. Read Critics Reviews
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- Matthew Vaughn
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- Ralph Fiennes
Dec 22, 2021 · Reviews. The King's Man. Brian Tallerico December 22, 2021. Tweet. Now streaming on: Powered by JustWatch. Matthew Vaughn ’s “The King’s Man” is such an inconsistent action movie. It feels like half the production teams wanted to make “1917” and the other half opened the wallets for the British version of “ Team America: World Police .”
- The third entry into the franchise is the most unhinged yet.
- The Best Movies of 2021
- What We Said About the Last Kingsman Film
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By Rosie Knight
Updated: Dec 14, 2021 5:21 pm
Posted: Dec 14, 2021 5:00 pm
This is a spoiler-free early review of The King's Man, which hits theaters on Dec. 22.
It feels like a near impossible feat to review The King's Man, director Matthew Vaughn's third entry into his comic book spy franchise. The wildly overstuffed and often delightfully unhinged film – that is, in reality, two films in one – feels almost review proof. A combination of the film's many tonal and narrative contradictions along with its wildly unexpected moments create a situation where it's hard to quantify how it works as a whole.
So what can we say about The King's Man? It acts as a sprawling prequel to The Kingsman series, attempting to build out the world and origins of the independent spy agency. Its impressive ensemble cast is led by Ralph Fiennes in a turn equally overtly sombre and broadly humorous. As Shola, Djimon Hounsou continues his career as the absolute best thing in any comic-book movie. Let's be honest, are you even adapting a sequential story nowadays if Hounsou is not at the top of your casting director's list?? Gemma Arterton brings a perfectly crude edge as Polly, a foul-mouthed housekeeper turned secret agent. And then there's Rhys Ifans in a career best – and career deranged – turn as Rasputin. He's unbelievable.
As the world looks towards World War I, The King's Man begins. The story follows Fiennes' Duke of Oxford, who becomes a pacifist after a family tragedy. That thread is key, as it represents the half of the film which will likely be the most challenging for viewers. Whereas the previous Kingsman movies have been action-packed comedies that lean into the salacious nature of James Bond and the slick spy franchises that have inspired it, this is a very different beast. More than half of the runtime is concerned with the nature of war, the importance of peace, and the Duke of Oxford's struggle with his son's quest to fight for his country. While those could be interesting things to explore, the film barely has anything new to say on those matters. These segments mostly serve only in slowing the wildly paced secondary plot, which is far more engaging and delivers some truly stunning action.
That action – coordinated by a massive stunt team including Bradley James Allan, Allen Jo, Emma Ennis, Wayne Dalglish, and many, many more – is easily the movie's highlight. When these epic fight scenes begin, you lose yourself in the midst of some of the most exciting cinematic showcases of stunt work in years. A Russian set piece featuring Ifans (doubled by Tom Hatt), Hounsou (doubled by Cali Nelle), and Fiennes (doubled by Mark Faulkner) is over ten minutes of action magic. Balletic, frantic, beautiful, and violent, there's so much here that will likely be studied for years... if it doesn't get lost in the runtime and multiple other plotlines. It's not a singular moment either; there are enough action standouts here that you have to wonder whether there's a slicker 90-minute cut of the film that focuses solely on the brilliant choreography and less on the meandering meaning of it all. And it's that chaotic juxtaposition that'll likely split audiences down the middle.
IGN's Jim Vejvoda gave Kingsman: The Golden Circle an 8.5/10, writing, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle is as cheeky, cartoonish, and crazy as its predecessor, but it’s also commendably unafraid to demolish what had come before it if it’s in service of the story. The new dynamic between Eggsy and his team is great, and the Statesman prove amusing counterparts to these gentlemen spies from across the pond."
While the Duke has his pacifist tendencies, he's also in the midst of trying to find a way to serve his country regardless. That's one of the many strange contradictions in this film: someone can be a pacifist while still wanting to support the country that's killing millions. This is a movie about the founding of the Kingsman agency, so it's not a spoiler to explain that we get an insight into their beginnings here. Vaughn does his best to subvert the pulp stories that he's pulling from; Hounsou plays a man servant and Arterton plays a housekeeper, but they're both revealed to be much more. Fiennes' Duke occasionally criticises the treatment of people under the boot of the British government. It's another surface-level aspect, though, rather than being something deeper.
While it might not want to be, this is very much your father's Kingsman movie. In fact, it might be the most dad movie ever to dad movie. Not only is this a father and son story at its heart, this is the kind of tale that's been tailored to the dad audience. It's an action-packed historical piece that plays with ideas of masculinity while sticking to pulp tropes that are recognizable. Though there's tragedy afoot, a lot of the film plays like a wish fulfillment fantasy for dads of a certain age and lifestyle. So really, the biggest mystery of The King's Man is why it's not being released on Father's Day.
That duelling battle between old and new is at the heart of The King's Man.
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That duelling battle between old and new is at the heart of The King's Man. Not just in the sense of Vaughn trying to redefine his franchise or Fiennes and his on-screen son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson), but also in the concept of redefining what an intelligence agency can be. In that way, The King's Man works as a sort of utopian fantasy where all classes and kinds of people can work together for a perceived greater good. But lower-class people still work for the aristocracy and the agency is still called The King's Man, so that gives you an idea of how independent or different it really is.
The ambitious, strange, and overstuffed The King’s Man really does have magic woven in. There are standout moments that, on their own, deserve a 9/10. The action is stunning. Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, and Ralph Fiennes are great. The writing is at times laugh out loud funny. But it also often drags, gets confused with its own logic and politi...
- Rosie Knight
Dec 22, 2021 · ‘The King’s Man’ Review: Suiting Up and Shooting Down. This prequel to the “Kingsman” series presents the confusing origin story of the elite British spy agency, founded by Ralph Fiennes...
Dec 14, 2021 · Director: Matthew Vaughn. Screenwriters: Matthew Vaughn, Karl Gajdusek. Rated R, 2 hours 11 minutes. The results may turn some Kingsman fans off, but those willing to embrace this entry’s greater...
Full Review | Jul 26, 2023. Ryan Oquiza Rappler. In this secret service spy prequel, director Matthew Vaughn meanders his way into the First World War to revise history, but he appears to have ...
User Reviews. Review this title. 1,112 Reviews. Hide Spoilers. Sort by: Filter by Rating: 5/10. Tonal inconsistencies makes for a convoluted, confusing experience. darkreignn 22 December 2021. "The King's Man," directed by Matthew Vaughn, is the third film in the "Kingsman" series, which began way back in 2014.
