No film was moved around more by the pandemic than The King’s Man (although, Top Gun and Black Widow certainly come to mind). The film was due out in 2020 just weeks before the pandemic took over our lives and was pushed around several times afterwards, before finally being thrown into theaters late last year.
But now The Kingsmen prequel has arrived on a variety of streamers, including HBO Max, and it succeeds at delivering the style of the slick franchise, while falling short in other areas and being straight out bizarre at sometimes.
Ralph Fiennes stars as the original guardian of espionage for England, as he tries to get the country through a world war by battling the globe’s villains, including Rasputin (played by Rhys Ifans).
Director Matthew Vaughn does keep the action going, and that’s the first rule of these films. While it’s missing that slick techno vibe that worked so well in the first two movies because of the fact it takes place 100 years ago, it entertains using everything else from Russian dance-fighting to trench warfare. Fiennes also gives us 100% here and that makes any film better.
The problems with the King’s Man is that it often can’t figure out what it wants to be, and there are some scenes and story building that are flat out weird with characters doing things that make no sense. And yes, this film is about 20 minutes too long and the could have easily been prevented with an unneeded action sequence towards the end that does nothing for the plot.
Ultimately, The King’s Man finds itself in the middle of the franchise. Not as good as the original but better than the sub par sequel.
And even if it’s been evading you for almost two years, if you were interested then, you should be interested, and for the most part content now.
The King’s Man
GRADE: C+
Running Time: 2 Hour 10 minutes
Rated: R
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