The King's Man (2021)

The King's Man (2021). The King’s Man: Directed by Matthew Vaughn. With Djimon Hounsou, Ralph Fiennes, Shaun McKee, Peter York. In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.

“Surprise smash hit in 2014, Matthew Vaughnu0026#39;s first Kingsman film The Secret Service was a fun, exciting and inventive new take on the spy/action film hybrid with its more forgettable sequel The Golden Circle still an enjoyable romp despite a noticeable drop off in quality but not even the keenest of Kingsman fans will be able to steel themselves for the mostly charmless and surprisingly serious origin story Vaughn has taken the series too with The Kingu0026#39;s Man.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSet in the early 20th century where Europe is at war and Englandu0026#39;s freedom is threatened by a group of mad man hellbent on world domination, Kingu0026#39;s Man follows the pre-Kingsman exploits of Ralph Fiennes widower Orlando Oxford and his teenage son Conrad (an unfortunately bland character played lifelessly by Harris Dickinson) who along with the help of their housekeepers and associates take it upon themselves to turn the tide of the great war in the favor of their beloved country.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn this set up thereu0026#39;s no time for the banter we got between Colin Firthu0026#39;s Harry Hart or Taron Egertonu0026#39;s streetwise wise-talker Eggsy, thereu0026#39;s no truly over the top flourishes outside of a few odd scenes mostly involving Rhys Ifanu0026#39;s crazy take on Russian villain Grigori Rasputin (who couldu0026#39;ve done with a lot more screen time than he was granted by Vaughn) and overall it feels as though for some reason Vaughn has decided the unique and playful nature that made his series stand out from the crowd is no longer needed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNever more prevalent is this aspect of the film than in an oddly bizarre detour to the World War 1 trenches as Conrad ventures to the front lines, this 20 or so minute mid-movie aspect might involve one of the films stand out action scenes but overall it feels like itu0026#39;s from a completely different movie than what has come before it or what follows it and itu0026#39;s an example of the film trying to do too many things at once, with too many characters like the didnu0026#39;t need to show up Matthew Goode, Aaron Taylor-Johnson or Daniel Brühl, making Kingu0026#39;s Man a film without a true identity or purpose.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBased of this very differently toned and delivered series entry, itu0026#39;s hard to know exactly where Vaughn wishes to take his property from here on out but if there is to be more Kingsman adventures it would be wise to head back to the working book of the first film that provided a fresh take on a well-worn genre, only to find itself battling for its relevance less than a decade on.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFinal Say -u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSadly this much delayed origin story is a mostly dull affair of a property that at one stage looked set to provide a fantastically fun cinematic journey, forgoing the fun that made people fall in love with it in the first case, The Kingu0026#39;s Man has snippets of greatness but is an overall forgettable and dull adventure.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e2 strong cups of tea out of 5u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor more reviews check out Jordan and Eddie.”