The King's Man

 

The King's Man
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans
Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Matthew Vaughn's "Kingman" franchise, in my own description, is like if James Bond took speed. It centers on a covert group of operatives who operate outside the government authority to keep peace in the world, and hold to their mantra: "manners maketh man." The first two films in the franchise were huge hits, and cemented the career of one Taron Egerton, along with providing fun, action-fueled spy films filled with inherent humor and fast-paced action sequences. "The King's Man" is the prequel story that no one necessarily asked for, but helped establish the organization even if the film itself tonally goes all over the place.

Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) was a former soldier-turned-pacifist who promised his dying wife that he's never let their son, Conrad (Alexander Shaw), see war. Years later, an older Conrad (Harris Dickinson), wants to make a difference in the world, and accompanies his father to watch over Archduke Ferdinand. Despite saving him from a bombing attack, they're unable to prevent his assassination, which fuels a war between England, Germany, and Russia, all under the mysterious eye of The Shepherd, who enlists a group of villains to help plant the seeds of war, including Russian Czar Nicholas's trusted advisor Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Infans).

While Conrad wants to enlist in the British army, Orlando finally realizes he can't keep his son away from war, and introduces him to a spy network he started with two of his servants, Polly Wilkins (Gemma Arterton) and Shola (Djimon Hounsou). By utilizing hired help from each country, they discover a plot to attack England by using Rasputin's influence on the Czar of Russia to back out of the war. They head to Russia to take on Rasputin, and afterward embark on a journey to find the Shepherd and stop World War I from destroying Britain.

What made the "Kingsman" series so endearing is its use of high-octane action mixed with sharp, quick-witted humor, all thrown into a blender and churned out at a breakneck pace. Both films were entertaining from start to finish because they never took themselves too seriously, providing a fun, unique spy-caper style that was refreshing, new, and relatively unheard of. "The King's Man," however, is more subdued in its humor, opting for a more historically driven film that for long moments takes itself way too seriously, before dropping in moments of intense action and some witty dialogue, but those moments were too few and far-between. The majority of the film seemed to take itself too seriously, and there were even moments where I felt they were trying to make another "1917" film as opposed to a "Kingsman" one. That's not to say it's bad, necessarily, but tonally compared to the first two it falls a bit flat.

If you would take the few moments of the Kingsman tailor shop out of the film, you'd have a decent World War I spy epic that you'd never connect to the "Kingsman" franchise, and it almost feels like an afterthought here. While there were some truly epic and exciting action set pieces (including the fight with Rasputin and the final battle), the majority of the film is spent discussing spy techniques and giving an alternate version to the events of World War I that was started more from an underground gang of villains than the historically accurate portrayal - but this doesn't even pretend to be an actual factual film, so obviously I can't fault them for that.

What I can fault them is depriving us of a truly devilish villain, much like the ones we saw before. Both Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore gave us deliciously deceptive villains in the previous two films, providing fun, humorous moments as well as showcasing their truly outlandishly evil natures. They were more than just shady shadows in the corner, but they allowed their quirks and idiosyncrasies to help define their characters. Here, the main villain is disguised through most of the film, as you only see the back of their head, and literally serves as the hidden man in the shadows. Vaughn did this because there's a big reveal as to who the villain is, but even someone paying only half attention could pick up on who it is from almost the very start, and this stunts the film by depriving us from another over-the-top villainous performance.

Fortunately Vaughn did give us a great side-villain in Rasputin, played with delightful glee by Rhys Infans. The real Rasputin is a man of legend, who's real-life death is nothing short of extraordinary. Infans plays Rasputin with a pitch-perfect perfection, making him larger than life, much like the real man was. His fight is epic, a beautiful blend of savagery and grace, like a Russian dance to the death. Sadly, he isn't the main villain, and if he was, it would've made the movie so much better.

Ralph Fiennes was an easy choice to play Orlando Oxford, as his mere presence oozes the style of the film, as he goes from bloodthirsty soldier to pacifist to once again a bloodthirsty soldier for the sake of country with elegant succession. Harris Dickinson shines as Oxford's son Conrad, who seeks to protect his country at all costs. Gemma Arterton (who's still incredibly an underrated action heroine) and Djimon Hounsou steal the show as Oxford's hired help/spy comrades who prove their mettle time and again.

The effects once again shine through a somewhat tonally displaced story, as Vaughn relies again on a mixture of slow-motion action with intense camera angles that heighten the tension. The fight with Rasputin is especially beautifully shot, with unique angles and choreography that proves this to be a real "Kingsman" movie. When Conrad is fighting in No Man's Land, the film once again shines, and the final action set piece is a marvelous joy to behold, but unfortunately those are the only really shining moments of the film. The rest is filled with filler material about spies and double-crosses, which does move the story along, but drags compared to the fast-paced action that precedes and succeeds them. Still, it's more than worth it to watch the film solely for the action, as well as the shocking twists and turns that the movie makes, along with a mixture of fake news history and real-life history that'll have you Googling events of World War I after the film ends.

While supplying the exciting action set pieces the franchise is known for, "The King's Man" is hampered by a hidden villain and an all-too-serious tone that detaches from the franchise and makes it feel more serious than it should've been.

The Score: A