The King’s Man – Great Action Film
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writer: Matthew Vaughn, Karl Gajdusek (Screenplay) Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons (Comic Book)
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Harrison Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Daniel Bruhl
Plot: 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.
Runtime: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The King’s Man starts when Orlando Oxford (Fiennes) looks to protect his son Conrad (Dickinson) from the dangers in the world, but with the impending First World War, Orlando learns of a threat to England, one that Conrad wants to join the fight for.
As Orlando introduces his son to the Kingsman with Shola (Hounsou) and Polly (Arterton), they look to fight back against an unknown threat that is putting the world’s leaders into a battle that will see dire consequences.
Thoughts on The King’s Man
Characters & Performances – Orlando Oxford is a good will ambassador working for the Red Cross who sees his wife killed in the field, promising to protect his son from any major conflicts. He will use his position of power to protect him, which is only pushing them apart. He has secretly been holding connections to make it clear on what is going on within the world, wanting to use them to stop the major conflict. Ralph Fiennes is great in this role, getting to go way over the top, but needing to give the grounded performance too. Conrad is the son that sees his mother killed at a young age, he has been raised in a guardian environment, which will see him wanting to serve his country when the war starts, waiting for the chance, he goes against his father’s wishes to make a difference. Harris Dickinson might well be the least known of the main cast, but that doesn’t stop him give us a strong performance in the film. Shola and Polly are the two loyal friends to Orlando, poses as help around the home, he will keep them an important side to everything he does, with them having the skills he doesn’t possess. Djimon Hounsou is great, but Gemma Arterton is truly the scene stealer in this movie, going head-to-head with anyone who gets in her way, getting the best lines too. Where this movie can lack, is in giving us a iconic villain, this one is kept hidden for the most part, known only as the Shepherd, pulling strings, we see the people working for him getting a lot more attention throughout the film.
Story – The King’s Man brings us a story that will look to focus on the origins of the Kingsman, showing a lord that is looking to get the most out of his position in the world, wanting to stop others suffering in major conflict. Changing the time the film is set is risky, because in the previous to Kingsman movies, we have focused on the established group trying to save the world, now we are playing into events we know happened, showing a different version of history behind the start of The Frist World War, showing how people were put in place to pull the strings. It is a nice twist on what we have seen because it will stop the older formula getting stale.
Themes – The King’s Man does take a step towards the more serious action movie here, dropping most of the comedy that previous two movies went heavy on. The action does have some great sequences, that will make a big impact on everything we have seen, different environments and weapons in play. The weapons of choice are adapted to era specific weapons to have their own spin to make a major impact in the fight sequences.
Final Thoughts – The King’s Man is a fun addition to the franchise, turning more towards the action side of things.
