THE KING’S MAN (2021)

THE KING’S MAN (2021)

Tagline: Nope.

(Action, Adventure, Junk History) [R]

Our enemies think we are gentlemen, but reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are.

This one takes place in the 20th Century and outlines the beginning of the “Kingsman Secret Service” which is kind of like the CIA only maybe more brutal? I don’t know I am not in the CIA as it turns out. From humble beginnings using the Red Cross as a front to taking on the world’s most dangerous cabal, exactly what sparked the need for the world’s most highly trained assassins?

First off, this movie takes about 60 minutes to really get going, goes well for about 10 minutes, takes about a 20-minute break to mope around then kicks it back into high gear for about the last 30 minutes. So if you add that up that is about 40 minutes of actual action out of 130. So buckle up for a lot of boredom and unnecessary backfill. 

On the bright side, the action sequences, as in all of the KINGSMAN series, are awesome. Director Matthew Vaughn (best known for this series and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) is really good at giving us amazing action sequences that at times mirror motion poetry more than brawls. The sets and cinematography are also quite good in this movie. You definitely feel taken back to the era. 

We also get an amazing cast. It’s nice to see Gemma Arterton back in an action flick. Quite frankly I had pretty much forgotten about her since around 2013’s HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS. She’s been extremely active, but she’s been in a bunch of stuff I could care less about. In this, she plays Polly who is basically like a multitasking maid that will shoot you in the head if necessary. We also get the extremely talented Ralph Fiennes who is basically the head of this group trying to save the world. Fiennes is probably best known for being Lord Voldemort in the HARRY POTTER series and as Hades in the CLASH OF THE TITANS films. It is nice to see him playing a good guy from time to time. This is also another great outing for Djimon Hounsou who has been in just about 1 million movies but is most famous for playing “Korath” in both CAPTAIN MARVEL and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. In this movie, he plays “Shola” who is not to be messed with and will also shoot you in the head or sword fight you if necessary. Finally, the movie also has Rhys Ifans plays Rasputin in this one. He does a creepy but commendable job. Rhys Ifans also holds the distinction of being the only actor to appear in 2 movies we saw at the theater on Christmas Day 2021. The other movie was SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME where he plays the role of Dr. Curt Conors/The Lizard. How’s that for mind-boggling? The movie's cast also has pretty deep Marvel and 007 movie series connections. Even the comic book company that makes the Kingsman comics (Icon Comics) is an imprint of Marvel where the comics are creator-owned. 

Where this movie falls flat is in the execution. You don’t say you are making a Kingsman movie and throw a war movie right in the center of it that drags the plot along like an episode of “Name That Stain”*. This portion of the film could have been wrapped up in a montage that lasted 20 seconds. The other thing that was just completely unnecessary was any scene with Rasputin where he wasn’t fighting. I could have done without one scene in particular, but I won’t spoil it for those who are going to venture to watch this thing. 

Overall there is just too much downtime for me in this film, given that it promised all action all the time, in the previews and in the two previous installments. I give this one a 4 out of 7. It’s pretty solid filmmaking-wise, but I don’t see myself buying it even if I am trying to collect all of the Kingman films. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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