The King’s Man — Review Thread

Finally, after about two years of waiting for the damn thing, The King's Man is here and I've gotta say...it's actually a bit better than I expected it to be. The first Kingsmen is still the best and there are definitely certain franchise trademarks present in this prequel film...but, believe it or not, this is actually Matthew Vaughn "stretching the legs" of the franchise, and it works quite well. This is not a balls-to-the-wall spy action movie, but rather a more subdued-than-expected period spy thriller with a more dramatic streak running through it than I anticipated. Going into it, I'd heard some complaints of tonal whiplash in this movie, but I personally didn't find that to be the case at all. Oh, make no mistake -- that distinct Kingsmen stamp is still very much present within some of the style of this movie, but I didn't think it intruded at all on the different tone Matthew Vaughn was going for this time. For the most part, he achieves that spy thriller/revisionist WWI tone he strives for here, and the bursts of Kingsmen madness feel integrated appropriately and with just enough discretion. Certainly more so than The Golden Circle. But the glue holding this all together is Ralph Fiennes, who brings as much gravitas, charm and emotional weight to this central character as he would one in a more prestige picture. His character's, Orlando Oxford, arc in this film is a more emotionally-driven one than you'd think and seeing him navigate every twist and turn thrown at him gives this movie a surprising amount of heart. Plus, there are a few genuinely surprising turns this movie takes and on more than one occasion, it's the commitment of Ralph Fiennes that helps sell them even more.