MOVIE REVIEW: The King's Man

The release of delayed espionage films has been big business for the box office in 2021. Amazingly, 20th Century has come through with a picture unique to not only the Kingsman series but to spy/thriller audiences as well.

Off the bat, there is plenty of goofiness in “The King’s Man” that might fit more comfortably in an Austin Powers flick, but Vaughn and his set of players are able to carry out the measures of emotion in this film at a level more palpable than the latest 007 film, but scratching the surface of “Black Widow”. Whereas the previous King’s Man films was filled with properly placed humor, the multiple clichés within this installment made certain moments laughable when they were supposed to be dead serious. That, as well as the only afro-centric character in the entire film being in a subservient role did not sit well. Even if “The King’s Man” is a period piece, the cliches, certain jokes and placements of the characters grossly dated the film.

There are a few curve balls that make a sizeable portion of the cliches forgivable; just because some of the comedy fell flat or was off beat, that does not mean that “The King’s Man” is not a fun film. The first-person action sequences are particularly must-see to the point that they should inspire generations of film-making to come. The main antagonist uses a hate for nepotism as fuel for his misdeeds, so there is plenty of moments for the audience to have a crisis of conscience. Just as well, “The King’s Man” provides a justified diatribe on the wages of war and the cost of morality.

Though there are some missteps, undoubtedly caused by studio executives to give this comic book adaptation a “Hollywood shine”, “The King’s Man” is another entertaining Matthew Vaughn film within this franchise and most importantly is solid enough as a stand alone action film for those who have zero interest in film universe’s or the books that inspire the stories audiences enjoy on screen.

Score : 3/5

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Produced by: Matthew Vaughn; David Reid; Adam Bohling

Production companies: Marv Studios; Cloudy Productions;

Adapted from: Kingsman

Screenplay by: Matthew Vaughn; Karl Gajdusek