In this prequel to Kingsman, we look at the creation of the Kingsman spy organization, which involves the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) and his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) seeking to stop a shadowy organization starting World War I.
Writer/director Matthew Vaughn, who handled the last two films, had a lot of fun basically doing whatever he wanted and going over-the-top with the era, details, and historical figures of the great war. The costumes and especially the sets look amazing.
The fight scenes all are really well executed and look great, especially the first major one.
Vaughn seems to have taken to heart the fact that The Golden Circle wasn't as popular as the first film. Whereas GC went further in the direction of comedy, The King's Man is the most grounded of the trilogy. I mean by the terms of its universe; there's still humor (overall more a sense of playfulness than many straight up jokes) and Vaughn still has that distinctive British anarchic style of writing, though this film will probably be the closest in line in the trilogy to an American sense of the regular blockbuster.
The real backbone to all this is Oxford's storyline. There are a lot of twists and turns to this and you really become involved with the character's goals. Fiennes is unsurprisingly excellent in his performance as the kick-butt, classy, and philanthropic nobleman. I'm really surprised no one hasn't put him an action film before (maybe it's because he has a very upper bureaucratic upper management face).
There is an excellent group of villains in this based on historical figures. In a monocle, Daniel Bruhl is fun and just spiffy looking as the manipulative Erik Jan Hanussen. However, it's Rhys Ifans' Rasputin who steals the show. Before I saw this, I was annoyed that Rasputin was used YET AGAIN as a villain. He'd already been used multiple times over the years in film and television (including Anastasia and Hellboy). I didn't see the point of using him again. Boy did this movie prove me wrong. Ifans is excellent in his humorous yet unsettling performance as a weird hedonist.
However, the main villain just isn't as interesting as his subordinates. I don't understand why they all follow him so loyally. I don't see how his goals benefits them or why'd they work with someone with such a short temper. Also, hiding this guy in the shadows was so completely unnecessary.
Running at two hours and ten minutes this movie may be too long for some. (One man in my theater fell asleep.) Though I thought the movie did a good job of balancing the action and dialogue parts, it still takes a while to see plot points meet their conclusion. I think Vaughn got a little too involved in the entire timeline of World War I. They could've cut some parts.
Recommended. Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable action film, and being a Vaughn title manages to not be downright cookie cutter.
