Directed By:
Matthew Vaughn
Written By:
Matthew Vaughn, Karl Gajdusek, Mark Millar
Starring:
Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans
Genre:
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: R for sequences of strong/bloody violence, language, and some sexual material
Coming from the creators of the original and sequel Kingsman films, we now are sent back in time to the roots that took hold to become Kingman. Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with using his set of skills with his son to take on evil, root out conspiracies all in secrecy with class above all else. With familiar gadgets, some knowledgable and meaningful self help and Spy antics, ‘The Kings Man’ aims to be as strong as its original film, but fails to capture more than maybe 45% of its magic.
First the positives. I truly had a great time with Ralph Fiennes as the lead. He was as electric as Colin Firth was in the original role and I hope we can at lease see a continuation of his character later on. Gemma Arterton and Rhys Ifans as his sidekicks both were great but admittedly underused for me. I wish we had gotten more of a team building that we had in the first film when this seems more centered on Orlando Oxford and his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson).
The fighting and special effects are all familiar to the franchise, with some impressive stunt work and camerawork during the sequences that remind you why you loved the first film, but the levels are never high enough to feel like you’re engaged with the movie, and I couldn’t help but feel there was a lot of wasted potential spent on things that just weren’t interesting enough.
Let’s talk about the villains, the weakest part of the movie and weakest villains in the franchise. I came in really hoping for greatness with such a name villain as Rasputin, but was extremely dissatisfied with how little we get. The main villain is shrouded in unnecessary and overdone secrecy that means almost nothing in the end. The villains are a main reason why I don’t like this movie.
Overall, ‘The Kings Man’ is alright but is a huge waste of potential for its characters. Underdeveloped story and no true and worthy predecessor to the original Kingsman church sequence. Check it out if your a die hard fan, but it’s otherwise better to just watch the original.
