A Review of “The King’s Man (2021)”

 

When Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) came out, I didn’t have huge expectations for it. After watching it though, I was completely blown away by how much I enjoyed it. However, the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) was quite disappointed with its nonsensical plot and pacing. After countless delays due to covid, the 3rd entry in the franchise, The King’s Man (2021), finally came out. It is a prequel set during WWI about how the Kingsman formed. So is the franchise back on track or is this another disappointing entry?

Firstly, the cast is great and all give great performances. Ralph Fiennes plays Orlando and is the founder of the Kingsman. He is just perfect casting and seeing him pull off some awesome fight scenes is just wonderful to watch. Gemma Arterton plays Polly Watkins who is a maid and agent to Orlando. She is an absolute joy when she is on screen thanks to her funny wit and quips. She and Ralph Fiennes surprisingly have great chemistry when on screen together. Djimon Hounsou plays Shola a butler and agent to Orlando. He is awesome to watch and he also works well on screen together with Ralph Fiennes. Rhys Ifans as Rasputin is the biggest highlight in this film. His deranged yet menacing performance is just a sight to behold! There is a surprisingly amount of well-known actors in the film even with their short screen time. They all do a great job with some actors wanting me to see more of them.

What makes the Kingsman franchise great is the action scenes and this film still delivers on that. There is a mesmerizing fight scene with Rasputin himself that just put a smile on my face throughout. There is also a very gritty and brutal No Man’s land sequence that is not like previous movies but was very well choreographed. The final action sequence has the level of ridiculousness expected from the franchise and it is very fun to watch. One thing this film does differently from previous films is a more serious and emotional story to tell. The relationship between Orlando and his son Conrad is the core of the film. Orlando wants to protect his son but Conrad wants to fulfil his duty and fight in the war.  I appreciated this part of the story and I think it was executed very well.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of tonal clashes in the film. It will go from this serious World War I film to a weird wacky film where a guy gets his thigh licked and then back again to a serious film. It happens a lot throughout the first 2/3 of the film and it can be a bit jarring that the director can’t just settle on one. The story itself is also quite weak and a little overstuffed with it trying to cover the entire WWI events within it. The pacing is quite slow at points in the first half due to it trying to summarize the things that were happening at the time. It does feel a bit too long at 131 minutes and could have been cut by 10-15 minutes.

Harris Dickinson who plays Conrad (Orlando’s son) is a bit dull. I wouldn’t say it is due to his performance but more down to how his character is written. While every other character has these outward personalities, Conrad is just dull compared to everyone else. It’s a shame as his character is the emotional core of this film but his character is not memorable. There is a villainous group in this film called the Flock and they are the ones manipulating things behind the scenes. Unfortunately, they are also a very bland villainous group with a generic motive and don’t do much to stick in your mind. They are led by “The Shepherd” whose face is kept hidden until the end where it is revealed who he is. Unfortunately, the revelation is predictable and disappointing. He ends up being a very weak villain compared to the awesome Rasputin who probably should’ve been the main villain.

Overall, this film delivers if you just want entertaining action sequences. If you wanted an interesting story about how the Kingsman came to be then you are going to be thoroughly disappointed. It is a little difficult to say whether this is better than Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) as they are both flawed movies. This movie isn’t a must-watch, even for people who watched the previous Kingsman movie. Nevertheless, it is still pretty enjoyable and you will have some enjoyment watching this.