REVIEW #135 The Kings Man (2021)

The Kings Man is the prequel to The Kingsman films, directed by Matthew Vaughn we see how a group of underground, unknown militants help defeat the worlds most dangerous tyrants that are causing the world war. This group is what later becomes, The Kingsman agency. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Ralph Fiennes returns as the founder of The Kingsman agency and also the Duke of Oxford. He is supported by Harris Dickinson who plays his son Conrad, Gemma Arterton who plays Polly and Djimon Hounsou who portrays Shola. The bulk of the cast do pretty well, contributing to the impressive combat choreography and overall silliness of the film. The Kings Man is actually packed with famous cameos, which all play their part well. Rhys Ifans performance was the one I enjoyed the least, not because he necessarily performed badly but his character was just too silly even for a Kingsman film. I think my favourite performance was from Harris Dickinson because he created a character that the audience could route for, without being over the top of stereotypical. He delivered a sense of realism to a very nonsensical movie. 

THE STORYLINE 

The thing I dislike the most about all of the Kingsman films is just how over the top silly they are, they have all the potential to create a really exciting spy thriller if they just removed the gimmick villains and replaced them with more serious roles. I understand it’s intentional but the film has a 15 rating and the villains are something you see in kids films, something I really don’t enjoy. That was exactly my thought in the first half of the film, it was very cheesy and the personification of that cheesiness was the group of tyrants that were orchestrating the war. However the film did really pick up in the second act, I loved the scenes in the trenches where Conrad is at war! It brought a sense of realism to the film when it desperately needed it, bringing grittiness and a darker theme. Not to mention the huge twist that I didn’t expect in the slightest, that alone bumped the score up because it was BOLD! So the storyline really is a story of two halves, the first half was awful but the second was really enjoyable. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I have mentioned a lot about what I dislike about the Kingsman films but one thing I love is how they film their action sequences. In my opinion they have some of the best combat scenes of any action film, it’s so chaotic and the camera work is excellent, creating a really smooth movement that flows alongside the action. The Kings Man also has a lot of great cinematography, I will bring it back to the trenches scenes, that fight when the soldiers go over the top in the silence of the night is one of my favourite scenes in the film! Dark setting, fantastic camerawork and some pretty impressive special effects too. They really know how to pull of gory kills well! So I definitely think this category is a strong point for the film. 

OVERALL (6.5/10)

The Kings Man really is a film of two halves, I was so unimpressed with the first act that I was sure this wouldn’t be getting any higher then a 4 out of 10. It was unbelievably cheesy, the villains made me just switch off and there wasn’t anything that really pulled me into the characters. However if you stick with it, the second act is a lot better! The acting picks up and the cinematography is great, it delivers a fantastic twist that really took me by surprise and created some real excitement. I’m not talking about the end reveal, what I’m referring to is about three quarters of the way through the film. Granted there is a lot of things I would change about it but it is actually quite enjoyable in the end, very silly but still enjoyable. 

Thanks for reading

Callan