Movie Breakdown: The King’s Man
Pre-Screening Stance:
I enjoyed Kingsman: The Secret Service, and I thought Kingsman: The Golden Circle was bizarre but alright. Can’t say I’ve been crying out for the addition of a prequel in the series, but I’m down to give The King’s Man a whirl.
Post-Screening Ramble:
I really didn’t care for The King’s Man. The film follows Orlando, the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), as he … does stuff before and during World War I. Honestly, this movie was such a slog that nearly every plot detail zoomed right by me as I counted each eternal second in its two hour and eleven minute runtime. This absolutely should have been something fun – I mean, a war film complete with revisionist history and the stylish elements that were so finely tuned in the previous Kingsman entries? Yes, sign me up! Unfortunately though, writer/director Matthew Vaughn goes too hard on the war setting, and the end result is a largely dour experience, one that’s just thoroughly gray, and the rare moments it does attempt to perk up always come off as forced and/or oddly placed. What a boring mess this is across the board.
Unless you just really need to get out of the house, I’d wait to see The King’s Man on a flight or some other time when there’s nothing better to do. The film will hit theaters on Wednesday, December 22.
One Last Thought:
It’d be great to see Matthew Vaughn move on from both Kingsman and Kick Ass (he recently announced he’s planning to reboot it). The guy directed Layer Cake and Stardust, so I know he’s capable of a lot more than just telling the same stories over and over.
One More Last Thought:
There’s a scene where Rhys Ifans aggressively tongues an old wound on Ralph Fiennes’ leg and it’s one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve seen in 2021.
