ReelBob: ‘The King’s Man’ ★★
By Bob Bloom
2014’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was a combination of James Bond, Austin Powers and “Kick-Ass.” Its 2017 sequel, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” while entertaining, failed to reach the same level of violent zaniness.
Now comes the prequel, “The King’s Man,” which plays as if Quentin Tarantino and Mel Brooks collaborated on “A History of the World, Part II.”
“The King’s Man,” set in the years before and during World War I, offers a skewered and cynical historical view of the era in which three leaders — King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias — are cousins, grandchildren of England’s Queen Victoria. (Never mind that Nicholas’ wife, not the czar, is Victoria’s grandchild.)
What the hell, it’s only a movie.
Wilhelm and Nicholas are portrayed as dolts, manipulated by minions of a criminal mastermind known as The Shepherd, who wants to instigate a world war that would kill millions.
Trying to ferret out the culprit are English duke Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), a devout pacifist; his right-hand man, Shola (Djimon Hounsou); and Oxford’s son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson).
Since the death of his wife years earlier in South Africa, Orlando has striven to protect Conrad and keep him out of harm’s way.
Of course, Conrad chafes at his father’s measures, creating conflict between the two.
“The King’s Man” is tonally erratic, jumping around from comedy to farce, to violence and tragedy.
The film’s main pleasure is seeing historical figures uncharacteristically, such as an overly manic and horny Rasputin — played to perfection by Rhys Ifans — influence the czar, and a lecherous President Woodrow Wilson (Ian Kelly), maintaining United States neutrality to avoid being blackmailed.
Yep, the movie is more fiction than history. But its absurdity is one of its benefits. The silly tone continues until the outbreak of World War I, where the film shifts into grim depictions of the hell of trench warfare, which leads to a grim turning point for the older Oxford’s ideals.
The first hour of “The King’s Man” is heavy on exposition and light on action. The movie doesn’t come to life until more than an hour into its 131-minute running time.
By then, it is nearly too late, as Oxford takes action to hunt and stop the nefarious Shepherd.
Fiennes shows a bit of comic flair while he maintains his starched, stiff-upper-class-lip British demeanor. And Tom Hollander is a delight doing triple duty as Wilhelm, Nicholas and King George.
Oxford enlists witty servant Polly (a delightful Gemma Arterton) to establish a spy network of servants — who know everything that is happening in every palace and executive mansion — to keep him apprised of current events.
Oxford finally uncovers the Shepherd’s lair. His unmasking is really not a surprise to sharp-minded film buffs.
At the end, Oxford realizes a network of nongovernmental agents is needed to combat the follies of world leaders — thus, is born Kingsman.
Yet, “The King’s Man” could have been a better feature if only director Matthew Vaughn, who directed and gets screenplay credits on the previous two movies, had not been so scattershot with his third outing.
By the fade-out, you really don’t care that much who or why Kingsman was created. And the end-credit sequence, featuring the most heinous individual of the 20th century, is offensive and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. “The King’s Man” has a few bright spots, but they are dimmed by Vaughn’s too-frequent excesses.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap substack and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
THE KING’S MAN
2 stars out of 4
(R), graphic and bloody violence, language, sexual material