"The King's Man" Review
A prequel set a century in the past, also sets it back in quality with a lack of follow-through on some promising themes.
When the fist “Kingsman” movie came out, it felt like a fresh take on the Bond brand of spy thriller. It was a film that thrived on three pillars: suits, over the top action, and crude but witty humor. All of which was propelled by kinetic direction from Vaughn. Eggsy’s exploits in the first film continuously play on the audience’s expectations of a spy flick to surprise and excite the audience, whereas this go-around becomes predictable.
“The King’s Man” follows Ralph Fiennes as Orlando Oxford, a pacifist lord with a hobby for spy craft, on a European tour studded with historical cameos and events. The highlight of which is a fight scene against Rasputin, with mesmerizing choreography that evokes Russian ballet. In the process Oxford and company discover that dissatisfaction with monarchies across Europe is part of a plan orchestrated by The Shepard (Matthew Goode, though the movie tries and fails to hide that fact for much too long).
The big reveal is that Goode’s villain is attempting to dethrone the monarchs of Germany, Russia, and Britain (all three played by Tom Hollander) by instigating the events of World War 1. Because he is against the rampant destruction these countries have caused through their imperialism and colonialism. And the audience is expected to root against him?
Here, the movie gives up on its own theme. Earlier in the film Oxford schools his son Conrad in the ethical dilemma of their position as a member of the landed gentry, emphasizing the horrors of colonialism and chaos sown into other countries for Britain’s own imperialistic power. Both Conrad and the audience see that the monarchy has blood on its hands, and that this system is not honorable or just.
This thematic message is thrust fully upon Conrad, whose biggest moment comes when he engages in a battle in No Man’s Land. It is a tense fight scene under moonlight with bayonets, knives, and bare hands; the only sounds are bones crushing, stomachs being opened by blades, and soft whimpers from terrified boys.
This is when “The King’s Man” soars. As it takes the violent fight scenes of the franchise but recontextualizes them for the themes of war’s brutality and pointlessness. Surviving what should have been a suicide mission, Conrad returns to the British trench but is unceremoniously shot point blank (exactly like Colin Firth in the first movie).
Vaughn in this moment shows a sparkle of what could have been. The beauty of this scene is how Vaughn uses audience expectations based on the previous two films to push this movie further. Whereas the first movie was in dialogue with Bond and played on those expectations, this moment does the same thing with audience expectations instilled by the “Kingsman” franchise itself.
In the end this moment just becomes reason for Oxford to become a bloodthirsty killer in search of revenge. There is no pause to consider that the Shepard is a similar man to Oxford, both understanding the bloody history of British power over the world. It could be a chance to ask questions about the nature of power and rule. Would the Shepard’s post Monarchy world be less corrupt? Well historically, no, as the movie introduces American political sleaze and the rise of Stalin (the movie even has a post-credit Hitler tease). Instead, any chance of introspection dies with Goode.
Oxford, now inspired by his son’s heroism, will form an independent spy agency, working without government oversight, except for the founding members of the US Ambassador and King George V.
The desire to defer to the monarchy in this movie is a self-inflicted wound, as it inherently goes against the in-fiction reasoning of the eponymous spy agency. Vaughn has shown an ability to comment on systems of power in the past, even within this franchise. Both previous entries take down the wealthy elite, yet when that lens is trained on the monarchy, the ability to have insight becomes blocked.
In total it feels like Vaughn’s application to make a Bond movie. Traditional white male lead? Check. Globetrotting hijinx? Check. Deference to the monarchy? Check. Hail, Britannia.