by John Zenoni
As a big fan of ‘The Kingsman’ franchise ('Kingsman: The Secret Service' (2014), 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' (2017) and now the latest, ‘The King’s Man' (2021), I was very excited about seeing this new entry. While I did enjoy it, I'll say that this one is the weakest in the franchise. I'm not normally a fan of prequels anyway, as they tend not to live up to the expectations of the original movies that ‘birthed’ them. Anyway, this film tells the background of how the fictional secret service organization came to be founded.
Starring the great Ralph Fiennes as the Duke of Oxford, who I think could be eating a ham sandwich on screen and I would still watch, the film introduces us to him, his wife and son at an early age. His wife is gunned down at a concentration camp on a mission, and as a result, is left to raise his son, Conrad (played by Harris Dickinson), on his own and is very protective of him going forward. As Conrad reaches the age to serve in the Great War, he wants to do so badly but his father repeatedly tells him no. Until one day - after assisting his father in a fight - he tells his dad that he doesn't need his permission and signs up anyway. During this time, there's a group of thugs/spies/killers that have been pulled together by someone (whose identity is kept secret until the end) who intends on creating world chaos by killing people in power. He even employs Rasputin himself - quite the scary and creepy character, I must say - to assist. One scene that takes place between him and Fiennes’ character is just over the top!
While it appears that the Duke’s son is going to survive his time in the military by his dad pulling some strings and getting him off the frontline, the son switches identities with another soldier and, of course, the inevitable happens and the son is killed in the line of duty. While the Duke does go through a time of depression, his assistants, Shola (played by Djimon Hounsou) and Polly (played by Gemma Arterton) (both so great jobs in their roles) pull him out of it and he decides to fight this secret enemy who's trying to cause world chaos.
There are many fight scenes and action galore to keep you entertained. The only issue I have is that the storyline was confusing. Did the director want it to be a comedy or more of a serious film? Because there was a mixture of both. Either way, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.
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