The King’s Man
As the third instalment in the Kingsman series, it was only fitting that audiences were taken back to the very beginning – to the inception of the elite spy group. With director Matthew Vaughn once again at the helm, The King’s Man follows a covert group as they work against a league of criminal masterminds whose end goal will lead to a world war.
The film is interwoven with the events of the First World War – as the UK, Germany and Russia are played off each other in a series of strategic moves made from the shadows. Unbeknownst to them, the leaders of the three countries are receiving so-called advice from their closest confidants, who are involved with the criminal mastermind known as ‘the Shepherd’.
Leading the all star cast is Ralph Fiennes as Orlando, the Duke of Oxford – an aristocrat who takes it into his hands to prevent arising conflicts. Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou star as Polly and Shola; the other members of what later becomes the Kingsmen Agency, along with help from Oxford’s son Conrad, played by Harris Dickinson. There’s plenty of familiar faces in the film, with a standout performance from Ryhs Ifans as the infamous Grigori Rasputin, and the always brilliant Daniel Brühl as the calculating Erik Jan Hanussen. In a play on the fact that European families were very close back in the day, Tom Hollander stars not only as King George, but also Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas.
The film’s fictional retelling of events is well written (much in the vein of Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), as Vaughn has expertly entwined historic events, such as the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, with a clever backstory involving the Shepherd and his lackeys. The film almost feels like a war-drama at times, and is quite a step away from film series’ usual style found throughout. However, the intelligent humour, action-packed sequences and jaw-dropping moments are still there.
From start to finish, The King’s Man is a wild ride through and through. With plenty of witty one liners, crazy weapons, suiting up moments, and even goats, the prequel masterfully fills in all the blanks in the agency’s past, and has hell of a time doing it.
The King’s Man is in cinemas 6 January – book your tickets in today.