My Review of "The King's Man"

The King's Man is a prequel to the Kingsman franchise. I don't know how they keep reinventing themselves and not look entirely silly doing it but they pulled it off this time. The last entry The Kingsman: The Golden Circle was a little bit of a letdown for me. So I wasn't too sure about this newest entry.

The movie starts out in the late 1800 and early 1900s with what seems like a benevolent philanthropic family visiting Africa. They have some business there and the mother talks to the son about how they have a role to play to help the world regardless of their privilege. I know a lot of people that would think this whole portion of the movie is problematic but it's their story so we'll go with it.

Suddenly a battle breaks out and the mother gets caught in the crossfire. There the young boy Conrad watches as his mother dies in the arms of his father, Oxford. Of course this death continues to haunt the family for years to come.

As Conrad grows up there is a war brewing. Unfortunately it's instigated by some nefarious group. I really liked how they used a lot of real life situations and messed around with it to play with the story. Apparently this organized group helped start the first great war by assassinating archduke Ferdinand. Everyone knows that's technically how the first world war was started but they cleverly put this into the movie.

It doesn't stop there. They have a whole slew of evil operatives that instigate the fight so that Britain will lose the war. Unfortunately for them they didn't anticipate on Oxford his son and his team of bandits.

This movie kind of plays out like a video game where Oxford and friends have to figure out who is behind this sinister organization and how will they will thwart their plans. Each new minion they fight feels like a video game level with a different type of challenge.

I particularly liked their fight with the Russian monk Rasputin. The fight they have with him is a tour de force. Fortunately they didn't add a whole slew of jump cuts and shaky camera. You can actually understand what they're doing and the movements they use for the movie are spectacular. It's very much like a dance number as they artistically angle themselves in different positions.

That continues on with the movie. There was a lot of thought into the artistic direction to this movie. You can tell that they did their homework and put a lot into each of the scenes. With each fight scene there are a number of brand new angles that I don't think I've seen in a lot of movies.

Visually it is amazing. As for the story that's a different story. I liked this story because I love history. The way they blend their story with real life events really had me impressed. However, I don't think everyone will be in this same boat. There may be a lot of people lost in the movie as they're not "in on the joke".

In respect to this movie following the Kingsman franchise. It plays like a movie on its own. You don't have to see the other movies to understand this one. It's a stand alone movie. Although they do have hints of things to come that we all know from the franchise. It's got some of the charm of the original movies but it stands out on its own.

Overall, I had a really good time with this movie. It is also one of the cleanest movies I've ever seen as it is being streamed in 4k on Disney plus. You have to see it to believe it. My jaw dropped at how sharp everything was. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. I don't know if this will rejuvenate the franchise but I did think it was a nice entry. Let's see them top this one.