The King’s Man movie review: A befitting origin story for this spy franchise

3/5

Story: When a mysterious villain’s master plan sets in motion a devastating war, it is up to the Duke of Oxford and his trusted aides, to weed him out and stop the war before too many lives are lost.

Review: Director-producer Matthew Vaughn’s comic book-inspired spy franchise, Kingsman, always felt like James Bond in a slightly different universe. Highly trained British gentlemen in bespoke suits and kitted with some world-class technology to nip threats in the bud. In the 2014 Kingsman: Secret Service, Galahad (Colin Firth) mentions the World War 1 origins of the Kingsman organization to Eggsy (Taron Egerton). It’s taken Vaughn a third film in the franchise, The King’s Man, to address the origin story.

The story is set well over a century ago, when the Duke of Oxford, Orlando (Ralph Fiennes) loses his wife Emily in a sniper attack on a concentration camp run by General Kitchener (Charles Walter Dance). Orlando’s promise to his dying wife was to keep their son, Conrad, out of all the violence, but the lad grows up with a burning desire to fight for his country. Conrad doesn’t make it back home, but the information he gathered while on the battlefield points to a someone orchestrating all the violence.

With his two assistants, Shola (Djimon Honsou) and Polly (Gemma Arterton), who in turn have created a network of spies with maids and butlers, Orlando sets out to find out the mysterious villain, whose actions could end in the death of millions.

Action has been one of the cornerstones of the Kingsman franchise and The King’s Man doesn’t disappoint, even with its relatively older cast. Ralph is nearly 60, as is Djimon Honsou. There are sword and gunfights galore, with chopped heads and bullets to the head. Did they really have that kind of weaponry in the early 20thcentury? Also, just what did Orlando and gang offer their network of maids and butlers that would sway them to betray their masters and pass on information?

Vaughn’s biggest win is in his casting, except for his main villain, The Shepherd- that reveal was quite a dud. The rest, including Tom Hollander in not one but three roles as the cousins King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II, Daniel Brühl, and Rhys Ifans, in a totally unrecognizable and wickedly outlandish outing as Rasputin, make the film quite interesting.

Verdict: There’s something about the Kingsman franchise that makes it a fun watch. Colin Firth really set the tone for it in the first film, and Ralph emphasizes just why these men, and women, in their impeccable suits are a force to reckon with. Released in India in early January, when the pandemic’s third wave hit, The King’s Man is now streaming on Disney+Hotstar.