The Sunday Mail
Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
AS far as prequels or origin stories go, there is a very good chance that “The King’s Man” will go down as the worst movie ever made.
Ok, “worst” is a bit of an exaggeration, but it comes really close.
Despite having a great cast and performances and really creative action set pieces, it seems Michael Vaughan loses the plot in the story.
Described as a spy action-comedy, “The King’s Man” sacrifices both the spy elements and comedy for a clunky exploration of war, colonialism and a lecture on pacifism.
The film tells the story of Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), one of the founding members of the British secret intelligence agency known as The Kingsman.
As envisioned by the film’s writer and director Michael Vaughan, the Kingsman are supposed to be less MI6 and more James Bond in that they mostly operate in the shadows.
While this is the franchise’s third instalment, “The King’s Man” falls flat in both the action and comedic elements.
After getting disillusioned by the war and countless innocent lives lost, Oxford takes refuge in the Red Cross during the Boer War.
When his wife is tragically killed during a sniper attack, Oxford’s position on pacifism becomes resolute.
The incident, however, has a reverse effect on his son Conrad (Harris Dickson), who spends the larger part of the movie trying to convince his father that he has to join the war.
The said battle is a World War-like clash between Russia, Britain and Germany that is caused by a shadow organisation led by a man known only as The Shepherd.
Representing Scotland, The Shepherd has a battalion of loyal assassins and spies.
He deploys them to the three governments (Russia, Britain, Germany) to sow seeds of hate and distrust.
It is up to Oxford and his fellow spies Shola (Djimon Hounson) and Pollyanna (Gemma Arterton) to uncover the conspiracy and to stop the war.
The film is full of talented actors and actresses.
Unfortunately, most of them end up getting wasted owing to some inconsistent writing.
It is like Vaughan could not make up his mind on whether he wanted to make a war or spy movie.
He should have stuck to the former as the script seemingly suits a movie of that genre.
A classic example of the aforementioned point can be seen in how a parachute is viewed as a new invention in this movie?
You cannot really squeeze in any more nifty gadgets after you set the bar that low.
The only thing that makes this movie bearable is a couple of standout performances.
Top of the list is Rhys Ifans’ Grigori Rasputin.
He is arguably the highlight of the entire movie. The fact that he is in the movie for a combined 20-minutes’ worth of screen time but still manages to steal the show is just a testimony of the Welshman’s talents.
Rasputin is an eccentric and violent monk who has a foul mouth and is a master of dance fighting.
His battle with the Kingsman, midway through the movie, is both entertaining and well-choreographed set piece.
It is actually one of the highlight action scenes of the entire movie.
Fiennes really digs deep into his acting chops and does well to paint the older Oxford as both a tormented soul and a great hero.
Of all the characters in the movie, Fiennes’ Orlando Oxford is by far the most layered and well-written of them all.
It is a shame the same cannot be said about the film’s main antagonist “The Shepherd’; after all, every great hero needs an equally great villain.
Aside from the great reveal at the end, there is nothing noteworthy about his character.
