In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.
- Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations
Shaun Yusuf McKee
- Camp Guard #1
- (as Shaun McKee)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first panoramic views of the trenches with the voiceover of The Shepherd, particularly the depiction of mountains of spent shell cases, are taken from real photographs of the Battle of The Somme. Fought between July and November 1916, with no clear winner, it cost the lives of around 700,000 British and French soldiers and 550,000 Germans. As shown, entire battalions were mowed down with machine gun fire and over one million shells were fired in the first week alone.
- GoofsThere is a brief flashback showing the death of Tsar Nicholas and his family, and while the scene has been painstakingly reconstructed down to the wallpaper of the basement, the family is shown being quickly killed with a single discharge of what appears to be a machine pistol by one person pretending to be a photographer. The real execution was far messier and cruel: the assassins tricked the family into posing for a photograph, but no camera was brought. Instead, the chief of the guards read a makeshift death sentence and then an entire squad entered the room. After the shooting, the Tsar, his wife and son had been killed, but the four daughters were still alive, due to the fact they had sewn jewels in their clothes, so the troops finished them off with bayonets and the butts of their rifles. Due to the gruesome nature of this, it is possible this is a deliberate alteration by the director.
- Quotes
Duke of Oxford: Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are.
- Crazy creditsThere is a scene in the closing credits: the Flock introduce Vladimir Lenin to their newest member, Adolf Hitler.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Oscars (2021)
Featured review
Tonal inconsistencies makes for a convoluted, confusing experience
"The King's Man," directed by Matthew Vaughn, is the third film in the "Kingsman" series, which began way back in 2014. The first in the franchise, "Kingsman: The Secret Service," was a remarkably entertaining film; packed with Vaughn's signature directorial flair and high-octane, frantic editing style, the light parody of the spy genre made for a movie that took itself seriously enough to be engaging while simultaneously keeping its tone light enough to avoid being a complete retread of things we've seen before. Enter its sequel: "Kingsman: The Golden Circle." Taking the idea of a spy parody and dialing the notch as far as it would go, and then breaking it, "The Golden Circle" jumped in the pool of complete farce. While containing some genuinely emotional moments, the consensus was that the film was too goofy to be enjoyed, complete with absolutely ridiculous and unbelievable plot points such as a man inserting a GPS tracker inside of a woman (and I'll just let you imagine how he does that).
A few years and a global pandemic later and we finally have the third entry, which stands as a prequel, effectively telling why the Kingsman secret agency came to fruition. Foregoing the odd and overtly sexual humor of the previous two films, "The King's Man" is a much more serious endeavor - for better or for worse. It's very obvious that director Matthew Vaughn wanted to change his style somewhat drastically when compared to the first two movies. A slower, more dialogue focused picture, you would almost be forgiven if you thought that "The King's Man" was directed by someone else entirely. Vaughn decides to tell what is, basically, a World War 1 film, which may surprise those who expected a lighter affair more akin to his other works. Tonal inconsistency isn't something I notice very much during my movie-going escapades, but due to the drastic change in subject matter, in "The King's Man," the tonal shifts were jarring.
"Fun" is not a word I'd use to describe this movie, unfortunately. And yes, while a few action scenes were certainly exciting, as a whole "The King's Man" weaves a tale that is more about the horrors of war and violence then about the titular secret service agency that we've all come to know and love. A large majority of this movie involves political conversations that lack the character personality needed to make such conversations entertaining to watch. Instead, characters take the dialogue very seriously which, frankly, is boring to watch. In between these conversations lie multiple and varied story beats, including: An attempt to defeat the crazed monk Rasputin, a plot to steal a tape that contains recordings of the U. S. president engaged in illicit activities, and the tale of Conrad, Ralph Fiennes' characters son, who enlists in the war against his father's wishes. As you may have deduced, it is the last beat mentioned that contains some of the more emotional story moments. Now I'm not against emotion in my movies, obviously, and there were some genuinely shocking, saddening, parts in this story. That said, I don't think the right balance was there to make these moments as effective as they could be.
Vaughn seems to have trouble deciding what kind of story he wants to tell - is it a dramatic tale of the tragedies that arise with war, or is it a wacky action-adventure, complete with ballet battles, bisexual villains, and over-the-top set pieces? He tries to do both, and misses the mark, creating a confusing, convoluted, and overly lengthy story - albeit one that can be entertaining. No stranger to great action, Vaughn once again directs some fantastically kinetic fight sequences. The battle with Rasputin alone is worth the price of admission, and combined with a great score and masterful editing, I couldn't help but have a smile on my face during that scene, and throughout all of the action sequences. So if you're looking for good action, you'll certainly find it here (with a trench battle being another standout) - you'll just have to sit through a stunning amount of slog to get to it first.
Ralph Fiennes gives a totally committed performance - him, along with the action, makes "The King's Man" a perfectly serviceable one-time watch. "The King's Man" isn't necessarily a bad movie, but it's one that gets held back by its own loftiness and high expectations of itself. Fans of the first two movies will most likely be disappointed by the change in tone and story, and those who are looking for something new will no doubt be taken aback by the tonal inconsistencies - which brings me to the question: Who, exactly, did Vaughn make this movie for?
A few years and a global pandemic later and we finally have the third entry, which stands as a prequel, effectively telling why the Kingsman secret agency came to fruition. Foregoing the odd and overtly sexual humor of the previous two films, "The King's Man" is a much more serious endeavor - for better or for worse. It's very obvious that director Matthew Vaughn wanted to change his style somewhat drastically when compared to the first two movies. A slower, more dialogue focused picture, you would almost be forgiven if you thought that "The King's Man" was directed by someone else entirely. Vaughn decides to tell what is, basically, a World War 1 film, which may surprise those who expected a lighter affair more akin to his other works. Tonal inconsistency isn't something I notice very much during my movie-going escapades, but due to the drastic change in subject matter, in "The King's Man," the tonal shifts were jarring.
"Fun" is not a word I'd use to describe this movie, unfortunately. And yes, while a few action scenes were certainly exciting, as a whole "The King's Man" weaves a tale that is more about the horrors of war and violence then about the titular secret service agency that we've all come to know and love. A large majority of this movie involves political conversations that lack the character personality needed to make such conversations entertaining to watch. Instead, characters take the dialogue very seriously which, frankly, is boring to watch. In between these conversations lie multiple and varied story beats, including: An attempt to defeat the crazed monk Rasputin, a plot to steal a tape that contains recordings of the U. S. president engaged in illicit activities, and the tale of Conrad, Ralph Fiennes' characters son, who enlists in the war against his father's wishes. As you may have deduced, it is the last beat mentioned that contains some of the more emotional story moments. Now I'm not against emotion in my movies, obviously, and there were some genuinely shocking, saddening, parts in this story. That said, I don't think the right balance was there to make these moments as effective as they could be.
Vaughn seems to have trouble deciding what kind of story he wants to tell - is it a dramatic tale of the tragedies that arise with war, or is it a wacky action-adventure, complete with ballet battles, bisexual villains, and over-the-top set pieces? He tries to do both, and misses the mark, creating a confusing, convoluted, and overly lengthy story - albeit one that can be entertaining. No stranger to great action, Vaughn once again directs some fantastically kinetic fight sequences. The battle with Rasputin alone is worth the price of admission, and combined with a great score and masterful editing, I couldn't help but have a smile on my face during that scene, and throughout all of the action sequences. So if you're looking for good action, you'll certainly find it here (with a trench battle being another standout) - you'll just have to sit through a stunning amount of slog to get to it first.
Ralph Fiennes gives a totally committed performance - him, along with the action, makes "The King's Man" a perfectly serviceable one-time watch. "The King's Man" isn't necessarily a bad movie, but it's one that gets held back by its own loftiness and high expectations of itself. Fans of the first two movies will most likely be disappointed by the change in tone and story, and those who are looking for something new will no doubt be taken aback by the tonal inconsistencies - which brings me to the question: Who, exactly, did Vaughn make this movie for?
helpful•33399
- darkreignn
- Dec 22, 2021
Everything New on Hulu in May
Everything New on Hulu in May
There's a whole lot to love about Hulu's streaming offerings this month — get excited for brand-new series premieres and film favorites to watch at home.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Kingsman: Khởi Nguồn
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $100,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $37,176,373
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,915,542
- Dec 26, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $125,897,478
- Runtime2 hours 11 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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