The King's Man - Digital Review

[Michael Scott]

The King's Man

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
Well, now this is something I really didn’t see coming. After 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle I fully expected Matthew Vaughn’s take on the Mark Millar graphic novels to go by the wayside. 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service was a fun little jaunt, but the sequel sort of stumbled and fell along the way. Decent movie, but just not what the audience was hoping for. Neither film was exactly grade A material, but they were entertaining enough for me to enjoy. However, come 2021 and Matthew Vaughn is back with a completely different approach to the source material. This time in the form of a prequel that almost completely changes the tone and feel of the entire franchise.

What made the Kingsman films so unique was Matthew Vaughn’s trademark vulgarity, ultra violence, and warped view on Bond era spy craft mixed with some extremely frenetic action sequences. This new take on the origins of the Kingsman spy service is almost completely devoid (almost) of the trade mark sexual vulgarity that the first two films had, and instead tries to focus nearly completely on the spy craft element of the story. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t some bizarre changes of pace for the film (Rasputin alone is so bizarre and crazy that it’s worth the price of admission alone), but Vaughn has obviously toned down his desire for excess and exaggeration in those fields.

Orlando (Ralph Fiennes), the Duke of Oxford, is a bit of a pacifist. An ex soldier who fell out of love with blood lust, he transferred to the Red Cross where he could help SAVE lives in the army, not take them. However, his life is changed forever when his wife is killed in collateral damage, causing the already pacifistic Duke to take a back seat and never allow his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) to ever fight in a war like he did. However, when a mysterious force starts pulling strings and forcing the world into WWI, Orlando starts to take notice. He can’t help but get pulled in when his friend, Archduke Ferdinand, is murdered on the street and takes a more active role in hunting down this mysterious puppet master.

With the help of his man at arms Shola (Djimon Hounsou) and “maid” Polly (Gemma Arterton, who hasn’t been in a blockbuster film in nearly 10 years) Orlando forms a secret network of spies to put their fingers in all the world’s pies. Controlling the narrative and finding out who is out there doing pulling the strings is one thing, but no matter his control and machinations, nothing can stop his son Conrad from heading off to war on his own, and soon after, becoming the focal point for Orlando making his secret spy network the largest kept secret in England.

The movie is still Matthew Vaughn goody, but it’s more laid back and bland than the previous two films. I’m not sure whether it’s just Vaughn honing his directing style or what, but The King’s Man is very much more laid back and more intent on focusing on the spy craft element of the story rather than the vulgar or the ultra violence. There’s plenty of action, but still the film feels just a tad boring, especially after the midway point with Conrad joining the war. At that point the film just feels like it wants to get to the end and doesn’t mind glossing over things. However, the inclusion of Rhys Ifan playing a completely BIZARRE Rasputin is probably worth the price of admission alone. That hilarious action sequence is the highlight of the film and by far the best performance. Ryhs has always been a crazy character actor, but this one just goes above and beyond. Easily my favorite portion o the movie.




Rating:

Rated R for sequences of strong/bloody violence, language, and some sexual material




Video:

Being that this was a digital stream, I'm not going to give an official video score, but rather just go over the highlights.The film is bright and shiny for most of the production, wiht heavily saturated colors (especially the greens on the Shepherd's mountain top) shining through. The film balances out that shiny and neutral look with a more golden hue in Rasputin's lair, and some gray/blues in the English court. Artifacting was intermittent, but that most likely was due to the stream itself, and the black levels were near impeccable.








Audio:

As with the video I'll refrain from giving an actual score as this was based on a streaming copy only, which is highly dependent on your internet service. Anwyays, the Atmos track seemed to be punchy and powerful, with lots of high flying action that really lights up the surrounds and gives the bass channel plenty to work with.











Extras:

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Final Score: ​

The King’s Man delivers more dramatic elements than the previous two films in the series, but also lacks the pizazz and excitement of those movies as well. There’s a sort of sincerity to this effort that will make fans of the first two rather confused, but he also doesn’t know how to handle said sincerity either. Many of the most dramatic elements are squandered, but Vaughn’s trademark insanity bleeds through ENOUGH to make for an enjoyable (if not singular watchable) film. Being that I only viewed the digital copy for this review from Disney/Buena Vista I can’t comment too heavily on the audio and video, but if the Streaming encode and the Atmos track are anything to go by, this will be phenomenal on physical media.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys ifan, Harris Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Written by: Matthew Vaughn, Karl Gajdusek, Mark Millar (Based on the Graphic Novel)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos oooooo
Subtitles:
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Rated: R
Runtime: 131 Minutes
Digital Release Date: February 18th, 2022

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I have enjoyed watching this franchise.. Will check this out.

 

[mechman]

I’ll wait to see this one on HBO then. Thanks Michael!

 

[Michael Scott]

I’ll wait to see this one on HBO then. Thanks Michael!

It'll be Disney plus.

 

[Tom L.]

On HBO Max now

 

[Michael Scott]

On HBO Max now

Interesting. Warner must have cut a deal with Disney as they usually are pretty controlling of their new releases on Disney Plus.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm thinking this is a skip as a buy. I was lukewarm on the other two flicks.

 

[mechman]

Watched it last night on HBO Max. Parts of it were ok and parts of it not so much. I’ll second that 3of5 Michael!

 

[NBPK402]

This one was totally a different type of movie, and I actually enjoyed it more than the 2nd one.