The King's Man is completely different from the first two movies; its a major pivot for the franchise and I really enjoyed it! I'm not going to pretend its the best movie ever made, or the best in the franchise, because it isn't and does have its flaws... but I still thought it was really good! It has all the stylistic elements you've come to expect from a Kingsman movie but with a few twists to that formula, it was honestly a really nice surprise! Going in, I didn't have many expectations, and thought I knew what the film would be based on the trailers but I was so happy to see that Matthew Vaughn had so much more in store for us! It's more serious than the other Kingsman films, and feels tonally different than the others. Its more of a Kingsman version of a war film; still has the classic hyper-real and energetic style and action but includes a lot of real historical elements. Personally I would compare it more to Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class", which I also really liked!
I love how Vaughn handled the historical elements; it was easily one of my favourite parts! He treats it sort of the same way Tarantino did with "Inglorious Basterds". It really made history fun, and I even learned a few things! (I didn't know that at the beginning of WWI the Russian Czar, German Emperor and King of England were all first cousins... and I loved how cleverly Vaughn used Tom Hollander for these roles!) We got to see such an interesting take on history, many of the events and figures Vaughn uses are true to life but he twists them in a way that makes it more entertaining! I was surprised with how many historical elements did show up, and had a lot of fun with this alternate "Kingsman-esque" version of history! Now there was also a downside to this: it felt like Vaughn just had a bunch of unused ideas that he just tried to work into this movie. The story goes everywhere and it wasn't really clear why until halfway through. Stuff just kept happening, and while I loved each individual scene it didn't feel like it fit together till the first hour mark. But overall I had tons of fun with the story and loved the characters it focused on, even if they aren't Harry and Eggsy.
I loved Oxford and Ralph Fiennes' portrayal is excellent, he just has everything that made him the perfect star of a Kingsman film plus the addition of so much emotion. He is such a gifted actor and while the script doesn't always give him the best material he constantly elevates it. He is just a god at what he does, truly one of the best working actors. I also thought Djimon Hounsou and Gemma Arterton also made huge impressions despite minor amounts of screen time. Harris Dickinson was good as Conrad, and I loved the twists they had with his character. I was a huge fan of the twist that happened regarding Oxford and Conrad and their relationship (father/son). I thought it was a clever reverse on the relationship between Harry and Eggsy or a mentor and student in general, and Oxford's emotional arc was quite profound. This twist also lent itself well to the film's overall anti-war messaging.
What's a Kingsman film without some intense and flashy action? This one of course has it all, and I especially loved the fight with Rasputin! It was thrilling and had so many exciting moments to it! The choreography was awesome and aI even liked how they worked in a nod to the dance for the song "Rasputin" through his fighting style. It was fun yet brutal and matched with the beats of the "1812 Overture" so well. That sequence alone just blew me away, but all the action set pieces looked so good and were shot in such vibrant, creative and extravagant ways! They just popped right off the screen and used such unique angles that I've never seen before... such as what I refer to as "Sword-vision". Visually they just looked fantastic, and had some perfect action choreography with gory and brutal moments. I also loved the production design and how it made the film feel so authentic and richly established.
Ultimately I just loved this look back into how the Kingsman organization was formed! Its fun to see all the classic locations and I loved how certain failures here led to the creation of tools we see used in the later Kingsman stories. Its a unique prequel that stands on its own and is pretty fun! I loved the historical elements and all the surprises the film had in store. It felt like Turner Classic Movies mixed with the History Channel and I really loved the style and tone it went for! It may not be for everyone, and I'm not sure that all fans of Kingsman will love it, but it really worked for me! As much as I can't wait to see Kingsman 3 and the continuation of Harry and Eggsy's stories, I would also really love to see a sequel to this (especially after that crazy end credit scene...)!
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