The King's Man

Afterwards I had to check if, for example, Mata Hari seduced US president Woodrow Wilson. This did-it-happen? question holds the interest throughout what is otherwise just another well-made, well-acted spy caper.

Tonally and thematically The King's Man is all over the place, in a way that lays bare the cynicism of Vaughn's own mission: to appear transgressive yet reassuringly conventional.

The tone lurches awkwardly from sweeping colonial melodrama to grim battle epic, camp, pseudo-Bond caper and crass, unfunny farce.

It is downright diabolical for Vaughn to make audiences even imagine a sequel to this unnecessary prequel simply to see if can be as outlandish as promised.

Part satire, part adventure, this prequel fails at both...

For the most part, though, the film has such a sloppy but fun narrative that one imagines the expansive cast...

You can’t fault the energy level but, unfortunately, the action and the comedy frequently get in each other’s way.

The King’s Man is clearly not perfect, but it retains some of the best elements of its predecessors, adds enough new lore to justify itself as a prequel, and is a fun, entertaining film on its own.

“The King’s Man” may be my favorite entry in a problematic franchise. I always preferred Colin Firth to Taron Egerton. The prequel tricks audiences into accepting the fifty-nine-year-old, single and child free Fiennes as the protagonist and an action star

For a prequel that promised something large, loud, and ostensibly entertaining, the movie just doesn’t quite suit up.