The King’s Man is a 2021 spy action film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek and a story by Vaughn. The third installment in the Kingsman film series, which is based on the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, the film serves as a prequel to 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service and 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ralph Fiennes (who also serves as one of the film’s executive producers), Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance, and focuses on several events during World War I and the birth of the Kingsmen organization.
The King’s Man was released on 22 December 2021 in the United States, and on 26 December 2021 in the United Kingdom[5] by 20th Century Studios, delayed several times from an original November 2019 release date, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
In 1902, British aristocrat and Duke of Oxford, Orlando, his wife Emily, and their young son Conrad visit an aid camp in South Africa during the Boer War while working for The Red Cross. Emily is killed during a Boer sniper attack on the camp, causing Orlando, a sworn pacifist, to determine that the world needs someone to head off such conflicts before they occur.
Twelve years later, Orlando recruits two of his servants, Shola and Polly, into his spy network dedicated to protecting the United Kingdom and the British Empire from the approaching Great War. Conrad, eager to fight, is forbidden to join-up by the protective Orlando, who speaks with War Secretary Herbert Kitchener, leader of Britain’s military effort, to ensure Conrad cannot enlist. Orlando and Conrad also meet Captain Morton, one of Kitchener’s military associates.
Conrad and Orlando ride with Archduke Franz Ferdinand in a parade through Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Conrad saves the Archduke from a bomb thrown by Gavrilo Princip, a rebel intent on sparking a war. Later, however, Princip happens to run into the Archduke’s entourage again, this time succeeding in fatally shooting Ferdinand and his wife.
Orlando’s group, composed mostly of other dignitaries’ socially invisible servants, learn that Princip was part of a plot to pit the German, Russian, and British empires against each other. The group, headed by a mysterious Shepherd, have their own network of agents, including the Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin, a trusted advisor to Tsar Nicholas of Russia.
Rasputin, at the orders of the Shepherd, manipulates Tsar Nicholas by poisoning his young son, and only “curing” him when Tsar Nicholas promises to leave the war. Conrad is notified of Rasputin’s manipulation by his cousin who works under the Tsar. Knowing the Western Allied front will be left vulnerable if Russia leaves, Conrad delivers this information to Kitchener and Morton, who set sail for Russia. Their boat is torpedoed by the Shepherd, apparently killing them both. Word of Kitchener’s death reaches Orlando, spurring him to head to Russia with Shola, Polly, and Conrad to deal with Rasputin once and for all.
At a Christmas party hosted by Conrad’s cousin, Orlando attempts to poison Rasputin but the plan fails. Orlando, Shola, Conrad, and Rasputin fight, the skirmish only ending when Polly shoots and kills Rasputin. At the Shepherd’s orders, Erik Jan Hanussen, an advisor to Kaiser Wilhelm II, sends the Zimmerman Telegraph, hoping to distract Britain and the United States. However, President Woodrow Wilson refuses to join the war without concrete proof. The Shepherd recruits Vladimir Lenin and orders his Bolsheviks to overthrow the Tsar and remove Russia from the war.
Now of age, Conrad joins the British army against his father’s wishes. Orlando meets with King George V, who summons Conrad back to Britain. Conrad sends back a young soldier named Archie Reid in his place, giving him the codename “Lancelot.”
Conrad volunteers for a mission across No-Man’s Land to retrieve information from a British agent, mistaken for a German and caught in friendly fire. Conrad and a small squad venture across No-Man’s Land, but encounter German shock troopers crossing silently from the other side.
Our Thoughts
The King’s man lays the groundwork for future movies, and sort of corrects the corniness of some of the earlier stuff. In an attempt to create a new franchise, I’d say these guys have found a fine balance of talent, plot, and action. I enjoyed this one immensely. 4 Stars. – MR
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