Review of The King's Man (2021) by Jluis_001 — 24 Dec 2021

When a successful franchise is created, it isn't unexpected that its studio and creators will seek to exploit it in every possible way.

Business is business and profit is profit. Even when the money earned does not reach monstrous levels.

Now, no movie is necessary. That's pretty clear from the start, so in a franchise it's all about utility, and frankly I can't understand what utility Matthew Vaughn saw in exploring a prequel to Kingsman. I really don't.

The first Kingsman was an amusing breath of absurdity considering how serious the spy genre had become.

Its middling and somewhat disappointing sequel explored the same path and, even with the additions, failed to project the same freshness.

But a prequel? Set before the first world war? There's zero utility in that origin.

The King's Man have certain amusing elements, some funny moments, but even with the good cast on his hands, Matthew Vaughn can't bring any vitality to this story, or at least enough charm to make you care about them and what they're doing.

And even worse, he's selling you a sequel into this storyline, even though he's also preparing Kingsman 3.

But whether or not this will become a reality will depend a lot on the box office, which I don't think will be generous this time around.

Especially if you remember the film was postponed 9 times.

The King's Man is arriving 2 long years after its original release date.

If you have no other options, I admit it will beat the tedium. Other than that, this was really unmemorable.