The King's Man (2021)

After being delayed multiple times from a planned November 2019 release; Writer/Director Matthew Vaughn has released the third film in the “Kingsman “film series with “The King’s Man”. This time around the movie looks back to the origins of the society dedicated to peace and solving global conflicts before they can escalate. In pre-World War I Europe; wealthy pacifist Orlando Oxford (Ralph Finnes); looks to raise his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson); following the tragic loss of his wife some years earlier on a Red Cross mission. When events kick off the war; Conrad wishes to enlist and fight and his father is able to keep this from happening as he wants his son to avoid the horrors of war. At the same time; a secret Cabal has been plotting to start the war and manipulate the outcome and one of the agents named Rasputin (Rhys Ifans); looms prominently due to his influence over the Czar of Russia. As the years pass and the war unfolds; Conrad and Orlando soon find themselves at odds and being pulled into opposite directions which sets a chain of events into action and puts the fate of the world in the balance. The film is at times more retrained than the prior two films but the action sequences when they arrive are entertaining and mix the humor and violence that the series is known for. The cast is solid and the way that historical events were used but given an alternate perspective really added to the enjoyment of the film. The movie does have a decent amount of humor but does spend a great deal of time on character development and exposition which can lead to some long gaps between the action, but the engaging stories and characters hold your interest throughout. The film sets up further adventures in the Prequel timeline well and it appears that this is the direction that future films may go which would be more than fine as the film delivered what fans have come to expect from the series. 4 stars out of 5