Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Rhys Ifans, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Mathew Goode, Tom Hollander, Charles Dance, Daniel Bruhl, Stanley Tucci, Alison Steadman, Aaron Taylor Johnson
My Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Rotten Tomatoes: 42% Critics, 80% Audience
Description: “One man must race against time to stop history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds from starting a war and wiping out millions of people”
Short Version:
Missing the raunchy humor and timing of the first films, the prequel falls flat. Despite its multitude of action sequences, there are too many talking heads debating the merits and losses of war, and whose ideology might be right, my focus drifted and I found myself checking how long I had left. There were, however, a few beautifully engineered turns that redeem the film in smart part.
Long Version:
So, I will say that I love the original Kingsmen films. The irreverent humor, raunchy subplots and general unrefined qualities made them unique for the time, before Deadpool was around to teach us all how film can play with its audience. Eggsy was a lovable mutt of a character, and we got to grow with him, while keeping his roguish charm. I hoped this film would bring that tone into this film, but alas, the film lost its raunchy side and became to “proper” to be truly interesting.
I think there are a few reasons for this, one Eggsy is considered an outsider to the organization in his films, the lowbrow outsider in his class. To establish the tone of the organization, we need prim and proper people, who just also know how to kick ass when necessary. The Oxford show how a gentleman behaves, and what he is willing to sacrifice to make the world a better place. It’s a grand concept, but Kingsmen is know for its grit and gore. The film tried to present Rasputin as the counterpoint, a Russian monk who revels in sex, makes bawdy jokes and takes drugs and poison alike for breakfast, but he is in so little of the film that he cannot carry the humor. Polly works as an attempt to fill the humor void, but most of her humor is slightly sexist, and clearly written by a man thinking he is writing a liberated, badass woman.
Additionally, the backdrop of World War I is telling, but we get very little time in the trenches, and the time we do have, following probably the best character in the film, is cut short by the abrupt loss of that character. The following grief sequence is harrowing, but it drags on. The film drags on. The action sequences pop, with fights and some of the same, slow-mo and emphasis that came with the original movies, but they couldn’t save a film that lost its soul.
Honestly, it is a decent film, just a disappointment. It did not meet my expectations, but it still had some good moments. The move from Conrad as a child to seeing him spar and grow, especially when he is invited into his father’s espionage operation, shows such beautiful character growth. Then when the ram returns to strike the final blow against the Shepard, its is poetic, but these moments are few and far between.
All in all, it is a film that enhances my knowledge of the Kingsmen lore, but I won’t watch it again.
Favorite moments:
- Conrad batting the bomb away
- The image of the assassin watching the Archduke make a wrong turn
- The picture of the Tsar and his wife taking the opium from Rasputin’s knife
- “Polly, get baking.” “And don’t forget the poison.”
- Rasputin dancing while he’s fighting
- “Why is it that boys are always so messy?”
- Conrad sneaking his way to the front
- “Oxfords, not rogues.”
- Conrad saving his fellow soldier
- Polly’s marksmanship with the counterweight.
- The cut tie
All images belong to the film and production company. Thank you for lingering with me a spell, and I will see you again next week!
Megan’s Musings 