#MovieReview: The King’s Man – Revisionist history for no good reason

The King’s Man is the latest installment in the Kingsman franchise, this time offering a mildly offensive rewrite of 20th century history.

Despite some of its regressive ideological tones, the film is still a high-energy romp, delivering some strong sequences in a reimagined World War 1 backdrop.

It is revisionist to the point of toxicity at points, relegating historical figures to farcical background characters in service of British imperialist ideas.

Nevertheless, The King’s Man is sure to satiate fans of the series with its edgy humour and inventive fight choreography, but new fans are unlikely.

Spoilers alert

The film opens on British aristocrat Orlando, Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) – a noted pacifist who in 1902 visits a concentration camp during the Boer War.

Orlando’s wife, Emily, is killed in a surprise sniper attack during the visit, which naturally leads Orlando to change most of his views on morality.

With a quick ‘pip pip’ and stiff upper lip, Orlando resolves to set up an organisation through which he can infiltrate the world’s elite and influence global events.

A secret agency, Kingsman, is born.

A further 2 hours of runtime introduces the audience to many of the major WW1 players, including heads of state from Russia, Germany, the USA and, of course, Great Britain.

They are portrayed largely as bumbling fools, either working in service of shadowy villain ‘The Shepherd’, or indeed Kingsman.

This is one of the central issues with the film, in that it treats history as a blank canvas over which anything can be painted.

The most egregious example of this is when the USA is compelled to join the allied war effort after president Woodrow Wilson is blackmailed with what is essentially the 1916 version of a sex tape scandal.

One might say that 100 years on, historical figures are fair game, but the farce needs to be sharper than that to justify a rewrite.

More pressing still is the fact that Orlando and Kingsman are portrayed as clear heroes, indicating an affection for British imperialism and the implicit ‘good old days’.

When you add the background roles played by the film’s only prominent female (Gemma Arterton) and black (Djimon Hounsou) characters, it can feel like the ranting of a grandfather out of touch with reality.

This is exacerbated by the fact that ‘Eggsy’, the lead in the first Kingsman film, is meant to represent the breakdown of British class systems.

The King’s Man leans all the way back into that world.

Still, there are enjoyable sequences that are well choreographed throughout, particularly one which includes a scene-stealing Rhys Ifans as Russian mystic, Grigori Rasputin.

At best, The King’s Man is popcorn fare, as long as you are willing not to ask too many questions.

Rated 16 for scenes of strong violence, language and some sexual material.

2.5/5.

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