Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Harris Dickinson, Alexandra Maria Lara, Rhys Ifans, Tom Hollander, Valerie Pachner, Daniel Brühl, Ron Cook, Joel Basman, Todd Boyce, Barbara Drennan, August Diehl, Alison Steadman, Ian Kelly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
There is nothing quite like the epic romp, and in modern cinema nobody does it arguably finer and with more dynamic display than Director Matthew Vaughn.
Like many films in the last couple of years, to find a place, a home, in the release schedule has been fraught with tension, the constant pushing back of film after film has meant that certain blockbuster, those movies that will grab the attention of the viewer, could possibly find themselves relegated to the bottom of the appreciation pile because they have gone past their optimum moment of release.
Thankfully The King’s Man has suffered no such post release disappointment, and whether that is down to the seismic energy to be found within the film, the stamp of authority pursued by the entire cast and creatives, or even the sheer pomp and audacity taken with the fringes of the historical setting, the fact remains that The King’s Man is a film of charm, of pulse racing intrigue, and a dynamic blood-soaked belief that has the audience glued from the initial encounter, and even manages to convey the serious message of the relentless trial of pacifism with honour.
Presenting an alternative narrative to established facts is a slippery game into which can befall and befuddle the most arduous and keen-eyed of script writers, however such a misstep, the hell of pushing a boundary too far does not hamper the intelligence and love of a good yarn which is the staple of Matthew Vaughn’s back catalogue, and which presents itself, exposes layer by layer, the delicate balance between historical fiction and alternative fact.
Set at the onset of World War One, the film doesn’t compromise on the serious disaster that was to engulf Europe, the folly of war to which the world had never seen, and its juxtaposition in the pacifist outlook of Ralph Fiennes’ Orlando Oxford and the beginning of what would in time become the most adept secret service in the world.
In a film that embraces a touch of madness, it is perhaps fitting that Rhys Ifans gloriously upstages everyone in the film with his portrayal of the ‘mad monk’ Grigori Rasputin with the kind of electricity you could only imagine powering a large town whose sole purpose is create several monsters for a deranged scientist. In one vital scene the sheer intensity of performance is one of glory, it is ballet, it is the poetic reading of power and compulsion and one that Ralp Fiennes and the excellent Djimon Hounsou do well to counterbalance.
With tremendous execution of character by the likes of Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Daniel Brühl, Ron Cook, Gemma Arterton, and the outstanding Tom Hollander in three roles as the cousins and Kings of Britain, Russia, and Germany, The King’s Man is a magnificent romp through a tumultuous period of European history, and the long lasting and despairing aftereffects of manipulation of fear and constant war.
Brilliant!
Ian D. Hall