Starring Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Honsou, Gemma Arteron

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

20th Century, out now

 

 

In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.

There’s a couple of times in this prequel to Matthew Vaughn’s previous Kingsman movies (based on the comic books by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons) where Ralph Fiennes is in his bowler hat and suit and you can’t help think that this film could essentially by Steed Begins (The Avengers) or M Begins (James Bond series) – an origin story for those iconic secret service roles. Instead we get to witness the start of the Kingsman organisation against the backdrop of The Great War.

Fiennes is great as Lord Oxford, trying to keep the promise he made to his dying wife that he’d protect their son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) from the dangers of the world. Unfortunately, he’s over-protective, which leads to its own problems. Oxford is supported by his domestic staff  Shola (Djimon Honsou) and Polly (Gemma Arterton) and the globe-hopping plot takes the team from trying to prevent the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (we know how that ends) to a furious fight with Rhys Ifans as Rasputin.

It’s all very ludicrous and amusing in an alt-history way, but then the tone shifts when facing the realities of trench warfare. There’s also a tendency, amongst the spectacularly choreographed fight scenes, to be ridiculously jingoistic, and if Brexit was a movie, it would probably look like this. I also struggled with the mysterious, bald, Blofeld-like villain in his mountaintop fortress, sounding like objectionable Scot Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. It’s not as laddish or misogynistic as the previous movies, but to some extent these qualities have been traded with casual homophobia and xenophobia.

Verdict: If you’re already a fan of this franchise, you know what to expect, and Fiennes is terrific in the lead role. It just feels remarkably old-fashioned in a deluded Boys’ Own way, and you might tire of the tubthumping before the end. 6/10

Nick Joy