Falsification of history made in Britain: Ralph Fiennes at the low point of his career.
Frankfurt – Not every reasonably useful comic book template can be turned into an acceptable film. What succeeded in the first parts of the current agent flicks “Kingsman: The Secret Service” (2014) and “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” (2017), because the British understatement of Colin Firth as Harry Hart with furious action scenes one entered into a charming alliance, now makes Ralph Fiennes look pretty old in “The King’s Man: The Beginning”.
In the last James Bond films, the now 59-year-old was just a key word in the role of “M”. Since the theater star has the ambition to take on a leading role in the cinema again as Duke Orlando Oxford. Like Colin Firth, he is not exactly a gentlemanly massacre when it comes to fighting foreign enemies. Unfortunately, as the original “Kingsman”, he takes the whole matter much more seriously and doggedly than his compatriot.
“The King’s Man: The Beginning”: Ralph Fiennes often seems involuntarily funny
The story written by director Matthew Vaughn and his screenwriter Karl Gajdusek, which is only loosely based on the comics by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar, is so crude that the stiff Fiennes often appears involuntarily funny. The spin-off takes place (in a parallel universe?) At the time of the First World War and heralds the history of the Kingsman organization: After his wife Emily (Alexandra Maria Lara) was killed by a sniper while working for the Red Cross in Africa, Duke Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) wants to keep his only son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) out of all conceivable dangers.
After the outbreak of war, the teenager absolutely wants to join the army voluntarily. Meanwhile, a mysterious shadow man gathers his henchmen around him. They include the “Nazi clairvoyant” Erik Jan Hanussen (Daniel Brühl), the dancing spy Mata Hari (Valerie Pachner) and the Russian “spiritual healer” Rasputin (Rhys Ifans). With their help he wants to play off the European rulers George V, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II (all three portrayed by Tom Hollander) against each other in order to help his beloved Scotland regain its old greatness …
| The King’s Man: The Beginning | Original title: The King’s Man |
| Director | Matthew Vaughn |
| script | Matthew Vaughn, Karl Gajdusek |
| camera | Ben Davis |
| cut | Jason Ballantine, Robert Hall |
| music | Matthew Margeson, Dominic Lewis |
| Production design | Darren Gilford |
| costume | Michele Clapton |
| rental | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| length | 131 minutes |
“The King’s Man: The Beginning”: Ralph Fiennes often seems involuntarily funny
With Vaughn, who is color blind, plot always counts more than style. Therefore, the digital cardboard comrades in the “crowd scenes” give him very little. And he’s not interested in acting with his illustrious ensemble either. Whatever it takes will be charged. Above all, the grimacing Ifans as a pansexual dervish and seducer of the Tsar family, who, by the way, was actually promoted to the afterlife with the help of the British secret service Oswald Rayner.
So Fiennes is in “good company”. The icing on the cake is the revelation that in truth it was Scottish (!) Nationalists who were responsible for the outbreak of the First World War. Falsification of history made in Britain: “The King’s Man: The Beginning” is a candidate for the “Golden Raspberry” 2022 in all categories! (Marc Hairapetian)
