The King's Man

Afterwards I had to check if, for example, Mata Hari seduced US president Woodrow Wilson. This did-it-happen? question holds the interest throughout what is otherwise just another well-made, well-acted spy caper.

Tonally and thematically The King's Man is all over the place, in a way that lays bare the cynicism of Vaughn's own mission: to appear transgressive yet reassuringly conventional.

The tone lurches awkwardly from sweeping colonial melodrama to grim battle epic, camp, pseudo-Bond caper and crass, unfunny farce.

It is downright diabolical for Vaughn to make audiences even imagine a sequel to this unnecessary prequel simply to see if can be as outlandish as promised.

As either a 007-inspired spy film or a comic book adventure, The King's Man feels stale.

Part satire, part adventure, this prequel fails at both...

For a prequel that promised something large, loud, and ostensibly entertaining, the movie just doesn’t quite suit up.

Awesome action & memorable characters… but left me with a story that wasn’t my cup of tea…

In this secret service spy prequel, director Matthew Vaughn meanders his way into the First World War to revise history, but he appears to have forgotten to revise the script.

The King's Man takes [the franchise] and boils it down to its most sensible origin story, delivering jaw-dropping twists, epic fights, and proving that over-the-top nonsense is sometimes all you need.