‘The King’s Man’ Review: Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Kingsman’ Prequel Has Its Moments

Meghan King has some big goals for the new year following her split from Cuffe Biden Owens!

Blank slate. Meghan King made a small — but significant — tweak to her social media presence after confirming her split from husband Cuffe Owens.

Meghan King and Cuffe Biden Owens have ended their marriage after two brief months. The former star confirmed the news on Dec.

Meghan King and husband Cuffe Owens are already calling it quits. Just two months after the Real Housewives of Orange County alum tied the knot with President Joe Biden‘s nephew, the whirlwind romance has come to an end and Meghan’s opening up about the “devastating” split.

“The King’s Man” is truly insane. That is undeniable.

Believe it or not, buried in all the talk of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “The Matrix Resurrections,” there is a new ‘Kingsman’ film in theaters. The prequel, “The King’s Man,” is once again directed by Matthew Vaughn, but this time transports us back a century to see the early days of the Kingsman spy organization.

Matthew Vaughn has made no effort in hiding his love of superheroes. The filmmaker has previously directed superhero films such as “Kick-Ass” and “X-Men: First Class,” and his ‘Kingsman’ franchise is basically a superhero film series minus the capes and with tuxedos instead.

“The King’s Man” is the latest installment in the “Kingsman” franchise that began in 2013 with “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and continued with 2017’s “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” but if Vaughn has his way it won’t be the last. Tangentially based on the comic book series “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, the first two films established a private spy organization run out of a Savile Row tailor shop.

amped it up to a ludicrous level. An example of the no-holds-barred crazy: Julianne Moore played an international drug lord named Poppy, who, as it would happen, took Elton John as her prisoner. And now here’s a dreary prequel (aren’t they all?), “The King’s Man,” which is almost totally laugh-less, lacks a charismatic lead (Egerton’s character isn’t born yet) and is bogged down by the trench warfare misery of World War I.

There are distinct pleasures to be had in watching Ralph Fiennes play the lead in an action franchise at this stage in his career.For as fun as he is as erudite bon vivants, scoundrels and snobs, you always leave wanting more M. Gustav, more Laurence Laurentz, more Harry Hawkes.

Matthew Vaughn has made no effort in hiding his love of superheroes. The filmmaker has previously directed superhero films such as “Kick-Ass” and “X-Men: First Class,” and his ‘Kingsman’ franchise is basically a superhero film series minus the capes and with tuxedos instead.

first eyed to direct a “Man of Steel” sequel for Warner Bros.

For the past seven years, filmmaker Matthew Vaughn has been scratching his spy film itch with his ‘Kingsman’ franchise. Over the course of three films (the third of which, “The King’s Man,” arriving this week, read our review here), Vaughn has shown himself to be a pretty solid director of superspy material.

Director Natalie Meta takes an abstract approach to her second feature film The Intruder (El Prófugo). Based on a book of the same name by C.E. Feiling, Meta walks a fine line between the psychological and the spiritual but because the film doesn’t elaborate on either view, the movie lingers in a limbo while the audience tries to get to the bottom of what’s happening without losing interest. 

Believe it or not, it’s been nearly a decade since “Kick-Ass 2” hit theaters back in 2013. Unfortunately, at the time, the superhero sequel wasn’t nearly as beloved as the 2010 original, and the franchise quickly sputtered out.

20th Century Studios’“The King’s Man” peaks somewhere around the middle, during the scene in which the sunken-eyed ghoul Rasputin (portrayed by Rhys Ifans, having a ball) performs some manner of restorative metaphysical cunnilingus by pressing his lips to the unmistakably yonic leg wound that undercover hero Orlando (Ralph Fiennes) sustained back in the Boer War.

Djimon Hounsou looks so sharp in his purple suit at the premiere of The King’s Man held at Museum of Modern Art on Monday (December 13) in New York City.