The King's Man
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: December 22, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
22
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDec 22, 2021
Mainly, it has Ralph Fiennes to ensure that the center holds. As Orlando, Duke of Oxford and the spy agency’s founder, Fiennes might read more cuddly than studly, but he lends a surprising gravitas to this flibbertigibbet feature. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeDec 20, 2021
After the so-so Kingsman: The Secret Service and the unendurable Kingsman: The Golden Circle, one might reasonably assume that Matthew Vaughn had nowhere else to go with the secret agent pastiche. This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink prequel deflates such pessimism in disreputably enjoyable fashion. Read full review
60
TheWrapTodd GilchristDec 14, 2021
Vaughn’s third installment in this series is ultimately a pretty lousy movie; again, better than the last one, but that isn’t much of a compliment. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly RichardsDec 14, 2021
Vaughn gets a lot of points for imagination, but then quite a lot taken away for not knowing when to stop. A blast at times, The King’s Man could have sacrificed a fair chunk of plot for a bit more comedy. Read full review
60
IGNRosie KnightDec 14, 2021
The King’s Man’s triumphant action and epic performances are dragged down by a confused story and overlong runtime. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 14, 2021
Like a great big playful un-neutered pitbull, Matthew Vaughn’s new Kingsman movie comes crashing into our cinematic lives this Christmas, overturning the furniture and frantically humping everyone’s leg before rolling over on the carpet for you to tickle its tummy or anything else that comes to hand. Read full review
59
PolygonJesse HassengerJan 5, 2022
The story is never fully passed along to the younger character; this really is Fiennes’ movie all the way, and probably more interesting for it. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenDec 22, 2021
The film’s politics are not exactly sophisticated, motivated more by the convenience of the moment than any cohesive worldview. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoDec 22, 2021
It’s a film that is too often trying to be a serious study of politics, warfare, and pacifism until it slaps you in the face with a reminder that this is all set-up to one of the broader, goofier action franchises of the modern era. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiDec 21, 2021
Writer-director Matthew Vaughn, who’s helmed all three, needs to either call it quits or hand over the reins to someone with some self-control. The formidable talent of Ralph Fiennes can lift his movie some, but the man’s not Hercules. Read full review
50
The Associated PressLindsey BahrDec 21, 2021
At a certain point, it becomes clear that not only is The King’s Man a tonal mess, it’s also just a set-up for a movie with an even more enticing cast that’ll leave you feeling even more conflicted. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 20, 2021
If the story is fun — and it is fitfully, only after a protracted, sloggy set up — it’s a lot less so than either of the first two films. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyDec 20, 2021
History is just one big playpen for The King’s Man, but some games are less fun than others. Maybe using a glimpse of Hitler for a cheap thrill wouldn’t seem quite so grotesque in a movie that were more entertaining, but The King’s Man isn’t so it does. Read full review
50
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiDec 14, 2021
As charismatic as its stars are, and as refreshing as its period setting is, the wildly inconsistent tone and overstuffed runtime loses whatever was left of the shine of the first "Kingsman." Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanDec 14, 2021
The film oscillates, rather awkwardly, between grandiose cartoon heroics and a kind of dutiful flatness. Read full review
50
IndieWireVikram MurthiDec 14, 2021
The film’s tone is less cheeky and more serious, especially in the first half, but Vaughn and co-screenwriter Karl Gajdusek have their cake and eat it too by doling out standard “Kingsman”-esque thrills in between heady conversations about non-violence, colonialism, and the horrors of war. Read full review
45
CNNBrian LowryDec 14, 2021
Fun in places, this World War I era story was designed to expand the franchise but appears just as likely to end it. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyDec 14, 2021
The concept of a supervillain hellbent on Scottish independence is, admittedly, kind of funny (not to mention in keeping with the overall politics of the Kingsman films). But The King’s Man can’t figure out what to do with the idea, apart from having the largely unseen bad guy yell a lot in a Scottish accent. Like so much of the film, it’s trying to have it both ways—to be stupid and clever at the same time, and coming across mostly as the former. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJan 11, 2022
The film can’t resist revelling in a conservative conclusion outside Buckingham Palace, with a victory banner fluttering against a smattering of St George’s flags. Read full review
40
Time OutHelen O'HaraDec 14, 2021
There are a few genuine surprises as this goes, but many more predictable twists. When the film engages with the real World War I, it feels pat, a ‘1066 and All That’ trip through the ‘best bits’ of history Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 14, 2021
So no, The King’s Man doesn’t take itself especially seriously – until it suddenly, jarringly does. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyDec 14, 2021
All the pleasures of The King’s Man find themselves inevitably undermined by its hollowness. Read full review
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