'The King's Man' seeks to expand the spy franchise, but this prequel just might end it
CNN
"The King's Man" is a prequel to the "Kingsman" movies, but its closest spiritual kin would be "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," another film based on a graphic novel that brought the superhero/spy genre into an earlier era and mostly flubbed the migration process. Fun in places, this World War I era story was designed to expand the franchise but appears just as likely to end it.
Although the original players haven't been born yet, the intriguing prospect of Ralph Fiennes portraying the Duke of Oxford, the founder of the super-secret service that defends the U.K. and world from existential threats, sounded inviting, particularly with the war as a backdrop. The execution, alas, falls short of the possibilities.
Insanely rich, Oxford is a cross between James Bond and Batman, if reluctant to enter this perilous role when the story begins thanks to a pledge to his late wife regarding their now on-the-cusp-of-manhood son (Harris Dickinson, the prince in the "Maleficent" sequel).
In the days and weeks leading up Hunter Biden’s trial on felony gun charges, President Joe Biden made little attempt to distance himself from his son. Instead, Hunter Biden was seen at the White House and in Delaware at his father’s side amid what the president’s allies acknowledge is a difficult moment for both men.