THE KING'S MAN

 Ralph Fiennes     Gemma Arterton     Rhys Ifans     Djimon Hounsou     Tom Hollander

Matthew Goode     Harris Dickinson     Charles Dance     Daniel Bruhl

This third Kingsman movie in the series is to serve as a prequel to the first two:  Kingsman:  The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman:  The Golden Circle (2017).  It’s all about how a private secret service got formed in Great Britain and who was behind it.  The Kingsman films are based on a comic book series by Mark Millar and David Gibbons.  The first film, was more positively received than the second. 

In this current version, the title The King’s Man implies something different from the previous two films.  The King’s Man (presumably referring to the duke of Oxford (Fiennes), is someone with meritorious service having a change of heart after a number of successful battles, and now wanting to work toward peace as opposed to proving his manhood (over and over) by military feats.  It was his wife’s dying wish that he would not lead their son Conrad into battle.  After meritorious military service, he quite readily accedes to her and promises that Conrad will never go to war.

This promise is the crux of the film in that as the years go by and Conrad (Dickinson) grows up admiring his father’s service, he wants to follow in his footsteps.  What ensues is an account of times when the father stands in his way and other times when Conrad insists on making his own choices.  

The film is good (and humorous) in showing political intrigue (The Kaiser of Germany, Nicholas, Tsar of Russia, and King George—all descendants of Queen Victoria—comprising a triple competition) and the uncertainty of outcomes in both dramatic and personal costs.  Ralph Fiennes’ performance is the best part of the film.

The many sword plays and cliff-side terrors can be exciting, but because of their length, tend to make the viewer lose focus.  Some are remarkably choreographed—particularly the ones showing sword fights between whirling dervishes on tabletops—which provide entertainment in themselves.

King’s Man has its appeal in the quality of the production and the actors, but the film sags from the writers’ not apparently having a clear vision of what they wanted to express.  When the fights seem to go on interminably, it seems like the director Matthew Vaughn has gotten distracted by the action and doesn’t realize he needs to move on. 

 

Swashbuckling during the outbreak of WWI in a mix of tongue-in-cheek humor, serious aggression, and emotional upset .

 

Grade:  C                              By Donna R. Copeland

SHAZAM!

Zachary Levi     Mark Strong II     Asher Angel     Jack Dylan Grazer     Djimon Hounsou

Faithe Herman     Grace Fulton     Ian Chen     Jovan Armand

     A little boy at the carnival is disappointed because his mother didn’t win the toy he wanted, but is reassured by her giving him what she did win—a compass—“that way you can always find your way home”, she says, which brings a smile to his face.  But they are in crowds and he drops the compass, running after it when people kick it along. Finally, he retrieves it, only to find that he has lost his mother.

     Billy (Angel as the child) is smart, inventive, and a bit impish, which results in his being shunted from one foster home to another after his mother is never found. When he’s a pre-teen he pulls a trick on some police officers, and is given a final chance at one more home, which, at first, he’s not about to regard it as such.  But as it turns out, it’s run by a loving couple who’ve taken in four other children, all with certain quirks freely tolerated by the Vasquezes.  Freddie (Grazer), a fast talker, reaches out to Billy who, of course, is ambivalent and rejecting, but Freddie doesn’t give up, and finally wins him over.

     Another character we meet early on is Thaddeus Sivana (the younger played by Pugiotto), whose father and older brother belittle him as a sissy and a coward, figuring he will never amount to anything.  But Thad sometimes has visionary experiences, which he would like to tell them about, but they simply show impatience and blame him for a serious car accident.  He does grow up to be some kind of scientist (played as a grown-up by Strong) with a continuing burning interest in the dark arts.

     Now, not only does Thad have some strange experiences, but Billy too begins to have similar ones after he starts living in the Vasquez home.  Both boys have encountered the wizard Shazam, one of which will become the “true champion” to carry on his tradition of power.  He must be good, strong in spirit and pure in heart to withstand the seven deadly sins. When Billy invokes “Shazam!”, he immediately becomes an adult super hero (played by Levi).  But Sivana covets the mantle, and being older and more experienced, he expects to be able to wrest Billy’s powers from him. The two will eventually thrash it out in long, extended bouts

     The screenplay by Henry Gayden and David F. Sandberg’s direction artfully weave these characters and their stories together in ways that capture the viewer’s interest and suspense, aided by impressive special effects.  Comedy is skillfully inserted, particularly when Billy begins to recognize special powers that seem to have appeared out of the blue, and when his foster brothers and sisters come out with charming observations and logic.  

     The film is at least a half-hour too long, with battles between Sivana and Billy/Shazam becoming tedious eventually.  But it has redeeming qualities, such as childhood traumas being linked to adult issues, the demonstration of tolerance for individual differences shown by the Vasquez couple and their encouragement of individual strengths, and the fundamental theme of what is involved in being mature and responsible as an adult. 

     On the whole, I think the film is worthwhile for children to see, with its entertainment value, thrills, and comedy; and adults should find enough to be of interest and provoke thinking about the issues presented.  Children might take heart in the idea that they possess special powers that just need to be developed, and that tolerance for individual differences and strengths is something to be appreciated and valued.

     I’m not sure how good it is for children to witness certain scenes in the story between children and their families that include child abandonment (kids won’t be able to grasp the reasons for it) and vengeance wreaked by an adult child venting his spleen.  Both of these elements could have been eliminated without weakening the story.

     The main actors—Levi, Strong, and and Angel—give strong performances, and delightful Faithe Herman is refreshingly funny and endearing.

Although too long, this origin story of Shazam! is entertaining and fun.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

CAPTAIN MARVEL

Brie Larson     Gemma Chan     Ben Mendelssohn    Samuel L. Jackson     Lee Pace

Jude Law     Annette Bening     Djimon Hounsou     Colin Ford

     This female Captain Marvel lights up the screen—literally, in brilliant bursts of light—and in her noble beliefs in truth and justice and her aim to be a bridge between Earth and space.

     The story opens with her/Carol Danvers (Larson) as a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot suffering from unexplained amnesia when Yom-Rogg (Law), member of the notable Kree military group known as Starforce, rescues her after a plane crash.  He gives her some information (leaving out significant bits), and informs her that he will be training her to be a Kree warrior subsequent to her DNA being fused with that of a Kree during the accident.  This has given her superhuman strength and other super powers, such as photon blasts from her hands.  He puts her through rigorous fight maneuvers, attempting to train her away from her human emotional reactions to become more like the unemotional Kree.  The Krees are in the midst of a war with another alien group, the Skrulls.

     When “Vers”—the name she is to go by—is ready for her first mission, she is visited by the Krees’ Supreme Intelligence (Bening), who tells her she is ready to be a warrior, gives her instructions and then disappears.  At this point, she can’t really recall her own history.

In her mission, Vers will encounter the bewildering, green-skinned Skrull shape shifters led by  Talos (Mendelssohn) to keep them from stealing a light speed engine invented by the Krees and banish them from the universe.  It gets complicated because the characters and the viewers cannot always tell who is really who they say they are, which also provides the opportunity for humorous scenes in which characters are asking one another factual bits and incidents in their past that a shape shifter wouldn’t know. It also means that who are the “good” guys and who are the “bad” guys frequently shifts.  Since the viewer is in the dark too (unless well informed about Marvel comics), this becomes a teaser in the film, which may capture your interest or seem tedious.

     Brie Larson in a completely new role for her has just the right mixture of sassiness, bravado, playfulness, and fierceness to be convincing as an action figure, Captain America.  It was fun seeing a woman in that role, like it was with Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman, although Captain Marvel doesn’t seem as bad-ass as Wonder Woman.  Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, and Annette Bening are all comfortable in complex roles where their characters are seen in different lights at different times.  The arc of Gemma Chan’s role as Minn-erva, Carol Danvers’ best friend/sister, and an ace pilot is gratifying to see.  

     Boden/Fleck as writers/directors (and their co-writers) can be pleased with their new Captain Marvel, which entertains, is well paced, and sustains suspense with brilliant special effects, music (Pinar Toprak), and cinematography (Ben Davis) that complement the story and the characters.  

The emergence of a female Captain Marvel and the war between two alien groups make for an exciting, colorful ride, with a revealing twist toward the end.

Grade:  B+                                 By Donna R. Copeland

KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD

Charlie Hunman     Jude Law     Djimon Hounsou     Eric Bana     Astrid Berges-Frisbey     Aiden Gillen

      Do we need another movie about the Arthurian Legend?  Apparently, Guy Ritchie thinks so, because he has helped write and has directed this movie about the origins of King Arthur.  After opening scenes of intrigue and murder (which are only clear much later in the film), we see Arthur as a street kid brought up in a brothel, unaware of his lineage.  When his father, King Uther (Bana) realizes that he is in mortal danger from Uther’s brother, Vortigan (Law), who covets the crown, he secrets the child away in a boat, covered with furs.  When the boat arrives to its destination, the women in the brothel scurrying for furs find him underneath, and adopt him as their own.

     Arthur is a scrappy street kid, bullied but never bowed, and eventually gets in enough trouble that he is confronted by a sword in a stone near the palace of King Vortigan.  Unbeknownst to him, Vortigan, knowing he has a nephew who is heir to the crown, has done two things.  He conscripts all young boys to serve in his army so he can gain their ultimate loyalty.  He also knows that the Excalibur sword, lodged between two large stones, can only be withdrawn by the heir to the British throne, e.g., his nephew.  All young men visiting his castle are required try to pull out the sword so Vortigan can identify his potential challenger.

     Mixed into the story is a mage (Berges-Frisbey) who guides the reluctant Arthur to his rightful place.  She has special powers that can bring on a host of crows to attack the enemy, snakes that can prove the worthiness of Arthur for royalty, and so on.  But Arthur is probably the most reluctant hero in the history of literature.  Even after he successfully pulls Excalibur out of the stone he eschews being lauded for it and must be reminded continually by the mage that he has a calling that cannot be denied.  She has considerable powers, but in the end, she has to say that only until Arthur sees its importance to him on his own, will the sword be viable.

     Ritchie has produced an extravaganza that is redolent with medieval history and lore, and the special effects used to enhance the mythological experience are achieved by John Mathieson, cinematographer, production designer Gemma Jackson, and other technological specialists.  Some aspects of the film are not apparent in their value/meaning, such as the firings into the air that produce black clouds, and the mage not being able to save herself when a knife is on her throat, yet is able to overcome huge attacking armies.  She doesn’t have the power simply to fly away?

    If you’re comfortable with the Arthur character looking and sounding like a regular American good guy, you are likely going to praise Hunman’s performance as Arthur.  And I certainly laud his acting ability, but I think the role called for a more British kind of hero who does not look/sound so American.  That kept taking me out of the medieval mood of the film.  I also thought Jude Law was miscast as the villain Vortigan; he doesn’t convey sufficient evil for that character.  He is much more effective in the recent TV production, “The Young Pope”, where he is a bit devilish and unconventional.  Astrid Berges-Frisbey is spot-on as the mage, an occult seer to guide the naïve Arthur toward his destiny.  Aiden Gillen, Eric Bana, and Djimon Hounsou are first-rate actors who add considerably to the vision of this film. 

Of interest to those who do not tire of Arthurian tales.

Grade:  C                                    By Donna R. Copeland