‘The King’s Man’ sets the whole franchise in motion

Above : Harris Dickinson and Ralph Fiennes star in “The King’s Man,” which opens Friday. (Photo/Walt Disney Studios)

I already wrote about “The Matrix Resurrections,” which opens on Friday. But another big mainstream is opening as well.

It’s titled “The King’s Man.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the film is the latest offering a comic-book-inspired franchise that began in 2014.

That first film, which was adapted from the 2012 comic by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, was “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” Directed by Matthew Vaughn , it stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth and – as the villain – Samuel L. Jackson.

A sequel titled “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” also directed by Vaughn, debuted in 2017. Egerton and Firth were joined by Mark Strong and Channing Tatum. A third film, tentatively titled “Kingsman: The Blue Blood” is said to be in pre-production.

“The King’s Man,” by contrast, is a spin-off from the original series. Again directed by Vaughn, it is a prequel to the others and stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou and Rhys Ifans (as Rasputin).

It’s receiving, mmmm, so-so reviews.

Here’s one good one: “There’s an appetite and a market out there for tongue-in-cheek spy extravaganzas,” wrote The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw , “and this will probably run and run.”

But then there’s this from The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle : “ ‘The King’s Man’ is a mess, purposeless, pointless, witless.”

And this from Time Out critic Helen O’Hara : “Under the perfect tailoring there’s an ugly edge, a cynicism that would shock even Bond, and that makes it very hard to cheer on this King or his men.”

As always, though, we the public have the final say. The king deems it so.