The Kings Man performs a more than good prequel to the two Kingsman movies. Starting in the Boer War, and continuing to the First World War, it follows Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), the Duke of Oxford, a sworn pacifist try to convince his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) not to fight in the war. Instead, Oxford tries to prevent war breaking out, through a network of housekeepers organized by his housekeeper Polly (Gemma Arterton) and bodyguard turned butler Shola (Djimon Hounsou). The first on screen mission is being sent by Lord Kitchener (Charles Dance) to protect Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand on his historically accurate tour of Sarajevo. Major subliminal players during the war, such as Grigori Rasputin, Mata Hari, Vladimir Lenin and Gavrilo Princip are actually in a secret organization lead by a mysterious Shepard. With numerous exhilarating fight scenes, and losses not expected by the audience, it makes a compelling movie, with perhaps less comedy than in the first two movies. As a history buff, I found the premise of these middle-weight players in the war to be an interesting take on history; however, my friend I was watching it with found it hard to follow. This also seemed to be lacking some of the Kingsman magic that made the first two movies so watchable: it did not have the same spark. Overall, with a good premise and interestin historical matter; the movie fails to encapsulate the body of the first two action-comedies, with a respectable but not stellar 8/10.