The Kingsman movies have never slouched when it comes to their action choreography. Director Matthew Vaughn is known for his energetic sequences, and his new franchise prequel is no exception. The difference this time around is that some of those sequences take place in an actual historical war.
We recently had a chance to sit down with The King’s Man stars Harris Dickinson and Gemma Arterton. During the interview, I was able to ask if this setting impacted the theme of the movie. When I brought up the phrase “anti-war,” breakout lead Dickinson responded surprisingly. For Dickinson, his character is keen to show there are other ways to solve issues rather than going to war.
Yeah, no, I think that’s an astute point. I think that’s what’s so interesting about Ralph’s character…The point he’s trying to prove essentially is that there’s better ways to solve conflicts. Whether that’s directly linked to the point in question of war or whether it’s all conflicts in general. We’ve had a terrible history of wars and the human cost of it has been devastating. So, yeah.
Harris Dickinson
Arterton gave her own thoughts soon after Dickinson. For her, she feels Vaughn is commenting on the opposition of using violence to prevent violence.
Yeah, I think you’re right. I think it is a message that Matthew wanted to convey, and I think he believes that very strongly. This Kingsman agency, having been created so that, y’know – the inevitability is that there will always be conflict. There will always be people disagreeing, and potentially wars breaking out. So, Kingsman being created to kind of protect and try to prevent that from happening. I guess it’s sort of a peaceful organization that uses, like, guns and violence and knives and stuff to stop these things from happening. So yeah…it’s the message of the film.
Gemma Arterton
As The King’s Man readies to hit theaters, a third Kingsman film is finally confirmed to be in the works with production kicking off in Sept. 2022. Vaughn, who confirmed the news, returns as the director. As it stands, no further details are currently available.
The King’s Man hits theaters on December 22nd.