The King’s Man is a fascinating film. It shouldn’t work. It starts kind of mediocre and then just ascends and ascends with total bug-nuttery until I had to sit back and admit I was enjoying myself. This mess somehow just… worked. For me. Your results may vary.

The flick is an origin story for the Kingsmen films (since I guess we were all asking for it?). It’s set during WW1 and is basically a connect-the-dots of the greatest hits of the war. It flails wildly from one major historical event to the next, connecting them by way of its heroes (led by Ralph Fiennes) and mustache-twirling villains belonging to the League of Silly Accents.

This movie simply doesn’t have a cohesive story structure. It jumps energetically and enthusiastically from event to event without bothering with connective tissue. It flails between serious drama and high camp without batting an eye. There’s a sequence with Rasputin that’s the most over-enthusiastically campy thing I’ve seen on screen in ages. And I thought that that was the new sit-in-your-seat-and-laugh-incredulously tone of the flick. But it’s not. It then goes serious again before turning into a straight-up 007 movie (as befits the franchise) only with mountain goats.

None of this should work, but it does. And if you say it doesn’t, I’d believe you. There’s no logic or consistent tone in this flick other than maybe its gleeful desire to jig left when you think its going right. I threw my hands in the air with bewildered enjoyment a bunch of times until I just gave in and enjoyed it.

I feel like this is a movie I’ll be apologizing for. I liked it for its serious tone, for being so extra, for being genuinely kind of kick-ass. Each at different times, each with different tones and ambitions. I’m very shocked I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t be shocked if you did not.

Score: 86