It feels like a lifetime ago that "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" hit theaters, providing the franchise with enough juice to keep going. Matthew Vaughn had surprised as all with the shockingly entertaining "Kingsman: The Secret Service" in 2014 and now, the filmmaker is back with a prequel, "The King's Man." This movie has been on the shelf for a long, long time collecting dust, partially caught up in the Disney/Fox merger, but mostly as a result of the pandemic. In any event, critics have now seen the movie and reactions are rolling in.

While we've yet to get any full reviews for the film based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, we do have some social media reactions to give us an idea of what to expect. Based on the early buzz? It seems like we're in for a mixed bag that may prove to be divisive. Strap in, kids, we're going for a ride.

The King's Man Early Buzz

The general consensus seems to be that this is a weird movie and not totally like the previous two entries — for better or for worse. Here's how our own Hoai-Tran Bui felt about it:

Meanwhile, our man Jeff Ewing had some thoughts, and they were a bit mixed.

As for the rest of the bunch? It's a mix of some good, some bad, some ugly. It appears this one might be divisive, that much is clear. Gizmodo and io9's Germain Lussier was not a fan.

Digital Spy's Ian Sandwell, meanwhile, feels that Vaughn "blends real-life history to the heightened Kingsman world to mostly successful results."

The rest of the reactions in the early bunch range from hailing it as a "dad movie," to declaring that it "slaps," as the kids might say. Again, the best way to describe this first wave of reactions is mixed.

As is always the case, we'll get a great deal more insight once the full reviews drop in the not-too-distant future. Whether or not this movie does well enough to ensure that "Kingsman 3" might still happen remains to be seen, but this movie has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, and it's finally time to see what all the fuss, good or bad, has been about.

Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance star, with Vaughn, David Reid, and Adam Bohling producing.

"The King's Man" is set to hit theaters on December 22, 2021.

As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King's Man.

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