King Arthur Film Review – Legend of the Sword
The story of King Arthur has been told on numerous occasions over the years. Having said this I don’t think there is a film version that has had great reviews. Director Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) 2004 attempt was not very memorable. So there is undoubtedly room for a good King Arthur movie and a good King Arthur film review, but will this be it.
On paper things look good. Guy Ritchie a solid director, Charlie Hunnam a rising star, Jude Law a love to hate bad guy. Boxes ticked lets set the scene.
A Tale of Legend
The film opens on an epic battle in which Arthur’s father played by Eric Bana defeats an unbeatable foe with the help of Excalibur the legendary sword crafted by Merlin himself. What the 20 storey elephants were about I don’t know, but I’ll leave that right there. After some family grievances the sword gets stuck in a rock. Legend says it shall remain there until the true heir to the king returns and pulls it. Thats the brief version and this is where our story really begins.
Whats the Verdict?
Parts of the film are great. If you’re a fan of Guy Ritchie’s fast cutting montage background stories, slow motion action sequences and classic one liners, there is plenty to keep you entertained. But by the time we get to the second half of the film, it did feel like the techniques were verging on over use. To add to that the story did become some what convoluted. When the giant snakes turned up I did wonder what it was all in aid of. We would have got on fine without it.
Having said that I did like Charlie Hunnam who plays the character set out for him with a likeable swagger. Also I thought Kingsley Ben-Adir who plays ‘Wet Stick’ was very memorable even with his limited screen time. Jude Law’s Hitleresque ‘Vortigern’ was very Game of Thrones, so if you’re a fan of both of those you love him. In other areas, there are some solid action scenes to keep you excited, but if you’re going to see the film to catch a glimpse of David Beckham, you may need to rethink!
All in all it’s not going to go down an amazing piece of film making but entertaining none the less. Snatch is still Guy’s best work.
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