Directed by Guy Ritchie who is known for stylish thrillers like 2000’s Snatch, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a unique and visually over-the-top take on the classic legendary story of King Arthur and Camelot. The star-studded cast and director gives a certain gravitas but, unfortunately, the film is nothing more than an average attempt at a Hollywood blockbuster Medieval action/adventure with the hopes of booting a highly profitable series of sequels. The movie begins with a fast-moving epic battle sequence at Camelot between malevolent fantastical forces known as mage and Uther the king of Britons, played briefly by Eric Bana. Ultimately, the king is killed and his scheming brother Vortigern, played by a cunning Jude Law, ascends to the throne but Uther’s young son escapes. The new brutal king spends years searching for his nephew who threatens his rule, and the appearance of the sword Excalibur, which can only be removed by the rightful heir to the throne, gives him a test to find his nephew. It turns out that his nephew is Arthur who lived for most of his life in a London brothel unaware of his heritage and portrayed by new action star Charlie Hunnam. After he is able to extract Excalibur, he must live a life on the run from his uncle’s vicious soldiers known as Blacklegs. Eventually, he teams up with his father’s former general Sir Bedivere, played by Djimon Hounsou, and his loyalists, a character played by the terrific Aidan Gillen of Game of Thrones fame, a mage who worked with Merlin, and some of his friends from the brothel. He must first go on an adventure and learn how to harness the sheer power of Excalibur, which he could not handle at first. With his renewed strength, Arthur leads several ambushes on the Blacklegs, and he eventually successfully confronts his evil uncle who has sacrificed many of their relatives to gain mystical power. At the end of the movie, Arthur becomes who he was predestined to become and hints of the creation of the Knights of the Round Table. In typical Guy Ritchie fashion, many of the scenes include narration on top of frenetic and bloody stylish fight sequences and often includes flashbacks and flash-forwards. However, the quickfire editing sometimes creates a convoluted narrative that looks pretty but may be hard to follow. Also, the over-the-top fantastical elements and the extremely dark and mysterious atmosphere and mood of the film undercuts the classic Arthurian stories the audience may remember. Overall, I found that Guy Ritchie brought a certain amount of energy to the age-old King Arthur tales, but the movie ultimately failed with its over-reliance on style rather than substance.
KEITH on Reels 