I’ve always felt fascinated by the figure of King Arthur. Mostly from cartoons like Prince Valiant or King Arthur and the Knights of Justice when I was a kid. Or The Dark Tower, because it features its own version of Arthur. Monty Python and the Holy Grail definitely counts for this as well.
So when I first heard about this new interpretation, with both Charlie Hunnam and Guy Ritchie on board, I was interested. And I went to see it as soon as I could, but life got in the way and I could only sit down to write this review now.
“You felt it, didn’t you?”
When the film starts, mages and ordinary people live in harmony, at least until the sorcerer Mordred attacks. King Uther Pendragon defeats him partly thanks to Excalibur, but when his brother Vortigern betrays him, Uther tries to save his family. Only his son survives.
That boy ends up in Londinium, where some prostitutes take him to their brothel, name him Arthur, and raise him. With time, that boy grows up to become their protector and a gang leader with his best friends. At the same time, Vortigern seizes power and becomes the kind of king who’d rather be feared than loved.
Excalibur resurfaces after a long time, and people take that as a sign of the True King returning. That obviously doesn’t make Vortigern happy, so he sets a plan in motion to try to kill the heir of Uther. But when Arthur gets forced to try to pull the sword, he gets put in contact by the resistance led by Bedivere, a former knight and comrade of Uther, and a nameless mage who was a disciple of Merlin.
“I’m not getting drawn into this mess!”
The main difference I remember with other versions of the legend, is that this Arthur has no interest in his birthright. At least in the beginning.
When his whole world comes crashing down on him, he tries to back down. The whole thing is too big for him. He wants to go back to Londinium, but that life is already gone so he has no other choice. And to complicate things further, Excalibur will only respond to him, but because of his past trauma he can’t wield it properly, so that’s another hurdle he has to overcome.
Not that Bedivere or the Mage coddle him in a “You’re the Chosen One!” type of scenario. On the contrary, their first step is mostly “Let’s take him to this place of giant animals and let him fend for himself.” That’s a refreshing change.
“Show these people the power of Excalibur!”
One of my favourite things about this film was the cast. I’ve been a Charlie Hunnam fan ever since Sons of Anarchy and I had fun watching him in this role; in a way, he’s playing a friendlier and more noble version of Jax Teller, but then again I tend to think of how different his characters are from Jax. It didn’t quite fill the gap that Sons of Anarchy left when it finished, but it did the trick.
Jude Law is great as Vortigern. I found the character slimy and creepy, which is exactly how it should’ve been played. And I always appreciate seeing actors like Djimon Honsou or Aidan Gillen in more films. The cast is great and it’s cool that they didn’t do that whole “people of colour hadn’t been invented yet” shtick that a lot of films like these have.
When it comes to the cast, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey stole the show for me. She’s intriguing and mysterious and I have no idea who her character might be. I have the secret hope that she turns out to be Morgane because her being Guinevere would be disappointing.
I’m not sure if that question will ever be answered anyway. While this film was originally planned as the first in a series of six, that seems pretty unlikely now. The film has bombed in the US and is getting terrible reviews. They might be unfair, especially since Guy Ritchie has made worse films than this one, but c’est la vie.
I just keep hoping that this film will get at least a sequel. I’d love to see the Knights of the Round Table in action.
What do you think? Have you seen the film? Let us know in the comments!
Angry Spaniard, adoptive Irishman. Writer, reader, tea drinker and video game player/designer.
