Synopsis – Robbed of his birthright, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy – whether he likes it or not.

My Take – The legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have been the subject of many films for a long time, while Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 disappointment and Jerry Zucker’s 1995 film First Knight can be considered as the last attempts to bring the tale in blockbuster format, you would be surprised to see how many direct to DVD versions of the beloved tale have been made over time. Yet, being a huge a fan of director Guy Ritchie (RocknRolla, The Man from U.N.C.L.E) the Brit-crime hotshot, and his style of filmmaking, I went to this one expecting to see a by-the-numbers generic fantasy like the ones Disney churns out regularly, even though the trailers showed a certain creativity lacking in most films today, an appeal, a certain style that offers uniqueness and it’s this uniqueness that gives the film significant value. Yes! For those whose have come to become accustomed to his style of filmmaking i.e. no matter the genre, the film will be filled with witty dialogue, a bang on soundtrack and creative editing, Guy Ritchie has applied to this tale the same style and technique that made his Sherlock Holmes films so beloved. This film does not have the Arthur that swaggers his way around Camelot, with his trusted Knights doing most of the handy work, instead he is just an ordinary guy that doesn’t particularly want the attention that removing the all powerful sword, Excalibur, from a rock seems to garner. Here, writer/director Guy Ritchie takes the classic legend out and gives it his own spin by mixing the film with the concepts of Hamlet, Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, and even a little Jedi mind trickery, resulting in a mash of familiar fantasy tropes that makes using traditional Arthurian references like Excalibur and Camelot feel strangely out of place. Similar to his Sherlock Holmes films, Ritchie has gone so far afield from the original mythology that he might have benefited from separating his film from the source material by letting the parallels to King Arthur play as subtext to Warner Bros‘s house style of superhero films (dingy lighting, noticeable re-cuts), yet somehow it works more often than it misses. I get it why the film has been receiving mixed (to negative) reactions; the film is a white-hot, whirly-swirly, entertaining mess. It looks like what it is: too much material accumulated over a long time, shoved into just over two hours. It’s frantic to encompass favorite shots and lines and tons of manic video game style graphics, while managing to be light on plot and character. It’s a rocky road, no doubts, however, if depth-less, churning entertainment is the goal, the film delivers, and is widely entertaining especially when it just wants to have some fun.

The story follows Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), who must find his way back from the streets of Londinium to the throne in Camelot and take over as the rightful born king. Over 20 years ago, Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), vanquished the Mordred, the leader of the Mages (who are presented as a whole tribe of sorcerers), by wielding the power of Excalibur, a legendary blade that turns its master into a blue-eyed wraith of terrifying power. However, in the aftermath of the battle, Uther’s power-hungry younger brother Vortigern (Jude Law) succumbing to the lure of the dark arts, kills his own wife Elsa (Katie McGrath), and sister in law, Igraine (Poppy Delevingne) and in a final standoff, before he meets his fate, Uther is able to send his young son Arthur away, who drifts downriver in a small vessel and coming to rest near a brothel in the crowded streets of Londinium. The ladies of the house take him under their wing, and as the years pass, he grows from a shy, quiet boy into a muscular, smooth-talking bouncer, petty gang leader, and dispenser of justice in his area of town, with the help his pals, Wet Stick (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Back Lack (Neil Maskell), and Chinese George (Tom Wu). However, rumors of the young king returning to claim the throne persist, as the waters around Camelot begin receding to reveal where the old king had lost the sword — it is now embedded into the bedrock. Soldiers scour the country, gathering up all males of the proper age including Arthur and having each attempt to draw the sword. Things go quickly south when Arthur surprisingly pulls the sword out; gets rescued by Sir Bedivere the Wise (Djimon Hounsou) and his band of woodland dissidents; and is assisted by a nameless Mage (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) on a hallucinatory vision quest and climactic showdown with Vortigern. Yup, this is still very much a paint-by-numbers fantasy adventure. If you enjoy Guy Ritchie’s storytelling style, then you’ll probably have fun. If you don’t, then you are going to have a tough time trying to keep track on what’s going on. This is a light version of King Arthur—the one where characters wonder aloud how the Round Table got into Camelot. (“Did you roll it in on its side?”) It has a somewhat unconventional score (hurdy-gurdy, sampled breathing), some interesting camera angles, and decent one-liners. At the very least, the film does have a clear story, so this is not as messy or as incoherent as a Zack Snyder presentation by any stretch of the imagination. Despite the genre shift, the film itself is classic Ritchie, from the quick dialogue exchanges to scene jumping. I loved the structure of the storytelling, we are introduced to plenty of characters and somehow the film gets across the feeling that we know each and every character introduced. This is the function of these fast pasted micro stories within the film; you need to be paying attention to keep up. This isn’t a bad direction to take the character in, although in the case of this film, it does grow a bit tiresome when you’re a good way into the film and Arthur still doesn’t fancy picking up the eponymous blade and charging into battle. This is very much an origin story for Arthur, which has ‘we’re hoping for a whole universe of sequels, so we won’t put too much in the first one’ written all over it. Thankfully, you don’t have to wait for Arthur to get his act together for the action to begin. As Arthur dives deeper and deeper into this world where his Excalibur exhibits superhero abilities, wizards can see through the eyes of birds, and more, the film tends to lose some of its focus. Things shift from a Guy Ritchie film to a Peter Jackson spectacle on a dime and it doesn’t always work; for example, you might get giant walking elephants in one scene, but then an intricate heist plot the next.

However, just when things start to get a little too crazy, Ritchie shrinks Arthur’s story to a more manageable size, and Arthur’s quest to defeat his uncle never becomes to a 10,000-person CG battle. Along the way, that progression reveals how Arthur, at first resistant to his destiny, grows into it. Plus, as an added bonus, the film even goes so far as to give Law’s villainous, murderous King Vortigern some depth with his own sense of morality and flaws (you know, beyond murdering his brother). We see the story from both sides, which doesn’t totally work and feels forced at moments. It’s a shame; because Ritchie’s best works have a heightened normalcy at their core. His Sherlock Holmes films resonate because they’re about a really smart dude who sees the little details no one else does, and films like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are quick-cut, highly stylized looks at cockney hoodlums navigating an eccentric crime world. Similarly, the film shines when its boasts a flip of the familiar, with Arthur and the boys engaging in wanton thievery or on a caper to assassinate Vortigern. And it’s worth noting that this showdown comes closer to capturing the tangible, lived-in action of Peter Jackson’s iconic trilogy than The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies ever did. In fact, most of the action here looks better than your generic modern CGI-stuffed blockbuster. It helps that Ritchie brings back the slow-motion fight style that he honed in all his films, which means you can actually see what’s going on in most of the one-on-one fights. The action is well choreographed and has a its own great style – the fights sometimes resembling a scene from one of the Infinity Blade games, including slowdowns and skull- masked brutes. In creating new versions of the Lady of the Lake and other aspects of the ancient legend, Ritchie offers a few amazing visuals when King Arthur dives into fantasy weirdness. What doesn’t work as well are the “superpowers” that Arthur’s sword gives him, with CGI making fight scenes indecipherable, and the large-scale climactic battle, which is heavy-handed with its filmmaking wizardry. Whenever the action is over for a bit, humor takes the stage; humor that is also present during a lot of the action itself. But therein also lies the weakest spot: wherever the story could really get emotional for the characters, either some kind of eventful action interrupts it before it even started, or some humor is used – as it seems, to circumvent other emotions. But did I mention that the soundtrack is excellent! Charlie Hunnam turns in his best work yet as a leading man, and impresses with his charm, and action capabilities. Jude Law is utterly despicable here, and If you thought Law was at his nastiest in The Young Pope, think again as he has some of the most memorable scenes here, for some not-very-nice reasons. Aidan Gillen comes across as ‘that guy from Game Of Thrones, but now he’s got a bow and arrow’ while Eric Bana’s character gets a very short shrift in terms of time on screen. The aforementioned Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey has charisma in abundance, but is absent for too much of the film to make a real impact. Djimon Hounsou, similarly, feels like he could have a lot of fun in his knightly role, if he was allocated a bit more to do or say. Annabelle Wallis is wasted. The rest of the cast is alright. On the whole, ‘King Arthur: Legend of The Sword’ is an entertaining albeit unfocused effort to retell a legend, that offers quite a bit of fun if you’re willing to accept just how insane it is. But the film’s box office prospects are dire, so unless overseas audiences turn out in droves, we may never get the opportunity to meet Lancelot, Guinevere and Merlin – which would be a shame.

Directed – Guy Ritchie

Starring – Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law

Rated – PG13

Run Time – 126 minutes