King Arthur

The first time I had a chance to meet up with King Arthur somewhere back in the ancient legendary time of the sixties, he wasn't a king at all. He was only a squire who liked to go around being called by the nickname Wart. Along came this wacky David Copperfield type of guy named Merlin who thought he could make something out of Wart by turning him into a fish, a squirrel and a bird. All Wart wanted to do was be a squire which kind of ticked Merlin off and he left for a while. Eventually Wart found this special sword called Excalibur stuck in a stone that looked kind of like an anvil, pulled it out, changed his name to Arthur and became King. Of course there's more to the story as told in the unofficial sequels Excalibur and First Night but it has been the Disney version that will forever be ingrained in me. According to Director Antoine Fuqua, Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and writer David Franzoni however, all those stories are a bunch of hooey. They have taken it upon themselves to bring to the screen, 'the untold true story that inspired the legend.' And apparently, Disney also must have got tired of the big lie being told by The Sword in the Stone because it's their Touchstone division responsible for distributing this film.

In King Arthur, it seems that Arthur's (Clive Owen) real name is Artorius but his Knights call him Arthur because if they had to call the film King Artorius everyone would be dazed and confused about the subject matter. The Knights are all present and accounted for though, including Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), and Gawain (Joel Edgerton), and they follow their exalted leader Arthur around battling here and fighting there because they aren't just knights they are also slaves of Rome. It seems they have to fight for the Romans for fifteen years to gain their freedom and Arthur is their best bet to stay alive for any length of time. That would make anybody a loyal follower wouldn't it? Unfortunately, on the day the Knights are supposed to be given their freedom, this Roman bishop comes along and says not so fast, you have to do one more little all time dangerous mission for us. It seems the Roman's have problems of their own back home so they've decided to leave Britannia for good. At about this time the Saxons led by their fearless leader Cerdic (Stellan Skarsgard) are ravaging the country and killing everyone they come across. There is however this Boy out there somewhere that is supposed to become a bishop in Rome whom Arthur and the gang must rescue before Cerdic gets to him and his family which means Rome would be minus a bishop and King Arthur would be without any plot. To make matters worse, there are the natural inhabitants of Britannia known as the Woads trying to reclaim the land for them selves. The Woads are led by Merlin (Stephen Dillane), who wants to convince his enemy Arthur to join forces with him to rid the land of the Saxons. Lest you ask why Merlin doesn't use his magical powers, the answer is because in this the 'true story' Merlin is no longer a magician. He's just a guy out there in full guerilla warfare makeup doing army type grunt work shooting arrows and setting traps.

Of course any story about King Arthur has to have Guinevere (Keira Knightly) in it somewhere and she pops up here also. She is not the lovely, soft spoken beautiful Guinevere prone to hanky panky with Lancelot. She's a sprightly lass who can shoot an arrow like nobody's business and swing a sword that weighs about ten more pounds than her body weight as effortless as if it were a light saber straight out of Star Wars. So do you want to know how does Guinevere get hooked up with Arthur? Either go see the movie or read some other review because I can't take everyone's world of discovery away can I?

As you can tell, most of this is dreary stuff. Arthur, like most film heroes these days spends a lot of time soul searching and questioning his career choices. Of course he is aided by the constant nagging of Guinevere to get him to do the right thing. The Knights tell off color jokes dealing with penis size, bodily functions and illegitimate kids. Their conversations are supposed to lighten the mood but the audience I saw the film with only gave a light scattered chuckle once or twice. They were probably trying to figure out as I was what this dialogue was doing in a story that takes place somewhere around 400 A.D. There is a round table here, but it makes only a brief cameo appearance. Lancelot and Guinevere do eyeball one another a couple of times but I don't think there was any passion involved in those looks. Perhaps they were wishing they could do a remake of First Knight instead of this.

Believe it or not there are some good things here. Slawomir Idziak's cinematography is breathtaking whether it's the scenes in dark hidden abysses of the forest, a light snow falling in the countryside, or a trek through the snow covered mountains. I will admit to the fact that a couple of times it irritated me how blue the sky was during one fog covered day, and during the early scenes of snow falling to the ground but that's a minor quibble. The battle scenes likewise are well stage and are fought in full close up with little if any dependence on a bunch of CGI created soldiers. One particular battle that takes place on a frozen river bed with cracking ice is in itself almost worth the price of admission. However, the battle scenes also seemed to be somewhat sanitized in order to help garner the precious PG-13 rating. We seldom actually see any sword strikes because magically the victim always seems to have the wrong side posed for the cameras. Most of the blood that pops up is some splattered spots we see on the faces of the Knights afterwards. It gave the film more of a 1950's gladiator feels to it, before blood was allowed to spew across the silver screen by the buckets full. In 1955, that was okay, but in 2004 it only makes the scenes feel that much more artificial.

As for the acting, the cast does a pretty good job with what they have to work with. Owen is good as King Arthur, although the script makes him appear as somewhat of a dim wit for his blinding loyalty to Rome. Stellan Skarsgard as Cerdic the leader of the Saxons brings some true seething evil to the screen. And despite the oddity of watching someone of her stature battle and fight as well as the Knights, Knightly does quite well as Guinevere.

You won't hate yourself if you watch King Arthur. The battle scenes and cinematography are worth a look see at least once. The story is just okay enough to keep you interested, but it's one you'll forget about a few days after watching. What the film really lacks is the fantasy, romance, involving characters and magic that is usually included in any King Arthur story. Instead we just get a film about warriors with a convenient plot line used only to get us from point A to point B. And since the makers of this film feel that fantasy is such a terrible thing and they must destroy the myth, I have no choice but to bestow upon King Arthur my grade of C-. The next thing you know some film maker will try to convince me there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny either. What's the world coming to?

What can I say that most already have not? Well not a lot.

My opinion on the movie is that, like many others have said, it's nothing like the legend. I went into this movie expecting it to at lease follow some of the story line for what I knew.. But nothing really happened. They touch small bases of the story and sure they say 'the true story' but no one knows if it even happened! So no one can really make such a statement. Also if they are trying to make a more 'realistic' one then they could of still used the King Arthur story that he actually dies? There is the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere? King Arthur's love affair and his son? Really if they had to make 2 or 3 movies to fit it all it, I would be more happy with that than how this one turned out.

I went in knowing the story and didn't enjoy it as much, but my cousin went in not knowing much more than there was a King Arthur and a sword.. He enjoyed it a lot more.

It's just another war movie, and I really think it would be a good one! If it didn't use it as the King Arthur story.

Most King Arthur fans will be disappointed I believe, but none the less.. it's a good movie if you take away the whole 'King Arthur' legend from your mind.

And I loved it!

Not just the new take on the King Arthur legend and the able cast, but the colors, the costumes, the landscapes, the horses, and Hans Zimmer's heart-pounding score.

I'm no King Arthur scholar but I have always been enamored with the chivalric ideals. It's great to see the knights in shining armor and Merlin conjuring up the mists and casting spells, and the young Arthur pulling Excalibur out of the stone.

But I went into this movie with an open mind. I was swiftly transported to that earlier time and happy for the journey. I could see where the elements of the now oh-so-familiar Arthurian themes may have had their beginnings. I found the on-screen chemistry between Ioan Gruffod and Clive Owen to be very powerful and it provided poignant counterpoint to Lancelot's most fateful choice.

The love triangle was never my favorite part of the Arthurian legends, so the subtle treatment of it here didn't bother me at all. In fact, I found it more intriguing in this film than in any other King Arthur movie I've seen.

I loved that there was no hocus-pocus-type magic. Instead the magic was in nature itself - the landscapes, the forests, the rain, the fog, the ice and snow - all creating an other-worldly atmosphere along with Moya Brennan's haunting vocals and Hans Zimmer's stirring score.

I loved the knights. I loved the idea that they were just regular guys and, in effect, drafted into military service. Not the privileged elite who volunteered their services to a king. Yet it is apparent that the Sarmatian knights fought more out of their love and respect for Arthur than any duty to Rome. That comraderie feels very organic and the sentiments, pure. I liked that they're not all wearing the same uniform, that they might have picked up pieces here and there as spoils of war.

I was especially captivated by Mads Mikkelson's Tristan. There appeared to be Eastern influences in his tattoos, clothing, sword, and fighting style. I love the idea of Lancelot using two swords. And I learned something about battlefield strategy, too.

Whatever shortcomings this movie may have, I found heart and soul in it. It was not only entertaining, it touched all my senses, and I felt good when I walked out of the theatre.

This isn't as bad a movie as many critics and viewers who write critiques have made it out to be, but isn't anything like a blockbuster that hasn't been matched or bettered before. Nice summer movie to watch when the heat wave breaks and you have a long rainy day. I have several complaints, but I'll start with the virtues:

It was well filmed, with good settings (although there is nothing like those Alpine mountains in Britain, except maybe in the Scottish Highlands during mid-winter). The battle scenes were fine, except to the extent they were toned down to get the PG rating (wait for the DVD) -- especially a really good one that takes place on the surface of a frozen lake. The depiction of Hadrian's Wall and its ancillary fortresses and villages -- with taverns and hooker joints -- was archaeologically and historically accurate, even if the purported site of the Battle of Badon is imaginary (could be presumed to be modeled on Housesteads combined with Vindolanda). And yes, the Romans did have draftees in the legions from other parts of the Empire in posts like the Great Wall, and they were inducted for 15 to 20 years before being granted civilian status and pensions. That Arthur's traditional knights were Sarmations, we'd call them Ukrainians now, has to be taken with a grain of salt. In these senses, the movie is a good approximation of the latter days of the Roman Empire in Britain, but it certainly doesn't break any new 'archeological or historical ground'. I have no imaginative problems, as some people with that kind of interest do, with the technology of the battle scenes -- the Romans had catapults and naphtha bombs (Greek fire), even if they were unlikely to have been used in the sort of battle shown here against a marauding horde of barbarians, and manned by another horde of barbarians, those so-called Picts who become Arthur's allies.

Doubtful elements: As I said, the Ukrainian Knights -- and in fact I was fooled into thinking the kid drafted from the steppes to join the Roman cavalry was supposed to be Arthur, but turns out to be Lancelot, and well, that just won't do. First of all Lancelot was French, an interpolation from the Middle Ages. Galahad was also a Norman French invention. The more traditional Arthurian characters, going back to the original Welsh legends, as close as we'll ever get to historical 'reality', were Gawain and Bors -- who were certainly not Ukrainians! Tristan or Tristram has his own mythology, involving the Irish princess Iseult, as we know from Wagner's opera and other sources, so why is he killed off before he can accomplish this? (Besides, it is Gawain who supposedly had a connection with hawks, not Tristan, and is also said to have killed giants.) It is likely that the historical Arthur was a Roman officer, perhaps related to the historical Ambrosius Aurelianus, who commanded a 'rapid reaction force', and in any case was definitely British -- that all fits. What the screenplay doesn't explain at all, probably because of very poor editing, is that bit about the sword in the stone and the burning of the young Arthur's house by raiders led by, presumably, the British (Welsh) Merlin, who by the way was not a PICT. Here I was, thinking he was the kid from the steppes, then all of a sudden we get this thrown in, and was that really supposed to have been his father who broke the ice on the lake to drown the Saxons, at the cost of his own life? Say, what? Where did this come from out of the blue? Cerdic and Cynric, the Saxon leaders, were definitely historical characters, but they were the founders of WESSEX in the south of England and had nothing to do with the Saxon invasion north of the wall when the Northumbrian kingdom was established.

Totally wrong and misleading elements: Even the historical sources mention several great battles of the Britons against the Saxons and Scots, which took place over several years, led by a great war leader. Many of them took place in Lowland Scotland and the Border country, but the famous battle of Mount Badon is generally considered to have taken place south west of London. Hadrian's Wall had been abandoned several years before. There was no one great decisive routing of the invaders before Badon. The so-called Pelagian heresy took place before these times and is one of those silly arguments whereby Christians killed other Christians over trivial matters -- the Victorians made Pelagius into a hero because he was British, but as far as I can figure out, his 'heresy' had nothing to do with Freedom and All Men Are Created Equal. Arthur is more likely to have been a Mithraist, like other legionaries, even if nominally Christian.

As for the script, all I can say is that it is muddled beyond easy comprehension. That could have as much to do with the way the film was finally edited as with any original deficiency, even granted that it is not a strong script to begin with. The acting is generally very well done -- again allowing for the fact that the roles and lines were chopped up for whatever reasons. One very laughable bit concerns the lovely Keira (Guinevere), who is rescued from a dungeon where everybody else has starved or been tortured to death, has Arthur treat her maimed hands, then a day or so later is an Olympic class archer. 'I see your fingers are better now,' says Arthur.

But this movie is anything but misunderstood. The beautiful scenery and brooding atmosphere don't make up for the poor writing and formulaic plot.

Clive Owen is great. He's a subtle, powerful actor. His eyes alone are capable of showing strength, experience, sorrow, and amazement, all at once.

He epitomizes the strong, silent type. No one better to be cast as the legendary King Arthur. His character arc is one of the only believable aspects of the film. I owe it mostly to Owen's nuanced performance, as the writing unfortunately does not support him adequately.

According to the script, Arthur's allegiance to Rome is fueled, not by his love of the military, but rather his love of Roman philosophy. Apparently this love informs his compassionate approach as a leader, and turns his loyalties further away from Rome. But this motivation is only given cursory explanation. Repeatedly, Arthur shouts out, 'This is for freedom,' or 'We are all equal.' Even though his passion is believable, we never learn much more about the reasoning behind these generalized statements.

Guinevere, played by Keira Knightly, is given some 'girl power' as a rebellious pagan, capable of fighting with the men. But her story is undermined by her laughable romance with Arthur. True to formula, Arthur 'rescues,' her, and within minutes her attempts at seduction begin. Happily this is undercut by a shift in the plot involving fellow rebel 'Merlin,' but unfortunately this part of the story is also under-written. We are given no information about Guinevere's connection to Merlin, especially considering the character's young age. Knightly is barely 20, and it shows. This is nothing remarkable by Hollywood standards, but her performance shows a lack of life experience.

Costume and make-up choices for Guinevere were equally laughable; she wears full glamour makeup for the majority of the picture. Later she appears in the costumer's interpretation of pagan warrior garb (a few leather straps and some blue face paint), which is equally unbelievable as effective coverage for battle.

The formulaic screenwriting undermines the supporting cast of knights as well. It uses the typical action film technique of giving each knight their obligatory character highlight, or sympathetic moment, so we can be sure to spot them when they fall.

In triumphant moments, the underdeveloped theme of 'freedom' returns. Considering England's history, this so-called freedom would be in question for centuries to come. It would have been far more interesting to see how Arthur actually united England in the years that followed. Unfortunately this film instead shows Arthur massacring many Britons, spouting this 'talking point' as an afterthought.

I was really disappointed, given the claim about historical accuracy. For an hour and forty minute film, too much time given to battle scenes (which, apart from one scene on ice, were not very memorable). Not enough time was spent fleshing out the script. Or to be fair, perhaps those parts of the script ended up on the cutting room floor. But you could get just as much out of watching the previews of this movie; there's just not much more to it. If you're a fan of Clive Owen, then by all means... But otherwise, don't waste your time.