Rated: MA15+
Director: Guy Ritchie
Producers: Akiva Goldsman, Tory Tunnell, Joby Harold, Steve Clark-Hall
Screenplay: Jody Harold, Guy Ritchie and Lionel Wigram
Story by: David Dobkin and Jody Harold
Starring: Charlie Hunnam (Arthur), Jude Law (Vortigern), Astrid Berges-Frisbey (The Mage), Djimon Hounsou (Bedivere), Aidan Gillen (Bill), Eric Bana (Uther).
I love a good action film with a healthy dose of fantasy, and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword delivered.
This isn’t a tale about King Arthur and the Round Table, this is more about the magic of Excalibur.
Director, Guy Ritchie has taken a classic story and turned it into something else. If you can forget all you know about the previous tales of King Arthur and all the romance, gallantry and honour, it’s worth letting go and getting taken for the ride.
King Arthur is one of those big budget films with thought put into the camera work with director of photography, John Mathieson bringing the audience right up close to run along-side the characters. Add burning towers, giant snakes and elephants as big as football fields, weird water creatures and the magic of The Mage (Astrid Berges-Frisbey): you’ve got an entertaining film.
Jude Law as Vortigern, brother of King Uther (Eric Bana) and uncle to Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), gives a solid performance, legitimising the film by making the villain of the story believable.
No-one can pull a look of disdain like Jude Law.
Not to take away from Hubbard. There is a consistent air of nonchalance he gives to every role: the laid-back smart arse hiding a sharp mind. Deviation from this persona brings disaster, think of his role as Dr. Alan McMichael in Crimson Peak. But he was cast well here, with the action scenes and sword fighting perfect for his physic (not that I’m a perv, well… maybe a bit…). And the comradery with his mates, growing up in a brothel and learning the hard lessons of life off the street reminiscent of his character in, Sons of Anarchy (of which I’m a fan).
There was certainly the Guy Ritchie-esq feel to the film with fast
exchanges of dialogue and sharp changes in camera work, jumping from past to present to future in seconds. The technique reminding me of scenes from Snatch (2000).
To get the audience up-to-speed this way can be exhilarating; to catch a train of thought, to run with it to flash to the next part, the exciting part. But there was some definite glossing over of story that was sometimes OK and sometimes not, leaving me with the thought, That’s just lazy. And glossing over essential aspects of Arthur’s character weakened the story.
The cracking soundtrack and music by composer Daniel Pemberton helped to lift and smooth each scene; the first thought after the film finished being, ‘Jeez, the soundtrack was good.’
And there were satisfying circles of storyline but the pacing felt patchy
with weight and time given to some scenes where essential timelines were past in fast forward. And this was the biggest downfall of the film.
So, although the editing and story was not always consistent, the strong performance from Law and the cocky English, Guy Ritchie flavour, kept up the entertainment factor to reach expectation.