“Finally, a man worth killing.” —Cerdic
Today’s quick review: King Arthur. Arthur Castus (Clive Owen), a Roman soldier in 5th-century Britain, leads a loyal group of knights who are nearing the end of their forced military service. As the Saxons prepare to sweep Britain from the north, Arthur and his men are sent on one last mission deep in the heart of Saxon territory. Success will mean their freedom, but failure will mean a brutal death in a land far from home.
King Arthur is a historical action movie based on the purported real-life exploits of King Arthur and his knights. The movie casts Arthur as a faithful Roman soldier near the end of his long service, now doubting that Rome shares the Christian ideals he was raised with. He wants freedom for his men, but he is forced into taking them on a suicide mission at the behest of a Roman bishop before they will be released.
King Arthur’s greatest failing is that it robs its source material of much of its character. Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Guinevere (Keira Knightley), and Merlin (Stephen Dillane) all appear in one form or another, but of all the many legends about Arthur, few enter into the story, and those only in passing. The result is a down-to-earth tale of war and valor set in the twilight of the Roman Empire rather than the medieval fantasy epic one might expect.
King Arthur touches on a few interesting themes, although it fails to make the most of them. Arthur’s loyalty is split between his knights, his Christian values, his duty to Rome, and the Brits he has been defending for so many years. The interplay of these influences leads to a few good dramatic moments, but they are not played to their fullest and the plot would have been similar without them.
Watch King Arthur when you are in the mood for a Roman-flavored historical drama with decent execution and a few interesting ideas. Slow pacing, a weak plot, and middling action keep King Arthur from living up to its full potential, but the film has enough to its characters and setting to make it a reasonable watch. Skip it if you are looking for the Arthur of legend or a bit more action; check out Gladiator for a markedly beter take on a similar premise.
6.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for a faithful setting, good themes, and passable execution, held back by a mediocre plot and other failures of imagination.