KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
The Bored And The Stone
released Out nOw! 12a | 126 minutes Director Guy ritchie Cast Charlie Hunnam, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, djimon Hounsou, aidan Gillen, Jude law, eric Bana
Credit where it’s due. There have been many adaptations of the King Arthur legend, but Guy Ritchie’s is the first to feature the once and future king referring to someone as “honeytits”.
Yes, the Lock, Stock And Two
Smoking Barrels director may have turned his hand to historical fantasy, but this is still very much a Ritchie film, with many of his stylistic tics present, such as an endless barrage of rapid cuts and montages, a cast of faintly tedious hard men and “banter” in the place of, y’know, actual jokes.
Charlie Hunnam’s Arthur is a Ritchie archetype, too – a cocksure smartarse and a bit of a geezer, albeit one who carries the destiny
of the nation with him. Raised in a brothel following the murder of his father Uther (Eric Bana), he soon comes to the attention of the tyrannical King Vortigern (Jude Law), forcing Arthur and chums Goosefat Bill (Aidan Gillen) and Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou) to go on the run. Legend Of The Sword
desperately wants to be an edgy, earthy fantasy film, with Game Of
Thrones a clear influence. Unfortunately its family-friendly rating leaves it neutered. And for all its modern gloss, the film is fairly trad stuff with a hissable villain (Law dancing a fine line between coldhearted dictator and cartoon king), a mystical prophecy and virtually no significant roles for women. Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey is the most prominent, but she doesn’t get a character name other than “The Mage”. The rest are sacrificial victims or sexy demons.
With many core elements of the Arthurian myth absent – there’s no Merlin, who’s presumably being saved for the sequels, and no hints of great romance – the focus is fully on Arthur himself. That makes sense in the first part of a planned saga, and watching Arthur grow from a troubled street urchin to a reluctant fighter to a lordly leader should be a compelling character arc.
The trouble is that Charlie Hunnam just looks so bored. He’s a fine actor given the right material, as The Lost City Of Z proved, but as Arthur he flatly mumbles his way through line after line of poor dialogue, all smirks and empty swagger where the king of the Britons should be.
We’re meant to want to follow this man through five more films. On the evidence of Legend Of The
Sword he’ll be lucky to make it to a second. Will Salmon
For all its modern gloss, the film is fairly trad
A rival Arthurian film, Man At Arms, is currently in development; it focuses on Lancelot, later in life, seeking redemption.