Movie Review: King Arthur
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What Parents Should Know
This movie has many battle scenes and deaths, with lots of
swords flashing and arrows flying, even if they do not depict
gore and explicit violence. Young Arthur sees his town burnt
and knows that his parents have been killed, which will disturb
some children. Several victims of torture are shown in weakened
states and refer to machines of torture. Two characters have a
sensual scene with non-explicit sex. Characters talk about
women, sex and their physical attributes. Arthur's men drink to
celebrate and drink to mourn loss.
Families who see this movie may wish to discuss leadership and the characteristics that inspire loyalty in this movie, as displayed by Arthur, Merlin, and the Saxons. The horror on the face of the Bishop's men at the sight of the famous Round Table is a statement on hierarchy. Families might wish to talk about the notion of equality that Arthur discusses versus the manner in which the Romans are depicted. The concepts of freedom, duty, and service are all used frequently in describing reasons for battle. Do you think these rallying speeches are moving? Do you think other factors (and if so, which) are what motivate the troops?
Common Sense Media Review
Saying that this "King Arthur" is "The Truth Behind the
Legend" is an overstatement of epic proportions, making the
movie's tagline the only thing epic about it. The battle
scenes, the dialogue and the attractive actors all place this
film squarely in the realm of summer popcorn flicks --
entertaining and briefly uplifting but not destined to linger
in memory, much less in history.
The story sounds complicated, especially considering that it jettisons just about everything you expect in a story about King Arthur but the Round Table. It piles on the history, but there is just enough plot to fill the scenes between battles.
Arthur and his severely depleted Round Table of six knights have completed the fifteen year tour of duty guarding Hadrian's Wall required of them by Rome. Arthur's knights are conscripts from Samaria, young, pagan horsemen from the Steppes of present day Georgia/Russia, who cannot return home without safe passage papers from Rome. Meanwhile, half-Roman/half-Celtic Arthur hopes to be reunited with his friend, the moral reformer, Christian, and free-will proponent Pelagius, to partake of the democracy and equality that Arthur believes now rule Rome.
However, the Bishop who carries their release papers also brings the news that Arthur and his men have one final mission to complete: they must cross Hadrian's Wall to face the blue-painted tribes to the North led by the sorcerer-warrior, Merlin, in order to retrieve a noble Roman family, a sort of "Saving Private Roman". The hitch is that Rome is abandoning Britain to the conquest-hungry Saxons who are landing on the island's shores as Arthur's men celebrate their impending freedom at the local tavern. Needless to say, Arthur rescues a damsel, skirmishes with the Saxons, learns that the Rome of his dreams no longer exists, and, by the time the drums herald the final battle, finds a new mission in life.
If only Clive Owen were not so very easy to watch, this "King Arthur" would be soggy fare at best. As the title character --albeit "King" for only two of the movie's 210 minutes -- Owen's Arthur is a hard-eyed study in leadership, asking nothing of his fighters that he would not do himself. He communicates well the difficulty in balancing on the sword's edge of living by a code of equality and simultaneously determining the fates of others. It does not hurt the movie that Owen wears his chest plate well. Danish film star, Mads Mikkelsen, plays the knight Tristan with a feral charisma that might make Isolde and her contenders swoon, while Stellan Skarsgard as the leader of the Saxons projects a natural, grumpy style of leadership that contrasts nicely with Arthur's more magisterial approach.
It is too bad that many of the other folks onscreen mistake facial hair for acting. As a Saxon invader, Cynric (German tough guy Til Schweiger) glowers as if he is suffering from a massive hang-over. Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd, hiding the talent he displayed in Black Hawk Down behind his beard) moons about in the background, while the rest of the knights have just enough character to hold up a sword but not to add much to the story.
