Having been removed from King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table stories for some time, I greatly anticipated his triumphant return to the screen. From “The Sword in the Stone” to “First Knight”, many of us have had sugar-coated fantasy tales and inaccurate depictions of the legend of King Arthur. What makes this particular film so intriguing was its portrayal of Arthur before his kingship when he battled through treacherous war with his fellow knights during the Dark Ages. With well-done previews I was expecting a decent film, for I am a fan of the epic, however Jerry Bruckheimer was the producer, so what I received was beautiful landscape but no plot. “King Arthur” was choppy at times, switching back and forth from underdeveloped storylines and relationships to meaningless battle scenes.

The film generated a PG-13 rating, and it was this that I feel was the biggest problem in what could have been a great epic. Another problem was the character development of Guinevere (played by Keira Knightley) for I feel that as the most intriguing character of the lot, she was underused throughout the picture. With its lackluster fight scenes and predictable and uneventful battles between protagonist and antagonist, “King Arthur” failed to meet the bar of such other similar films as “Troy” or even “Braveheart”.

Although the film was as previously mentioned, the audience was pleasantly introduced to many unfamiliar actors who undoubtedly will become rising stars in due time. Arthur (played by Clive Owen) was a believable complex character while Ioan Gruffudd (Lancelot) who before this was probably more notably known for his role in saving Kate Winslet’s life in “Titanic”, certainly surpassed my expectations. Gruffudd and Owen’s scenes together were some of the most entertaining throughout the film.

Bottom-Line: Bruckheimer needed to concentrate more on plot rather than the overall “look” of the film to which he has frequently become more notorious for. The triple factor combination of Bruckheimer, Disney (Touchstone Pictures) and director Antoine Fuqua may have looked great on paper but lacked the intensity that the legend of King Arthur foretold. However, I recommend seeing the film for it did not drag-on and was entertaining for the most part.

C+






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