King Arthur: Legend of the Sword : Arthurian myth gone wrong

Cast : Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law

Rated: 4/10

Big, medieval, fantasy, historical, mystical, drama. Call it what you must but director Guy Ritchie is no magic builder if, that is, he is not with Sherlock Homes and the elemental Mr Watson. And if there is this Guy directing the proceedings, there has to be Jude Law with all his steely eccentricities which, in this film, translate into being a mean, lean, deceitful, wily usurper of an unloved monarch, a brother who kills for power, a husband who kills for magic and a father who kills for a desperate comeback.

To remain big both on canvas and imagination, Ritchie brings in quite a handful. There are mammoths like anaconda hissing and gobbling up people, completely unproportioned elephants spewing fire and of course a band on bats, eagles, wolves and the girls-wrapped octopus riding the watery waves in a dungeon to empower Law with the black magic for which he sacrifices both his wife and daughter.

Then there is a lost king, raised by prostitutes in a Roman city, a hustler in the streets and a man who grows up to be the most reluctant king England may have had in quite a while. Not to mention, the hero of the film, a magical sword which only he can wield and save the country, of course.

Sorcery, big wars, myths and legends are all made to play to the gallery in Ritchie’s newest venture, where there is a delightful cameo by Game of Thrones meanie Goosefat (Aidan Gillen), but all they manage to achieve is to tell us that the story is much too slim and all at hand are needed to embellish it. Not much of a starter that, isn’t it? 

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 14 May, 2017