Monday, July 19, 2004
Arthur-ly Forgettable

Let's set the premise straight from the start:King Arthur is NOT a bad flick by any means(same sentiments as Ebert),it's just not memorable.I kind of forgot about it the moment I left the theatre but that's not to say I didn't have a good time while I was watching it.I would certainly recommend it as a good popcorn summer flick for folks to enjoy.Now,onto the film itself...
 
The story has been reviewed often enough,a demystified version of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.Arthur,of Roman and English descent,is sent to England for a 15-year tour of duty to lead a bunch of warriors from Sarmatia.They spend their time fighting off the Woahs,a bunch of English native guerilla fighters led by Merlin (what does he do actually?I never see him casting magic or doing anything substantial.He just looks like Tom Hanks from Castaway with a better looking beard) residing in North Britain,separated from the South (which the Romans occupy)by a great wall.A Roman bishop is dispatched to Britain to release the knights, but not before they complete one final mission: rescue a Roman family who have settled North before a marauding horde of Saxons can reach them.Along the way,they'd free the English natives of servitude under the Roman family and save the fetching Guinevere from a prison.As the Romans retreat,Arthur finds his beliefs about the Roman empire eroding before he teams up with the Woahs to fight off the Saxons.Well,as a spoiler,the Saxons got beaten fairly easily by Arthur and the Woahs.Bunch of sissies.
 
Onto the actors,I thought Clive Owen actually made a pretty good lead.If only he was given a more solid role.Keira Knightley,as Guinevere,is lovely and fiesty.The other knights,well,are not really memorable (except for Lancelot, played by Ioan Gruffudd,who was given more screentime and a more significant role and Bor,played by Ray Winstone,a boorish but entertaining knight)but the camaraderie between them and Arthur is good to watch.As for the Saxons,well,the key villain Cerdic(Stellan Skarsgard)is rather pedestrian and far too easily defeated by Arthur at the end. The fight was over before I even knew it and it made me wonder why he is supposed to be feared.His son,Cynric(Til Schweiger),isn't much better.Like father,like son.

The fight scenes are,well,standard issue battle scenes that we see every so often in many epic Hollywood movies(see Gladiator and Troy).Full of clashing bodies,swords and what-have-yous and jerky jump-cuts that ensure you never actually see anything clearly besides an occasional swing of the arms by the leads or an odd grimace here and there.I assure you there's lots of stabbings and skewings though...just that I have no idea who got stabbed or skewed.Having said that,there is a neatly executed battle scene on a frozen lake that is pretty good.Eight versus two hundred.Very nifty.
 
Ok,overall,maybe 3 out of 5 for this movie.Go for a weekday show.It should be worth it.