king arthur movie review 2004

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Metacritic reviews

King arthur.

• 80 The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt An engrossing, highly intelligent reimagining of the legend of Arthur.
• 70 Variety Todd McCarthy Variety Todd McCarthy Impressively made and well acted by an exceedingly attractive cast, this dark tale of ceaseless conflict is adult entertainment and will likely disappoint viewers expecting a "Camelot"-like love triangle.
• 63 Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington Overall, King Arthur sinks into a grim, gray torpor - though it's an odd, not unentertaining movie. The approach is different, if not edifying or convincing.
• 50 New York Magazine (Vulture) Peter Rainer New York Magazine (Vulture) Peter Rainer Fuqua deliberately downplays the fantastical in King Arthur, but the gritty faux realism wears itself out quickly. You've seen one lancing, you've seen them all.
• 50 Village Voice Michael Atkinson Village Voice Michael Atkinson Everything is pre-medieval and unwashed, but with Antoine Fuqua at the steering wheel King Arthur is still a comic book, if a little more "Classics Illustrated" in tone than we'd have the right to expect.
• 50 Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis A nutty, often enjoyable farrago of craft and cinematic sampling, King Arthur moves fast and loose, and is almost aggressive in its absence of an original idea, in and of itself a Bruckheimer trademark.
• 50 The New York Times A.O. Scott The New York Times A.O. Scott Luckily there is an element of broad, brawny camp that prevents King Arthur from being a complete drag.
• 50 Premiere Peter Debruge Premiere Peter Debruge I'd gladly take the legend over this dreary pseudo-historical mumbo jumbo.
• 40 Newsweek Newsweek Unfortunately, none of this is very much fun. The cinematography is dark and depressing. The dialogue is stilted. And for some reason, director Antoine Fuqua has even ditched the Arthur/Guinevere/ Lancelot love triangle.
• 38 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli Too long and too full of itself to offer more than a few fleeting moments of entertainment. It doesn't take long for tediousness to triumph.
• See all 41 reviews on Metacritic.com
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• DVD & Streaming

King Arthur

• Action/Adventure , Drama , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Clive Owen as Arthur; Keira Knightley as Guinevere; Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot; Mads Mikkelsen as Tristan; Joel Edgerton as Gawain; Hugh Dancy as Galahad; Ray Winstone as Bors; Stellan Skarsgård as Cerdic; Stephen Dillane as Merlin

Home Release Date

• Antoine Fuqua

Distributor

• Touchstone Pictures

Movie Review

Think you know all the stories ever told about King Arthur? Think again. Here the knights’ armor is not so shiny, and there’s no Camelot in sight. No damsels in distress, either. In fact, the story’s major damsel, Guinevere, is a major source of distress for the bad guys.

Writer David Franzoni, who also penned Gladiator, revisits the Roman legions in this version of the story, set in Britain during the time when the Pax Romana was retreating from the far reaches of the empire like a fast low tide. Arthur, otherwise known by his Roman name Artorius Castus, is the leader of a Roman cavalry unit. His “knights,” all impressed into service from their homeland on the steppes of Russia, have fulfilled their 15-year obligation to Rome and await their discharge papers, which will make them free men and full Roman citizens.

But Bishop Germanius has other ideas. He forces Arthur and his men into one last mission: to go north of Hadrian’s Wall, the high-tide mark of the Roman Empire, to rescue a Roman family whose son is a favorite of the Pope. Along the way they’ll have to fight past the native Celts, and that’s only if the invading Saxons don’t get them first. Either way, they face some unpleasant choices.

Positive Elements

Even though this movie remakes the time and setting of the Arthur legend, it does not remake the characters (except for Guinevere, who’s a tomboy spoiling for a fight). Arthur is a brave and inspiring leader. His knights are valiant, selfless warriors. Upon rescuing the Roman family, Arthur cannot bring himself to leave the local serfs behind to be slaughtered by the Saxons, so he moves the entire lot south toward safety.

Even though the knights eventually receive their discharge papers, they turn back to fight one last battle with Arthur. Arthur frees a slave from chains (he’d been uppity, according to the master) and liberates people from a dungeon. He is a strong believer in the equality of all people—hence the Round Table. (No one can sit at the head of such a table, much to the consternation of the local bishop.) He prays that if anyone has to die in an upcoming fight, it be he so that his comrades will be spared. One of the knights sacrifices his life to allow the others to escape.

Spiritual Elements

Arthur is a devout and outspoken believer in God, although his life doesn’t always show the fruit of his stated commitment. (He has sex with Guinevere, and at the end of the film he gets married in a pagan ceremony officiated by Merlin, which makes you wonder what Arthur thinks of the apostle Paul’s counsel in 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”) He is also a follower of Pelagius. (See postscript for more on Pelagius.)

Arthur does pray often and thanks God on more than one occasion. “Everything I’ve done I’ve done for the Church,” Arthur says at one point, and another times asserts, “Deeds mean nothing if not done for a higher purpose. Without faith we are nothing.” He says of his men, “They retain the religion of their forefathers.” And just because he supports the Church doesn’t mean he’s content to let the Church slide into disarray. He challenges a crooked bishop and berates mistaken priests who believe the only way to convert pagans is to lock them in a dungeon. Upon seeing the dungeon, Lancelot angrily asks, “Is this the work of your God?” But when Lancelot boasts that he kneels to no god, Arthur says, “No man fears kneeling before a God he trusts.”

During one fight a monk hides under a wagon and prays in fear. After the battle, one of Arthur’s men mocks the monk and his prayers. A bishop accuses Arthur of defying the Pope. The head of a Roman family, while claiming to be a representative of God, is cruel to the local peasants. Merlin is called a “dark magician,” although there’s no evidence of such “magic” on the screen. A tribe of renowned horsemen believes that fallen knights return as great horses, and at the end of the film we see three magnificent horses galloping free—coincidentally, the number of Arthur’s knights who die.

Sexual Content

The infamous love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot is missing from this version of the story, and while Lancelot casts a few winsome glances at Guinevere, it’s clear that she’s interested in Arthur. She proves it by entering the king’s bedchamber one night, where the pair begin groping and kissing. Arthur runs his hand pretty far up her outer thigh before the camera cuts away, but enough is seen to convince viewers the pair goes further, and they’re left with a vivid image of Guinevere’s sexual pleasure.

A Saxon invader attempts to rape a woman. (He’s stopped after he pushes her to the ground and jumps on top of her.) A woman is seen bathing. There is some coarse joking about a man’s privates. When facing a horde of Saxons, a knight jokes to Guinevere, “There’s a large number of lonely men over there.” Her retort: “Don’t worry, I won’t let them rape you.”

One knight, Bors, has fathered so many children that he gives them numbers instead of names. Still, he is not married to their mother. [ Spoiler Warning ] When Arthur and Guinevere marry at the end, Bors sulks to one of the kids, “Now I’ll have to marry your mother.”

Violent Content

Hey, it’s a movie about knights. That means lots of swordplay and flying arrows, although nothing gory is seen. One side hurls huge fireballs at the other, and some men are set afire. (Historical side note: The Saxons’ crossbows and the fireball-hurling trebuchets in reality would not be invented for several centuries.) A group of warriors breaks through a frozen lake, and we see them trapped beneath the ice, drowning.

Crude or Profane Language

Minor. One use of “bloody.” A few uses of “a–” and “p—,” and one “d–n.” A man refers to children as “little bastards,” although he’s being quite literal since he’s not married to their mother.

Drug and Alcohol Content

The knights toast with goblets of wine. A scene in a tavern features drinking. One man says, “I’m going to drink until I can’t p— straight.”

Other Negative Elements

A man protests that he doesn’t kill for fun. He companion urges him to try. “You might get a taste for it,” he says.

Part Braveheart (complete with blue-painted warriors), part The Seven Samurai with a dash of Gladiator thrown in, this movie features many positive lessons on loyalty, courage and self-sacrifice. A sexual situation, battlefield violence and a bit of coarse joking go some distance to spoil them, though, and some teens might get bored with the ponderous storytelling. King Arthur would work far better had it included fewer scenes of a brooding king plodding through the forest.

A postscript: It’s interesting that the filmmakers chose to set up the conflict between Arthur and the crooked bishop as one of theology—a Pelagian versus the established church instead of simply a Christian versus a corrupt leader. Probably 99 percent of viewers will have no idea who Pelagius was and why it’s necessary to the story. Still, it would make an additional interesting point to any post-film discussion.

Pelagius was a monk who lived in the 5th century. Influenced by Roman Stoic philosophy, with its emphasis on human virtue (compare this to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator), Pelagius denied Original Sin and said Adam’s fall was merely the setting of a bad example. For Pelagius, death was not a result of Adam’s sin but simply the natural order of things.

Accordingly, he denied that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin and that we are saved by God’s grace. Pelagius taught that Jesus, by his life and death, merely countered Adam’s bad example and that if we work hard enough at copying Jesus’ model, we too can earn salvation. That’s why the Arthur in this movie spends so much time talking about and doing honorable things. The Church declared Pelagianism heresy in AD 418.

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Review: King Arthur (2004)

King arthur (2004).

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Premise: Purports to be the true story that the legend of King Arthur was based upon. Arthur is the leader of a group of knights who are indentured servants to the Holy Roman Empire. Before they can be released, the knights must complete one last mission. 

What Works: There have been a lot of these kinds of sword and shield epics with big battle scenes. This one has better choreography than most. King Arthur takes on the issues of war and what kinds of motives the average soldier can take solace in. There are a number of debates between Arthur and Lancelot about what their bloodshed has meant and this gives the film a little more depth.

What Doesn’t: Unfortunately, the debates about the purposes of fighting don’t really go anywhere. In the end it is claimed that the English are united in a common struggle. What that struggle is for is never quite clear. Although the acting is pretty good, a lot of the characters are flat and are not given much to do between fights.

Bottom Line: Fans of Braveheart and other medieval war films will want to check it out. The filmmakers noticeably stay away from gore to achieve a PG-13 rating and this reveals that perhaps some other epics have relied on extreme gore over actual substance.

Episode: #9 (July 11, 2004)

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King Arthur

Time out says, release details.

• Release date: Friday 30 July 2004
• Duration: 125 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Antoine Fuqua
• Ioan Gruffudd
• Mads Mikkelsen
• Joel Edgerton
• Ray Winstone
• Keira Knightley

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Movie and Film Reviews (MFR)

King Arthur (2004)

King Arthur is a 2004 action film directed by Antoine Fuqua (Shooter). It stars Clive Owen as the title character, and follows him as a Roman knight, who, after serving 15 years, is finally to become a free man. Before he is able to accept his dispatch papers, he is told by a bishop that the Pope has ordered him and his knights to complete one final mission. They must find a family, and bring them to safety. Reluctantly, he accepts, and the knights soon set out into what is said to be certain death.

King Arthur is said to be historically accurate, as there have supposedly been new findings in regards to the legend. Now, I’m not an expert on the legend myself, and have only barely heard of it, so I can’t refute these claims. I can however say that the film does lack excitement. I was under the impression that Arthur’s tale was one of exciting battles. A character in the film even remarks at one point that Arthur has never been defeated in battle. So, why then is there only one real battle in the entire film? I would have hoped that there would have been more excitement than we are actually given.

Instead, the film attempts to be more of a drama than anything else, with characters mostly just talking while riding on horseback. There isn’t anything wrong with that on its own, as dramas can often times be just as exciting as any action film. What does become a problem is the fact that most of the dialogue seems way too forced for its own good. Characters don’t often talk to each other, but more often have long speeches that are only vaguely directed at the person they should be talking to. These go on for far too long and happen too often to keep the attention of the audience.

While the film doesn’t lack substance, it does lack reason to really care for all of the characters. Arthur’s knights all seem to be present, and the film actually attempts to build them up from the beginning. This doesn’t really work well, as even by the end, some of them still don’t really have names, and apart from Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) and Bors (Ray Winstone), they might as well just be extras. Speaking of Lancelot, we are told that he and Arthur are best friends, and often clash against one another. We actually never find out what purpose he has, except for occasionally questioning Arthur’s motives, and being involved in a poorly thought out love-triangle.

Said love-triangle is between Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere (Keira Knightley). Arthur rescues Guinevere from someone mid-way through the film, and the two end up becoming close to one another. Done only through glances to one another, there is a hint of something else going on between Guinevere and Lancelot. That’s the only way it is hinted at though, and nothing actually comes of it. It ends up being nothing but a story device to make you hope that something interesting will happen, but nothing ever does.

If nothing else, the acting is pretty good on the whole. Clive Owen makes a pretty good Arthur, while Keira Knightley does a good job portraying Guinevere. It’s just too bad that you never really care about any of the characters, so the good acting usually ends up going to waste. Had there been more back-story to them, or if they actually talked like normal people, they might have been slightly relatable. As they are, they’re cardboard, nothing characters, and it would be a welcome sight to see them killed off. It would at least add some actual drama to the story. Without wanting to give anything major away, none of the death scenes really resonated, at least, not with me. They almost came off as silly, and by the end of the film, I was actually cheering for the bad guys to win, just to see the people who we’ve seen for the past 2 hours finally be defeated.

King Arthur is a film that tried hard to be something great, and ended up being just mediocre. A lot of effort went into making you care about the characters, but these efforts go to waste. The dialogue feels unnatural, and plays out more like multiple speeches used in a debate than anything else. There aren’t even many real action scenes to hold your interest throughout. There is one actual large-scale battle, and the other action scenes are just boring. It’s a shame, as the acting is on the whole fairly good. It’s just too bad that can’t save King Arthur from being too boring to be entertaining.

2 thoughts on “King Arthur (2004)”

I am sorry but i disagree with you on many aspects. First of all lets say they put in more battle scenes that did not happen in real life, we would be complaining about the authenticity of the film (much like the lackluster film Alexander, which may be the worst movie based on historical facts ever). And on a personal thought, the battle scenes that did happen were very well done. Next you say that the dialogue between the characters is different and forced. In order to make the film seem more real they added this for affect and made each line more important. I saw it as they live in a dark time where the world sucks and either saying something important or your making a joke, which I did see in the movie. Another thing is Lancelot was Arthur most trusted friend and was the chosen representative by the men to speak on behalf of the men and that is why him and Arthur would get into fights. And the other characters did not establish themselves to a great extent, your right. But couldn’t it be possible that the writer/director wanted it that way so Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere stood out more and those characters did not really matter even in real life.But I do agree with you on the love triangle. It was poorly done and Keira Knightley making glances at both Lancelot and Arthur did not do it. And I prefer drama to just action because the special affects does not make a movie the acting does. But to each their own.

King Arthur is not even able to be proven as a once living person, many scientists say this. So, you could throw a couple battles here or there. But that’s beside the point, because I agree with you on everything else, and the fact remains that the movie was alright, but it wasn’t something I’d expect Fuqua to make… I think that if Michel Gondry had the option, he’d make an amazing movie out of this.

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2004’s ‘King Arthur’ Tried to Be Grounded; It Crashed and Burned Instead

Antoine Fuqua’s film went for “realism” and ended up painfully boring.

This Friday, we’re getting a new King Arthur movie with Guy Ritchie ’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword . It’s the first King Arthur blockbuster since Antoine Fuqua ’s disastrous 2004 film, King Arthur . That movie currently sits at 31% on Rotten Tomatoes and pulled in a pitiful $51 million at the domestic box office even though its reported budget was $120 million. To put that in perspective King Arthur grossed less domestically in 2004 than Without a Paddle , The Butterfly Effect , and White Chicks .

Where did it all go so wrong? It wasn’t with the cast. The movie boasts an impressive lineup of actors who have only become more famous over the years. There were rising stars Clive Owen and Keira Knightley , but the cast also includes Mads Mikkelsen , Hugh Dancy , and Joel Edgerton as well as reliable character actors like Stellan Skarsgard , Ray Winstone , and Til Schweiger . The only person whose fame has diminished is Ioan Gruffudd , whose Lancelot was clearly meant to be the protagonist until either executives or test audiences decided he was a black hole of charisma and changed the movie around.

Of course, no one in the movie really has much of a character. That’s one of the weirdest things about King Arthur —for all of its reliance on wanting to be “gritty and real” it has zero interest in creating characters who can carry the movie. The clear inspiration for the film is Gladiator , with which it shares a screenwriter ( David Franzoni ) and then leans heavily into the gritty combat. It’s like the filmmakers saw the opening scene of Gladiator and then left to make King Arthur , leaving out all of the character development that elevates it from being an average action film (also, Antoine Fuqua is no Ridley Scott ).

You have this massive cast, and yet the movie provides almost no reason for caring about any of them. We know Arthur and his knights are pals, we know that they don’t want to keep fighting for Rome, we know that they’re on one last mission before they get the discharge papers they already earned fighting for the Empire for the last 15 years, and that there are some weird indigenous people represented by Merlin ( Stephen Dillane ) and Guinevere (Knightley). Eventually, there’s going to be a big battle with the Saxons, led by bad guy (*checks IMDb*) Cerdic (Skarsgard).

That’s a lot of actors to waste, and it’s made even more confusing by the fact that in a film that’s supposed to traffic in “gritty realism” (even though this is a film that would probably give a history professor fits), it has about as much time for its characters as a Transformers movie. This is a film that, because it decided to cut out all of the fantasy elements that usually surround the King Arthur myth like Merlin’s magic or the Sword in the Stone (Arthur gets his father’s sword from a burial mound in Fuqua’s film), you need to rely on characters.

If you can squint through the haze of meaningless battle scenes and paper-thin characters, you can kind of see a better version of this movie where it’s basically Seven Samurai set in Arthurian times. You have a group of fighters who are on one last mission, you know that not all of them are going to survive, and they nobly risk their lives to protect a small village. It’s not a terrible idea, although why you would need to do that with the King Arthur story is beyond me if you’re going to cut out the cool bits like wizardry, magic swords, and the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot.

It’s not surprising that the failure of this film basically tanked the King Arthur story theatrically for over a decade. It’s that bad and painfully dull. But by seeing how it avoids the interesting aspect of the King Arthur legend provides a roadmap for how others can do a better job of telling the story. The King Arthur myth has survived for centuries, and it will continue to survive whether or not Ritchie’s film is a success just as it did despite Fuqua’s film being a failure. But what 2004’s King Arthur taught us that if you’re going to dive into this myth and try to ground it in “reality”, the characters should be as believable as the setting rather than painting Keira Knightly blue, putting her in a leather bikini, and calling it a day.

On the plus side, the movie did give us this unintentionally hilarious moment:

King Arthur

Reviewed by: Sheri McMurray CONTRIBUTOR

How can I deal with temptations? Answer

What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer

war in the Bible

What is the Biblical perspective on war? Answer

“Rule your fate.”

I t’s 300 A.D. and the Sarmatians to the east of Britain are all that’s left of a warring cavalry. So impressed with their agility and prowess at battle, the Romans decide to spare them their lives in return for just one little favor. All their young sons and their son’s sons are taken from their families and forced to serve as knights for Rome for 15 years each. Of course, they may return at the end of their service to Rome, unless they happen to die in battle, which will most likely be the horrible outcome.

It is into this dreary and sad history we are introduced as Lancelot (Loan Gruffudd) is shipped off from his village as a pre-teen boy knowing full well he will never see his family again. It is a rough life. A life or death struggle just to make it through each 24 hour period.

As the dawn of his 15 year servitude crests, we are forced to engage with Lancelot in his final bloody battle before his freedom papers are given him, and he may return home a free man. Miraculously, Lancelot and his forged family of knights have survived this tour of duty to Rome! They have lived and died along side one another in these years under Roman Christian rule. There are but these brave left: Galahad ( Hugh Dancy ), Dagonet ( Ray Stevenson ), hawk-loving Tristan ( Mads Mikkelsen )—and Arthur ( Clive Owen ), to whom they have all have pledged their iron-clad allegiance.

It is with high hopes they travel to meet with the Pope’s advocate to accept their papers to travel through Roman Britain unharmed under the protection of His Grace. Unfortunately for them, the home office in Italy has one more campaign for them to run, and if they are successful (which means if they don’t die while carrying it out) then, and only then, will they finally be allowed to quench their thirst for freedom.

Arthur, who had a Roman father and British mother, is an idealistic Christian soldier who truly believes God has sent him into this world to protect and win in Roman battles. He finds through the course of this final campaign, that Rome is not the place of equality and freedom his most beloved father had imbibed within him. The realm he so honorably served and protected for these past grueling years in fact no longer exists. The film traces Arthur’s evolution from idealistic dreamer to practical hero.

We do get a glimpse of the famous Round Table within the walls of the British castle/fortress to which Arthur refers is round “…for men to be men they must all be as equal” showing no head at this table, but an equal place for all. He also prays in earnest to God to have his life the sacrificed rather than any of his men, so that they would be able to return to their homes and families.

Lancelot, his most trusted friend, overhears this plea and asks why he beseeches this “God” and not confide in him instead. Arthur responds that it is his faith that protects him. Lancelot responds by saying he trusts no man on his knees. Arthur shows true humility and says perhaps his prayers will put an end to this war. Being the realist he is, Lancelot sadly states there will always be battles in this world.

These knights willingly go off upon this one last mission, not because of their allegiance to Rome, but because of their respect and honor to Arthur. It is here that the sacrifice of faith and friendship is demonstrated in these brave men. Into the grip of the Saxons who have pillaged, raped and murdered their way across Britain they ride to rescue a Roman royal family and bring safely back the son, Arious, to the safe haven of the Roman Pope. They are ambushed in the forest by a fierce warrior tribe of Woads led by a mystical Merlin, but much to their surprise, are spared their lives.

Arthur and his men find the servants being flogged, beaten and tortured in a dungeon at the home of the Roman official he has been charged to rescue and is appalled this is being done in the name of Christianity. It proves more than just the honorable thing to do now, but the real Christian thing to do is save his British countrymen from the very rulers they have placed their faith in to protect them. Arthur also frees and falls in love with a beautiful, confident Woad princess, Guinevere ( Keira Knightley ). In this telling, Arthur and Guinevere are true loves and Lancelot, though smitten with Guinevere, never makes any advance towards her.

The Saxon army is headed by the ruthless warrior king Cerdic (Stellan Skrsgard) who will stop at nothing in his rampage of killing and burning to eventually meet and defeat Arthur and his knights. The scene where the seven knights aided by Guinevere’s expert archery, face down a whole battalion of 500 Saxon’s on a frozen river bed, is well worth the price of admission.

We are shown the “real” account of Excalibur and how this sword of renown was actually pulled from the burial mound of his father by Arthur as a young boy, to be used later in his soldiering life to avenge the death of his mother.

This is no fairy tale account of King Arthur, but an attempt at realism—probably more like the rugged lives actually lived back in this ancient time. Although the writers did take many liberties with the classic legend, who King Arthur really was is so clouded by now, who is to say this account is not more closely woven to reality.

LANGUAGE, SEX AND VIOLENCE: The battle sequences are vividly graphic and lengthy, therefore I would not suggest this film for children under 13. There was some use of medieval swearing, but it seemed appropriate for the movie’s theme of reality. The film included a scene where rape was inferred, but nothing actually seen. There is also a sex scene between Arthur and Guinevere—sadly, just an act of lust and not the true love for which the story really called.

Over the course of its blood thirsty battles and through to its conclusion, this film provides a somber look at how Christian ideals can be abused—crushing and breaking innocent lives in the process. As history has often proved, it takes but one brave and committed human being to change the course of the times and bring relief to those who are harshly oppressed.

In the end, Arthur acknowledges that his best friend Lancelot gave his life for the freedom of others. He decrees that “deeds in themselves are for nothing except they be lead by a higher power.” Many have given their lives throughout human history for a better existence for all. As Christians we are finely tuned to the sacrificial death of our Savior, Jesus, for the sins of all mankind. How relevant the truth that there is no greater love than a man who gives his life freely for the sake of his friend’s. Through to the end Arthur never gave up his belief in God, even when other’s questioned, Arthur’s faith remained strong and true. I found this the best, most profound example overall.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

• Young people

King Arthur (2004): The True Story That Inspired The Legend (Apparently)

King Arthur is literally the stuff legends are made of. There are countless folk tales, adaptations that range from animated to live action. Most recently, Guy Richie tried his hand at the Arthurian legend with limited success. Arthur, his knights, Camelot and his roundtable is a veritable feast for any storyteller. Unfortunately, there have been very few adaptations that got Arthur and his story just right. While I have a special place in my heart for First Knight , I can also admit that the film had more to do with Lancelot and Guinevere than Arthur and his illustrious legend.

King Arthur certainly does not lack star power. The Antoine Fuqua directed, Jerry Bruckheimer produced blockbuster was crafted to be a huge tentpole Hollywood feature in 2004. Starring Keira Knightly, Clive Owen, Mads Mikkelson, Hugh Dancy and Ioan Gruffudd, I believe it’s safe to say that you are allowed to pick your poison.

With King Arthur , Fuqua promised an interesting take on the Arthurian legend. In this film, Arthur (Clive Owen) and his knights have completed more than a decade-long tour in the service of Rome. After years of battle, they long only to return home. Unfortunately, before their release is granted, Rome requires that they go to battle once more. Arthur and his knights must travel beyond Hadrian’s Wall and fight the northern tribes – or Woads – in order to secure a noble family’s freedom.

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Deeds themselves are useless unless they are for some higher purpose.

Forming a coalition of sorts, Arthur and the Woads band together to fight and defeat the Saxons. Along the way, we get some fantastic battle scenes, subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) flirting, interesting characters and Keira Knightly… painted blue.

King Arthur Review

King Arthur is not the King Arthur you are most likely expecting when you decide to watch this film. The roundtable we all love has a fleeting cameo, the tone of the film is dark, broody, yet maintains some of its magical undertones. In many ways, the film is strange and confusing. It aims to ground itself in some form of realism, and yet its roots in the supernatural fly in the fact of that premise.

Where the film succeeds is in the visuals. King Arthur is quite a striking film at the hands of its director. The battle sequences and overall production value is very good and its one of the reasons the film remains memorable.

Knights! The gift of freedom is yours by right. But the home we seek resides not in some distant land, it’s in us, and in our actions on this day! If this be our destiny, then so be it. But let history remember, that as free men, we chose to make it so!

Another is the ensemble cast. While Clive Owen and Keira Knightly receive top billing, it’s the knights – Bors, Galahad, Gawain, Tristan, and Lancelot – who are actually more interesting, despite their limited screen time. At the end of the film, I found myself wanting to know more about Arthur’s brothers in arms, something the film failed to do adequately. Where the script failed all the actors in some areas, the charisma and charm of the ensemble rescues King Arthur and makes its flaws more forgiving.

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This version of the story also pretty much avoids the love triangle we generally associate with this tale. In King Arthur , there is some low key flirting between Lancelot and Guinevere (and I mean Low Key), as well as some knowing glances. But that’s about it. In King Arthur , Guinevere and Arthur are the focus of the love story, although it feels more about duty than attraction and actual emotions.

This disappointed me quite a bit because irrespective of whether you’re Team Lancelot or Team Arthur, the love story is fairly central to what makes Arthurian legend so timeless. I personally felt Lancelot and Guinevere had more chemistry. However, it must be mentioned that there is a director cut of the film that ads almost 20 minutes to the film. These additional minutes adds a lot to the overall story, including the romance.

Final Thoughts

I’m a huge fan of Arthurian legend. For me, the best parts of the story revolve around magic, Merlin’s ability to weave it, Arthur and Excalibur and of course, the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. Unfortunately, while King Arthur is gorgeous to look at, it was stripped of most of the things that makes King Arthur about the actual King Arthur. Despite that, I really enjoyed most of the scenes with Arthur’s knights. Despite the lack of great character development, their chemistry works.

Where to Watch: King Arthur is available for sale on Vudu, iTunes, and Amazon. It also streams on Netflix.

Content Note: King Arthur rates PG-13 for intense battle sequences, a scene of sensuality and some language. R-rated Director’s cut has also been released.

Have you watched King Arthur ? What did you think? Comment below and let me know!

Photo Credit: Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films

OVERALL RATING

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful

friendship.”

ROMANCE RATING

“Happiness in marriage is entirely a

matter of chance.”

ARE YOU A ROMANCE FAN? FOLLOW THE SILVER PETTICOAT REVIEW:

Naazneen hails from South Africa and has spent most of her life steeped quite happily in fandom. A corporate Human Resource professional by day, she completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and is currently completing her MPhil at the University of Cape Town. She spends her nights in a parallel universe where her creative pursuits find meaningful outlets. When she is not doing research, writing fanfiction or reading the latest novel for her book club, she is voraciously consuming information on pop culture and global socio-political issues - or quite simply, travelling the world. She loves words, fangirling shamelessly, Mr. Darcy and rugged beards... a lot.

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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Where to watch.

Rent King Arthur: Legend of the Sword on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword piles mounds of modern action flash on an age-old tale -- and wipes out much of what made it a classic story in the first place.

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King Arthur

King arthur review.

By Eric Meyerson

Facts and Figures

Year : 2004

Run time : 126 mins

In Theaters : Wednesday 7th July 2004

Box Office USA : $51.7M

Box Office Worldwide : $203.6M

Budget : $120M

Distributed by : Buena Vista Pictures

Production compaines : Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Green Hills Productions, World 2000 Entertainment

Contactmusic.com : 3 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes : 32% Fresh: 58 Rotten: 126

IMDB : 6.3 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director : Antoine Fuqua

Producer : Jerry Bruckheimer

Screenwriter : David Franzoni

Starring : Clive Owen as Arthur, Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot, Keira Knightley as Guinevere, Mads Mikkelsen as Tristan, Joel Edgerton as Gawain, Hugh Dancy as Galahad, Ray Winstone as Bors, Stephen Dillane as Merlin, Ray Stevenson as Dagonet, Til Schweiger as Cynric, Stellan Skarsgård as Cerdic, Sean Gilder as Jols, Ken Stott as Marius Honorius, Charlie Creed-Miles as Ganis, David Murray as Merlin's Lieutenant, Ned Dennehy as Mental Monk, Phelim Drew as Obnoxius Monk, Des Braiden as Third Monk, Bosco Hogan as Bishop Decoy, David Wilmot as Woad Killed by Lancelot, Lochlainn O'Mearain as Roman Commander

Also starring : Stellan Skarsgard , Jerry Bruckheimer , David Franzoni

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, arthur the king.

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The word “sport” does not begin to do it justice. Adventure Team Racing is the most extreme, demanding, endurance activity in the world. It makes the Iron Man combination of running, swimming, and biking look like a game of hopscotch. An adventure race can involve running, biking, climbing, kayaking, and any other imaginable strenuous movement forward, over every possible kind of treacherous terrain. Races can last for many days, with only brief permissible stops and time penalties for aids like IV fluids. “Arthur the King” is based on  the true story  of one of these races, with an American team racing through the jungles, mountains, and rivers of the Dominican Republic (the real story involved a Swedish team in Ecuador). Mark Wahlberg plays team leader Michael Light, who bonds with a stray dog he names Arthur. 

It is really three movies in one, all watchable, but the pieces do not always mesh.  The first and least compelling piece is Michael’s story. He is a restless character, possibly an adrenalin junkie, or just someone with something to prove after being called “the best adventure team racer never to win a championship” by “Man vs. Wild” host Bear Grylls (playing himself off camera). Michael loves his wife and daughter but he does not love working for his former military-turned realtor father. He will not let his legacy be a viral image of his losing team literally stuck in the mud. 

No one wants to sponsor him after his last failure. But with just half of the money he needs, Michael assembles a team: Chick ( Ali Suliman ), the navigator, who was let go from the championship team for his bad knee, Olivia ( Nathalie Emmanuel ), the expert free climber and daughter of an ailing former champion, and Leo ( Simu Liu ), the one who posted that viral mud photo, a social media star who is still angry with Michael over the bad decisions that cost them the prize in the previous race. Michael promises that this time Leo will have a voice in the team’s direction and Lou warns him, “It will be a loud one.”

The second piece of the film is the story of the race, “5-10 days racing the toughest terrain on earth.” With a limited budget, the team cuts back on the crucial on-site preparation time. They arrive just before the race begins, with not enough time to acclimate to the climate. “The first rule is anything can happen,” Michael tells the team, and everyone responds with sports-y pep talk aphorisms like “Whatever it takes” and “We accept it. We embrace it.” 

The first event is a 24-mile trek through the jungle. There’s no set path, so one of the challenges of the sport is to find shortcuts through terrain that is treacherous and uncharted. This part of the film has gorgeous settings (though the racers hardly ever take time to look at them) and very exciting sequences, including a real nail-biter on a fraying zip line. 

The third piece, of course, is the story of Arthur, an abused street dog who improbably, after “not a dog person” Michael gives him a meatball, follows the team for hundreds of miles and at one point saves them from running off a cliff. Arthur and Michael both begin the film as loners, but over the course of the race we see them become a team and then a family. The entire team’s “whatever it takes” spirit continues but there is a shift in the idea the human members have about “it,” the goal they are willing to risk everything for, should be. 

At times, as Michael spoke to Arthur, it did feel like Wahlberg was imitating Andy Samberg imitating him and I half expected him to tell the dog to say hi to his mother. But the connection between Michael and Arthur, and the way Michael transfers the determination he brings to the race to the fight to bring Arthur home is undeniably moving. We look forward to the inevitable shots of the real Mikael and Arthur over the closing credits.

Michael’s wife calls his dream “a magical finish line,” and the movie reminds us that we should pay close attention to the goals we set for ourselves, to decide whether achieving them will really give us what we are hoping for and what it means to win.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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Film credits.

Arthur the King (2024)

Rated PG-13

107 minutes

Mark Wahlberg as Michael Light

Nathalie Emmanuel as Olivia

Simu Liu as Leo

Ali Suliman as Chik

Bear Grylls as Self

Michael Landes

Paul Guilfoyle as Charlie Light

Rob Collins as Decker Swanson

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Arthur the King’ on VOD, a Sports Drama That Stages an Epic Scruff-Off Between Mark Wahlberg and a Very Cute Dog

Where to stream:.

• Arthur the King

‘Sugar’ Episode 5 Recap: Beat My Guest

‘sugar’ episode 4 recap: sins of the brother, ‘sugar’ episode 3 recap: who goes there, ‘live’s kelly ripa recalls one thanksgiving when her dog chewie was caught “going to town” on the ham “in the middle of the dining room table”.

On the surface, Arthur the King ( now streaming on VOD services like Amazon Prime Video ) is a BOATS ( Based On A True Story ) about an adventure racer and his dog. But subtextually? It’s a world-class scruff-off between Mark Wahlberg and a heart-melting mutt. Wahlberg plays a somewhat fictionalized version of athlete Mikael Lindnord, whose adventure racing squad was joined by a bedraggled stray pooch in the midst of a typically grueling multi-leg pain-is-your-friend competition. Lindnord’s experience inspired him to write a book which inspired a movie which hopefully inspires us all to Embrace Life And All The Selfless Loving Sad-Eyed Fluffballs We Meet. Or maybe it won’t. The movie, I mean. Dogs always deserve the best we can give them, and they’re always inspiring, especially if they’re cute, but even more especially if they’re ugly, but that doesn’t mean all movies featuring dogs are the best. Now let’s determine if this particular dog movie is good or just, you know, a dog.

ARTHUR THE KING : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: If you want to learn about the ins and outs of adventure racing, go read Wikipedia, cuz you’re not getting it here. The movie gives us the bare basics – adventure racing teams consist of four or so people who run and bike and hike and paddle and climb and zipline and do whatever it takes to get from start to finish during a five-day endurance test. It’s kind of an -athlon, but seems to be more grueling than any other -athlon. From the looks of things I’d call it a murder athlon, and you almost certainly have to be a maniac to do it. Michael Light (Wahlberg) does it, and we meet him in the middle of a race and THIS BETTER NOT BE A MOVIE WHERE THE DOG DIES AT THE END. The thought occurred to me very early on, well before Michael even meets the dog. We meet Michael as he leads his crew to spectacular failure, so he gives up the adventure-racing life to work for his father’s real estate company and even though he has a supportive wife and an adorable daughter and what looks like a million-dollar house in Colorado with a spectacular mountain view, he’s not happy. A dog would probably help with that, especially if the dog LIVES TO SEE THE END CREDITS. You hear us, movie? Don’t DO this to us. Please. 

Three years after Michael’s final crash-and-burn was documented on Instagram by teammate Leo (Sim Liu) for the world to ridicule, he decides to piece together another team for a race set in the Dominican Republic. Between scenes in which Michael recruits badass rock climber Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), rouses old pal with a bad knee Chik (Ali Suliman) and sort of buries the hatchet with Leo, we get scenes of a mangy Benji-ish woofer scrounging and surviving on the streets of Santo Domingo. This dog. Good grief. He looks like a dust mop mated with Santa’s Little Helper. Devastating animal, positively devastating. Michael delivers a rousing, more than slightly angry speech to a boardroom full of potential sponsors trying to scrape up money for the race, and Poor Sad Pathetic But Spirited Nameless Dog scrapes up something to eat out of a garbage can. Dog and man couldn’t be farther apart – or closer together in their feelings of desperation. This is that thing called irony. 

After being dots following a dotted line on a map for a while, Michael and Team Broadrail are in 17th place. They stop for a rest and as Michael rips open a package of freeze-dried meatballs, he notices this amazing, shabby creature sad-eyeing him. He’s bleeding, the pup. Michael gives him a meatball and we’re all like NO YOU NEED THE PROTEIN BRO but as these things always go, now the dog is ready to jump in front of a herd of wayward zeppelins to save him. The team sets off and the dog watches them go and after they take a shortcut and blow by a sign that reads PELIGRO and subsequently have some harrowing adventures, they stop to chill in the jungle and – well, there’s the dog. How the hell did he get there? Chik jokes that he has wings. They name him Arthur, and Arthur is their inspiration. If he got over and around and through this insane terrain, with an ugly oozing wound and a bad leg, then they surely can, right? Hell, they might even win this thing, because teams without dogs are obviously inferior than those with. And that’s a fact.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Arthur the King is like Channing Tatum vehicle Dog meets Marley and Me meets Strays meets any number of semi-generic sports movies meets any number of semi-generic Mark Wahlberg BOATS movies (see: Father Stu , Joe Bell , Patriots Day , Deepwater Horizon and/or Lone Survivor , in which he plays essentially the same type of earnest-guy character). 

Performance Worth Watching: Arthur is played by a pup named Ukai, who wins this accolade because, as always, dogs > humans. 

Memorable Dialogue: Michael’s angry pitch to potential sponsors: “I learned that I could embrace pain. BUCKETS of it. I learned that suffering is a skill, and I could suffer more than anyone else.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: I’m happy to report that Arthur the King is not buckets of pain. Sure, it indulges ajll the cliches of sports movies and sad-animal movies and Mark Wahlberg BOATS movies, and it’s sometimes sullied by awful dialogue, and it shamelessly jerks us around and piles on until you want to yell STOP MANIPULATING MY FRAGILE EMOTIONS at the screen, but hey, nobody’s perfect. This is a totally acceptable movie that didn’t “inspire” me as much as it probably wanted to, but it made me feel warm and good about things. Life is pain, but life is also a wonder, and you sense the wonder when you look into the eyes of an intensely unconditional-loving creature, and those eyes belong to my cat. Or my other cat. Or the dog in this movie. Or maybe Baby Yoda. You’re not going to find that feeling just anywhere, you know.

And director Simon Cellan Jones knows that. All too well, it seems. When the movie doesn’t quite seem to be fleshing out its characters or piecing together elements of disparate genres, it cuts to the dog’s hungry-adorbs hang-dog look, which distracts our brains by flooding them with buckets of emotional gloosh . Wahlberg holds the movie together with the persona we’re thoroughly familiar with by now – tough on the outside, mooshy on the inside, quick with the line deliveries, ever and always almost convincingly sincere – albeit with facial hair that’s meticulously designed to mirror Arthur’s damp mange. There’s a bit where Michael looks at the pooch and wonders aloud, “Whaddaya think he went through before he met us?” Good question, but because he’ll never really know, what truly matters is, what’s going to happen to him now? NO SPOILERS of course, but it better not be a trip to the pet cemetery. One Old Yeller is enough for this world, thank you.

Our Call: You could do worse than Arthur the King , which offers approximately zero surprises, but enough cute-dog shenanigans to make it worthy of family movie night. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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