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King Arthur review


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King Arthur

Warner brothers

PG13. 123 min

 

Well gang I admit I liked SONS OF ANARCHY a lot and was wondering when Jax, Charlie Hunnam was going to get a feature film. He was catapulted into popularity by playing not only the antagonist but also the protagonist in the legendary biker series. I guess the time has come and unfortunately he's been dragged on to the silver screen none other than director Guy Ritchie who has never, in my recollection, ever made a really good film. Oh perhaps one or two of them suck less than others but just for the record the latest incarnation of one of my favorite characters the hero of the Britons, King Arthur, is one of the worst and one of the worst of the year so far but hey its early at the Memorial Day blockbusters arent out quite yet, and it's a safe bet we will find a stinker or two there.

Of course we can worry about that when pirates of the Caribbean 8 or 9 or whatever it is rears its ugly head. As for King Arthur I had the feeling there is bad-news on the way within the 1st few minutes of the film. Right off the bat we are treated to a CGI castle being stormed by among other creatures, monstrous elephants swinging boulders from their trunks and smashing down stone walls. It actually looked like outtakes from LORD OF THE RINGS which had been shot while Peter Jackson was drunk.

Don't get me wrong I'm not necessarily a King Arthur purest. I realize if he even existed the legends are probably almost unrecognizable these days. Not only that but I immensely enjoyed the series of books by Bernard Cornwell who tells a somewhat different but entirely plausible version of the story. This version, unfortunately, is neither plausible nor entertaining. Also while I'm not a stickler for a faithful retelling of the classic comics I also don't mind lifting plot devices from famous and historical works, in this case The Bible in which King Arthur is put in a basket and set adrift into the bullrushes as was Moses.

As we know Pharaoh searched high and low to find the baby and try to kill him. There is probably no one who plays a nasty British bastard any better than Jude Law and in this version he is king Vortigern and he knows that if the true identity of baby Arthur is ever found out he will lose his seat on the throne. If the film had centered more on young Arthur growing up under the nose of the evil king it could have been and 'interesting hook. But The producers slop a whole bunch of stuff about Vikings and witchcraft and noisy mega battles to fill up the couple hours.

So basically that's the entire plot of the film all wrapped-up and embellished by cheesy graphics and ridiculous characters, one of them named Kung Fu George played by Tom Wu England's go to Asian martial arts guy. There is also a subplot involving some creepy slaves for peace deal between the Scandinavian invaders and the imposter to the throne but it's a minor thread. If you were hoping for traditional Knights of the round table Guinevere et cetera et cetera you are out of luck.

Anyway no matter what angle of KING ARTHUR intrigues you from the comics to the books to the Cornwell novels I would imagine everyone will agree this one stinks.

D

WSS

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Can't say I agree with your take on Guy Ritchie.

 

Snatch is in my top ten, lock stock and two smoking barrels is a damn good flick as well, and I felt his Sherlock Holmes movies were pretty damn entertaining. There are a lot of his films that I haven't seen, and they very well may be turds, but what I have seen has generally been pretty good.

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Can't say I agree with your take on Guy Ritchie.

 

Snatch is in my top ten, lock stock and two smoking barrels is a damn good flick as well, and I felt his Sherlock Holmes movies were pretty damn entertaining. There are a lot of his films that I haven't seen, and they very well may be turds, but what I have seen has generally been pretty good.

Someone else really enjoyed snatch, I think I must have missed it. Maybe I will re wind and give it a chance. Thought lock stock and 2 smoking barrels was lame andthe Sherlock Holmes films stunk despite excellent performances.

Ohwell

WSS

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Someone else really enjoyed snatch, I think I must have missed it. Maybe I will re wind and give it a chance. Thought lock stock and 2 smoking barrels was lame andthe Sherlock Holmes films stunk despite excellent performances.

Ohwell

WSS

That was me WSS. We talked about it after seeing this movie. Snatch was much, much, much better.

And I was not a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes movies. I thought RD Jr. was a bad casting choice. I actually thought that the villain in the first one...Mark Strong, would have made a better Holmes.

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That was me WSS. We talked about it after seeing this movie. Snatch was much, much, much better.

And I was not a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes movies. I thought RD Jr. was a bad casting choice. I actually thought that the villain in the first one...Mark Strong, would have made a better Holmes.

I knew it was you Gipper. I just didn't call you out for publication.

WSS

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