King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

What's the title?

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Who directed it?

Guy Ritchie

When was it released?

2017

What’s it rated?

PG-13 for strong action violence, intense battles and action sequences, and for some language and sensuality

Would I recommend it?

No, which is disappointing but not surprising.

What's it about?(non-spoilers)

Arthur grew up an orphan on the rough streets of Londinium to become a strong and savvy gangster. When Arthur proves to be the rightful wielder of a legendary sword, he finds himself pulled – kicking and screaming – into the center of political power plays beyond his ken. Will he answer the hero’s call? Does anyone care?

What did you think? (spoilers)

Look, I like Guy Ritchie. I like his movies. And I really, really like the Arthurian legend. So when I first heard Legend of the Sword was being made, I was excited. But then the trailers came out. And then the reviews. My excitement quickly evaporated. I probably wouldn’t have gone to see the movie at all except for the fact that, despite the trailers and despite the reviews, one of my favorite viewing buddies was still pumped to see this film because Jeremiah 17:9. So I obligingly accompanied three viewing buddies to see it.

And it was fine. Legend of the Sword isn’t a bad film. Well, it’s not a painfully bad one at least. The characters were well cast. The world Ritchie created was unique – a mix of fantastical magic and bro-tastic street crime. My nerd heart pitter-pattered at the name dropping of Percival and Tristan as Arthur’s buddies. Then again the film had Uther and Mordred as contemporaries which is frustrating, but whatever. There was a distinct lack of Morgana, but I doubt that would be all that notable to mainstream audiences, and this was supposed to be a six-film series so I gave the series the benefit of the doubt that she'd show up eventually. I genuinely liked the camaraderie Arthur had with his friends. There was a definite “found-family” aspect to this movie, and I will always be down for that particular trope.

The biggest problem I had with the film was the way it was structured. For a movie that has the fate of Camelot in its hands, there were no stakes to be felt. The narrative of the movie undercut its own dramatic tension at every turn for no reason I could discern other than to differentiate itself from other movies. Well, you know what, all those other movies use dramatic propulsion because that’s how stories work. “Most people have legs, but we want to walk differently, so we’re gonna cut our legs out from under ourselves. This’ll be brilliant!”

Also, the characterization of Arthur was just frustrating. It starts with him as a gangster who truly cares for his mates and the whores who raised him. Sure, he’s on the wrong side of the law, but he’s also a kind and invested leader to those he considers his own. When he gets called to be the leader of the kingdom, he says no, it’s not his fight. I get it – the hero has to reject the call. Campbell, Star Wars, I know how all this works. But then, the movie tries to say this rejection of the call stems not from apathy toward the wider world – which would be in character for this Arthur who has had to fight the world every step of the way to get the power he’s had – but rather from fear that stems from the trauma of his parents’ murder. (A murder that the audience sees no less than thirty times over the course of this movie. Even Bruce Wayne watching this movie would be like “we get it, your parents died.”) Now, granted, watching your parents violently murdered is traumatizing. But Arthur doesn’t act traumatized. We’ll be treated to scenes of him running and panting coupled with flashbacks of his parents’ death – and then as soon as anyone else comes on the screen he’s like “yeah, all’s good *witticism/joke*” His responses aren't played to indicate that he's repressed, covering the pain with humor - they're presented as him genuinely being blasé. Also, the whole time he’s telling people he’s not their leader and he doesn’t owe them anything, he’s also telling the men what to do and demanding their complete obedience. Which just...

There are other aspects of this film, some problematic and some not, that I could nitpick through. I could mention Katie McGarth and Jude Law. I could discuss my feelings about Excalibur giving Arthur speedster powers. I could mention how gender roles apply to the Ursula creature in the pit. But honestly, I don't care enough about this film to give this post that much thought.

I will say that, as massively as Legend of the Sword flopped, I doubt we’ll get sequels, and I think that's a shame. I’d love a great Arthur franchise. The tradition is so rich and there are so many great characters in its stable. What’s worse is I think all the ingredients were in Legend of the Sword to be that franchise, but something went wrong in the oven and we ended up with a mess of gloop. Give it another five years and I’m sure someone else will give the Once and Future King a try. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Images: iMDB, Giphy, imgflip

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