King Arthur (PG)
Opens June 15
Running Time: 130 min

Cast: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Keira Knightley
Director: Antoine Fuqua

Making History

By Joanna Tan • UrbanWire Contributor
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3 years after he bombed big time with Pearl Harbor, Jerry Bruckheimer is taking another beloved story and trying to create a big hit in retelling it by marrying historical research and plain drama.

The subject this time is the “untold true story that inspired the legend” behind the chivalrous English King Arthur. And he’s gambling on dazzling us with cast-of-thousand epic scenes to replace the magic and mythology we were used to.

So don’t expect to see fire-breathing dragons, swords stuck in stoness or sorcerors in this tale. In fact the famous wizard Merlin is nothing more than a tribal leader, and an enemy instead of a friend. Don’t expect the same humour and comic situations seen in Bruckheimer’s last hit Pirates of the Caribbean either. King Arthur, like Pearl Harbor, is a serious war drama about freedom, life, death and love.

The movie tends to get a bit confusing because of the various races of people, so, let me try and break it down.

The story unfolds during the time when the Roman Empire had conquered most of Europe, including the British Isles. The cavalry of one of these conquered lands, the Sarmatians, however impressed the Romans so much that they were allowed to live, on the condition that the eldest son from each family serve the Roman army for 15 years.

A group of these boys served under the leadership of Arthur (Clive Owen) in Britain, and grew up to be his most powerful and trusted knights, namely Lancelot (Ioan Gruffud), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Dagonet (Ray Stevenson) and Bors (Ray Winstone). Nearing the end of their 15 years, the knights are promised their freedom on the condition that they rescue the Pope’s godson from the invading Saxon army, led by Cerdic (Stellan Skarsgard) and his son Cynric (Til Schweiger), who outnumber them by thousands to 6 (the kind of odds that the fellowship of the ring found themselves against).

In addition to the Saxons, Arthur and his knights also face opposition from Merlin (Stephen Dillane) whom we’re more used to seeing as Arthur’s mentor and protector, and his tribe of native Britons known as the Woads. That is, until Arthur rescues Woad warrior Guinevere (Keira Knightley) from the dungeons of a corrupt Roman official. The Knights and the Woads then combine forces to fight the Saxon Army, while the Romans evacuate the British Isles.

Now, it’s not easy to fit all these characters, into one little 2-hour movie, but director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Tears of the Sun) has tried his best. Shot entirely in the highlands of Ireland, the movie does try to flesh out its characters and provide an insight into the personalities of the Knights, in an effort to make the audience connect with them. And you do, but only to a point. When they get hurt, or worse, killed, you feel bad for them, but you don’t care for them the way audiences cared for Frodo or Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, for example.

What works though, is the fact that most of these actors are not well known, and so the audience is able to see them as the character, rather than as a famous actor playing the character. For instance, if someone like Ben Affleck were cast as Lancelot, then audiences would see Affleck, rather than Lancelot himself.

It is, however, unfortunate that King Arthur follows on the heels of The Lord of the Rings and Troy. Fans of these epics are bound to notice a few similarities. For example, the way some of the main characters are shot down with arrows is reminiscent of the way the character Boromir died in The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and the flights of arrows are similar to the city of Osgiliath scene in The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King and to the Trojans’ attack on the Greeks in Troy.

The same can be said of the battle scenes, with the whole “large army versus small army” scenario. There is nothing appealing about watching one man slicing up another, (the Saxons are portrayed here as little more than barbarians), but at least the blood and gore are kept to a minimum.

Keira Knightley, though listed on the billboards as a central star, has only a small role in the film. She’s dreadfully under-used, appearing first as a pitiful Roman prisoner, then as an archer aiding the Knights against the Saxons, and finally as a sword-wielding, Xena-type warrior-woman complete with skimpy outfit and body art. Now I’m a fan of Keira Knightley, and I do like the fact that she portrays Guinevere as a fighter rather than the helpless damsel-in-distress, but unfortunately, hers role is also one that suffers from lack of on-screen development. Shame really.

However, this is not to say that the movie is totally bad. The landscapes are breath-taking, and there are comedic moments, for example, during the frozen lake scene. That is when Lancelot, who is watching the Saxon army approach, turns to Guinevere and says, “There are lots of lonely men over there,” and Guinevere replies, “Don’t worry, I wont let them rape you,”. Also, the frozen lake battle between the Saxons and the Knights does stand out for its impressive cinematography and the ingenuity of the idea.

The score, too, is beautiful. Bruckheimer has once again teamed up with composer Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King) to create a poignant score complemented by the movie’s haunting theme song performed by Irish singer Moya Brennan.

All in all, the best way to watch this movie is with an open mind, and though it can be confusing at times, the locations, soundtrack and acting make it still an experience worth undergoing.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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