Review of A Knight's Tale (2001) by Chad H — 03 Oct 2010

As far as generic and predictable teen movies go, this may be one of the biggest offenders ever. But A Knight's Tale is just too damn entertaining to not like.

In medieval times, a squire named William takes the place of his mentor in a Jousting match after he is killed in the previous match. After the match, he becomes determined to become a great knight and passes himself off as royalty to compete in tournaments. He soon falls in love with a young princess, and crosses paths with a count who will do anything to earn her love and destroy William.

The plot is formulaic and generic. You've seen it all before, and you know exactly where it's going. But it's carried out with such style that you can forgive the filmmakers for not being very original. The soundtrack is a mix of classic rock from the likes of Queen, David Bowie, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and kind of gives the film it's unique identity. And not only is the music simply there, the characters actually interact according to the music, such as the opening scene where everyone pounds there fists to teh beat of "We Will Rock You." It knows exactly what it's trying to be and succeeds.

The performances are all very decent. Even when he was just a pretty-boy actor to rope in the girls, Heath Ledger was a strong actor, and he's funny and charming in the film. His friends are also quite hilarious, particularly Paul Bettany's character, known for his over-flattering monologues. The main villain is also appropriately evil and douchey. The dialogue is also sharp and fun, as delivered by it's characters.

A Knight's Tale is sure to be a fun time for anyone looking for it. It's an entertaining comedy that has a lot of style to make up for it's shortcomings, and is well-worth your time.