Review of First Knight (1995) by Michael S — 22 Aug 2015

This is a very different take on King Arthur and his knights. First of all you should know that there is no magic, no Merlin, no Dragons or Holy Grail.

But what it does have is one of the better love triangles I've seen on film. It is between Arthur, Lancelot and Lady Guinevere. The drama starts with Lancelot. This iteration of his is very different; he is not very noble or holy at all, he's more of a Han Solo type. Moving from town to town with no care in the world, but he falls for Guinevere who has been promised to Arthur. Unlike Twilight or other crap teen romance films, Guinevere is very much her own person. While she does have to be rescued a couple times, she does quite a bit for herself. These people are conflicted between their love, honor, beliefs, their will etc.

While all of this is going on, a rather generic villain is making a fuss of things, burning the countryside and such. But with him comes the conflict of ideals (every man for himself vs brotherhood) and weather Lancelot realizes it or not, he is part of the villains ideology. And that's what this film is about, conflicts between love and ideology. But it's done in a subtle way that's not hitting you over the head with it.

The acting is very solid, but to a modern audience, it can come off as tacky. It's more inspired by theater and as such they all do a great job.

It's fun for the entire family. Check it out.