Review of King Arthur (2004) by Filipeneto — 11 May 2018

This is one more of those films that, under the popular saying "behind a lie there is always a true origin", seeks to reinvent a classic story, giving it new surroundings and new characters seemingly more realistic and historically accurate. It is a high but calculated risk because if there is a myth about which many alleged historical origins have been pointed out is the King Artur legend. The film is set in the final centuries of the Roman Empire and depicts the abandonment of Great Britain and Hadrian's Wall. Artur is transformed into a hired knight who serves the Romans and that it has the duty to protect a pope's favorite (at that time Christianity was already the official religion of the empire, although Celtic paganism still prevails In the British Isles) from the Saxon incursions. Obviously there are historical errors, more or less obvious, but this is not as glaring as the absence of epic sentiment in a movie that tries to be epic and never succeeds. There are even some scenes that have been ruined by minor details such as incomprehensible battle cries or cries in Latin that are never properly translated or subtitled, and which end up appearing ridiculous.

Clive Owen is good at action scenes but lacks the presence and charisma that his character demands. Arthur's knights are never developed individually except for Bors (Ray Winstone) and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson) although they are usually played by talented actors, eventually becoming highly secondary characters. Keira Knightley, an actress used to period films, played Guinevere, a character who does not suffer from the same lack of development but has been poorly thought out, overly masculinized, very stereotyped and sometimes sexualized, in a development line that ruins later attempts to make credible her wedding with Arthur, a character who spends the entire movie without any romantic chemistry with her. The film is slow and boring at times, but I dealt very well with it.

In conclusion: it is a film with an interesting story, which entertains the audience, but that is far from good.