Review of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) by Lane Z — 25 Jun 2017

I tried my best to believe King Arthur could live up to the hype of its trailer. Despite its potential, not only did King Arthur: Legend of the Sword disappoint, it didn't even try and offer anything new to a tale we've seen time and again.

Guy Ritchie is one of those directors who you've heard of before even if you've never seen his movies but you think is a fantastic director until you look at the ratings. Sure, critics aren't the only barometer for films, but this is a time when not even the "we made it for the fans" mantra can be inserted. Even with Ritchie's style imposed over the film with its dark color palette, quick cuts, and tight dialogue, the movie still only offers a dull look at one of the most famed Kings of fairytales.

Charlie Hunnam was decent enough, but for the life of me, I'm not sure how you have Jude Law in your film as the bad guy and still manage to subdue his acting. His second crime is using Annabelle Wallis in approximately 30 seconds of the entire film.

The CGI wasn't great and we are offered zero explanation of how Law's character gets his powers. We get no background on the sword and what makes it so powerful (but a neat little side story of how it was embedded in the stone). Even with a 2-hour run time, it feels like we galloped through the story.

From the moment I saw the trailer, I believe we were getting a gargantuan, over-the-top, fantasy flick with King Arthur at the helm of an "origin" story. Instead, we were given a slog through the mud with poorly executed CGI, story, and a lack of fear for our bad guy.