Review of The Green Knight (2021) by Umaumai — 18 Aug 2021

While I’m not a big fan of a lot of A24 movies, when I read the announcement for “The Green Knight” I was very excited. I loved “Sword of the Valiant” and the Sean Connery titular cameo and with the little I know of the Gawain mythos I couldn’t wait to see this new version.

I’d say that this movie started out with such high promise with great atmosphere, costumes and wildly excellent sets. I would have given it an 8 or higher if it kept the energy it had up to the scene when the Green Knight makes his exit.

After that it just goes down hill losing momentum, and half of a point from my score, nearly every 15-20 minutes. For how much the movie “insists on itself” it had nothing to say really. All it does is meander without any meaning till it’s dull end.

I guess some viewers could see some parallels in current social politics here and there. However, if the film makers are intentionally doing this here it doesn’t holdup against the backdrop of the Arthurian legend.

Alongside that the movie has some awful edits, terrible and unreadable reoccurring title cards and some questionable cinematography. I’m pretty sure I saw several “mistakes” that took me out of the film.

Some of which felt like the kind of thing that a film student would have made and left on their thesis for “authenticity.” I’m not sure if the acting was good or bad because I was more bored then anything else by the end.

The music and sound design are amazing and yet distracting at the same time. This is one of the times that without the strong score the film would have suffered and you wouldn’t have known what the film markers where trying to achieve.

Overall it’s not a soundtrack that I’d be interested in as it barrows heavily from the sources that it aspires to be. I’m glad I watched it and oddly I think that most others will be as well. If anything it’s unique yet inoffensive even when it’s trying to be.

For a film set in very tumultuous times and has gruesome tales within it’s own story, it only shows/tells it in the most uninteresting and uninspired way.