Adaptations about King Arthur rear their ugly heads every decade or so. In fact, we’re only two years removed from Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur mistake. Thankfully, there’s a different Brit that is worthy to adapt the story and make it actually stand out.
Writer/Director Joe Cornish (Attack the Block, The Adventures of Tintin) takes on this version of the legend. It tells the story of Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), a young schoolboy who must always come to the aid of his bullied friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo), while both of them live a daily battle of escaping harassment from the school bullies. Yet, Alex isn’t only meant to save one friend, his destiny becomes fully realized as he finds and unsheaths the mystical sword in the stone.
One of the great parts about this movie is that each character is clued in on the legends and fictional books about King Arthur, Merlin and Morgana. Far too often, we see stories in other movies where characters are discovering something for the first time (I’m looking at you zombie movies/TV) and they are caught completely off guard. Yet, in this movie, Alex uses the Knights of the Round Table book his father got him as a sort of manual.
Alex doesn’t have to save the world on his own. He is joined by a small band of his own knights, each with their own character arc. One of the standouts in the movie is Merlin. The younger version of Merlin is played by Angus Imrie. He plays the role in a slapstick (but takes himself all too serious) way. When he doesn’t feel he’s getting the respect he deserves, he switches to his older, more traditional wizard (in a Led Zeppelin T-shirt) form; played by Patrick Stewart.
Joe Cornish is a master of dialogue and, in this movie, he nails down how these children would react in far-fetched situations. He does a real service to younger viewers looking to watch an adventure by not talking down to them or rushing events too quickly. He even manages to inject heavier plotlines (about an absentee father, for example) intertwined with the fantasy narrative.
There are some moments involving the villains that may be too heavy for younger viewers. Morgana and her army of armored burning skeletons are plucked from a hellish fantasy. Also, younger kids may have an issue paying attention as this is just over the two hour mark. It’s a solid 20 minutes too long and they’ll feel that.
The Kid Who Would Be King is a clever reimagining on a familiar story and it’s completely relevant to our time period. For kids, it does drag a fair amount, but the acting, score and writing make this one that shouldn’t be missed. It’s possibly worth seeing this movie just for the running joke of what magic ingredients keeps Merlin at full strength. B
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