Medieval themed films are typically portrayed in similar ways replete with castles and their moats, axes, suits of armor, damsels in distress and possibly a fire-breathing dragon. They might have slightly different storylines, but visually similar in design...until now. Once Guy Ritchie was put behind the camera, "King Arthur: Legend of the Stone" became a whole new Medieval film that will impress.
Robbed of his royal lineage as a child when his uncle usurped the throne by killing his brother, Uther (Eric Dana), the king, Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) returns to the kingdom once ruled by his father and draws the legendary sword Excalibur from the stone whereas scores of men prior were not able to do so. Through Merlin's assistant, The Mage (Astrid Berges- Frisbey), he must learn to harness the sword's power in order to lead a rebellion with Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou), Bill (Aidan Gillen) and George (Tom Wu) at his side against the tyrannical Vortigern (Jude Law), Arthur's uncle, and reclaim his birthright. It's a fight to the finish where Arthur must right this horrid wrong.
Others to round out the cast are Freddie Fox as Rubio, Craig McGinlay as Percival, Kingsley Ben-Adir as Wet Stick, Neil Maskell as Back Lack, Annabelle Wallis as Maggie, Geoff Bell as Mischief John, Poppy Delevingne as Igraine, Millie Brady as Catia, Nicola Wren as Lucy, Will Coban as Brother Blackleg and Bleu Landau as Blue.
Of all the prolific directors out there today that are the most distinct, it would be that of Guy Ritchie ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" '98, "Snatch" 2000, "Swept Away" '02, "Revolver" '05, "Suspect" (TV movie) '07, "RocknRolla" '08, "Sherlock Holmes" '09, "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" '11, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." '15) plus videos, shorts and TV. His distinct style of presenting his films is evident: slickly photographed, rapid filming and motion capturing, along with background music that is hipper than its time period. These ingredients are the trademarks of a Ritchie film. If you're a Ritchie fan, not to worry, "Aladdin" is in pre-production and "Sherlock 3" has been announced, however is rumored. It is cleverly written by Joby Harold, Ritchie and Lionel Wigram based on a story by David Dobkin and Harold. The way that these writers went back and forth with the story and was completely connected, was brilliant is its execution. Other than a couple of very small slow areas, this plot soared. It could've had approximately 5 minutes shaved off the running time wouldn't have hurt the script at all. Ritchie certainly carried the lion's share of the experience, but they all had important input on this project. Charlie Hunnam, although has acted in several films, doesn't have a household name yet, but given more roles as with this as Arthur, he will obtain a more recognizable name indeed. The visual effects predominantly by MPC (Moving Picture Company), Method Studios, Framestore and Scanline VFX were seamless and definitely added to this production.
If you're a Ritchie fan, you will be in film heaven. This is the quintessential Ritchie film that we've all come to love and expect from his movies. This has got to be seen on the large screen otherwise it will lose so much on a small screen. It has action, adventure, drama and explosiveness all in a 2D and 3D format.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 127mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment