Featured Film Review
'King Arthur' 2004 Touchstone Pictures Starring: Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Ray Winstone and Ioan Gruffudd Length: 125 minutes approx (VHS)
King Arthur. One of the movies I anticipated seeing most this year, so far.
The movie is set with Arthur, not at King status yet, as a soldier of the Roman army who leads a group of knights in her name. It is important to remember that Arthur is a Britain and has been killing Britains in Romes name in order to become a "free man" and live the life he chooses after his service to Rome is up.
The basics of the movie is that Arthur and his knights are awaiting their departing documents to legally relieve them of their duties to the Roman army, when the Bishop tells Arthur that he needs one last quest of him and his knights. This quest is to go north above the northern wall, where the Saxons have landed to invade the isle and return an important Roman to the lower lands and eventually get him back to Rome where he will become a Bishop and maybe even Pope one day. Reluctantly Arthur decides to accept the last mission and his knights do the same although more reluctantly.
When they arrive in the city with the Roman man, Arthur finds that his father has been abusing and torturing the local people for continuing to pratice their pagan beliefs. Up until this point, Arthur believed in the Romans and their Christianity, but now seeing these people tortured so he starts to second guess himself. So he decides to take the people of the town, and have the ones that are able to go ahead, while the ones that are less able to lag behind a little with him so he can protect them. Before he leaves he locks the monks back up in the shackels they locked the pagans up in.
Upon reaching a frozen river, on the way home, Arthur and his knights realise it is here they must confront the Saxon army. The others go ahead and Arthur his knights and Guinevere, who was shackled up in the town before, stay to fight. During the fight one of Arthur's knights loses his life to save theirs. In doing so he buys the knights time to get away and get back to the town.
By now Arthur has started to see even more what Merlin tries to show him. Merlin occasionally shows up from time to time telling Arthur that Arthur was never an enemy of his, his enemy was Rome. Also Merlin tries to get him to realise that Arthur is a Brit and he should be fighting for his people to get freedom for them aswell as for him to have freedom in his own land.
The group at the original city, Arthur's city, takes the Bishop on his way back to Rome. Meanwhile the Saxons enclose on Arthur. Arthur dresses up in his military garb and stands alone on a hill above his knights. After a little while the knights realise that they must fight one last time with and for Arthur. So they join him on the hill. The Saxons think that this battle will be really easy with it being them against the mere 6 knights of Arthurs that are left. What the Saxons don't know is that Merlin and Arthur made a deal to fight together. The original peoples of Britain show up and kick some major booty. In the battle Lancelot and another knight are killed. Afterwards Arthur gives him the funeral he wished for. As requested Arthur had Lancelot burnt and his ashes scattered on the east wind. Then, of course, Arthur and Guinevere get married and they call him King Arthur.
Overall I thought the movie was pretty good. It was kinda weird though for me. I've always loved the Arthur story, but in the movie I hated him for most of it. For me, I think it was more a personal thing since I am pulled toward the Celtic tradition and the British Isles. So I was rooting for the pagan Brits that Arthur was told to fight against by the Romans.
There is one character who gives good comedic relief.
I absolutely loved the way they did the pagan Brits clothing in the fighting scenes. I didn't expect for them to do it the way they actually fought, stark naked with body paints and hair braided. They did have the men shirtless with tribal body paint and braids in their hair. Even Guinevere fights in the final battle with a top that's just a few leather straps over certain areas (it wasn't rated R).
Merlin wasn't too bad. He was portrayed as a mystical wizard or Celtic shaman. It was weird to have him being viewed as Arthur's enemy, but a lot of the things in the movie were out of the ordinary as far as laymen know the legend.
Overall it's a good movie and worth seeing.
Reviewer: Brad
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