Rating: C-
Popcorn worthy? Nope.
King Arthur, a story with many incarnations, changed and modified through time in a variety of formats. My particular favorite version being the book The Once and Future King. Who doesn't know one of the many King Arthur tales? And that's, in part, one of the many reasons this movie falters.
The opening battle sequence has a slow beginning, and is honestly quite confusing. For a while I thought Jude Law was playing Merlin, but he was Arthur's Uncle. His brother, Uther Pendragon, played by Eric Bana, I actually thought to be an older Arthur, and that this was all a future glimpse. The fact that they were battling Mordred, who I know in some legends to be Arthur's son, and in other legends Arthur's nephew, is what mainly confused me. In this movie Mordred is an evil sorcerer, nothing more than that. I spent more time trying to figure out what was happening, who everyone was, than fully experiencing what was happening on screen.
When the exposition concludes we get to see Arthur grow up, and it is in this sequence, which I actually quite enjoyed, that it was obvious Guy Ritchie is the director, as it seems he borrowed his Sherlock Holmes style for this movie: Quick cuts, fast motion, then slow motion. The music seems throughout very Sherlock Holmes as well, only Hans Zimmer didn't compose this music, Daniel Pemberton did. So many aspects of this movie seemed borrowed from Sherlock, instead of being fresh and original.
This version of King Arthur is quite dark at times. I felt more agitated than inspired. There were moments of fun, but sadly only moments as the plot jumbled and jumped.
See this movie only if you have a couple hours to waste.
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some suggestive content and brief strong language.
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