King Arthur

But this movie is anything but misunderstood. The beautiful scenery and brooding atmosphere don't make up for the poor writing and formulaic plot.

Clive Owen is great. He's a subtle, powerful actor. His eyes alone are capable of showing strength, experience, sorrow, and amazement, all at once.

He epitomizes the strong, silent type. No one better to be cast as the legendary King Arthur. His character arc is one of the only believable aspects of the film. I owe it mostly to Owen's nuanced performance, as the writing unfortunately does not support him adequately.

According to the script, Arthur's allegiance to Rome is fueled, not by his love of the military, but rather his love of Roman philosophy. Apparently this love informs his compassionate approach as a leader, and turns his loyalties further away from Rome. But this motivation is only given cursory explanation. Repeatedly, Arthur shouts out, 'This is for freedom,' or 'We are all equal.' Even though his passion is believable, we never learn much more about the reasoning behind these generalized statements.

Guinevere, played by Keira Knightly, is given some 'girl power' as a rebellious pagan, capable of fighting with the men. But her story is undermined by her laughable romance with Arthur. True to formula, Arthur 'rescues,' her, and within minutes her attempts at seduction begin. Happily this is undercut by a shift in the plot involving fellow rebel 'Merlin,' but unfortunately this part of the story is also under-written. We are given no information about Guinevere's connection to Merlin, especially considering the character's young age. Knightly is barely 20, and it shows. This is nothing remarkable by Hollywood standards, but her performance shows a lack of life experience.

Costume and make-up choices for Guinevere were equally laughable; she wears full glamour makeup for the majority of the picture. Later she appears in the costumer's interpretation of pagan warrior garb (a few leather straps and some blue face paint), which is equally unbelievable as effective coverage for battle.

The formulaic screenwriting undermines the supporting cast of knights as well. It uses the typical action film technique of giving each knight their obligatory character highlight, or sympathetic moment, so we can be sure to spot them when they fall.

In triumphant moments, the underdeveloped theme of 'freedom' returns. Considering England's history, this so-called freedom would be in question for centuries to come. It would have been far more interesting to see how Arthur actually united England in the years that followed. Unfortunately this film instead shows Arthur massacring many Britons, spouting this 'talking point' as an afterthought.

I was really disappointed, given the claim about historical accuracy. For an hour and forty minute film, too much time given to battle scenes (which, apart from one scene on ice, were not very memorable). Not enough time was spent fleshing out the script. Or to be fair, perhaps those parts of the script ended up on the cutting room floor. But you could get just as much out of watching the previews of this movie; there's just not much more to it. If you're a fan of Clive Owen, then by all means... But otherwise, don't waste your time.