Arthur the King

"Brought tears both of happiness and sadness to my eyes. -Dad" "It was good. -Mandy" "That's a sad movie, dad. -Theo" "Guys...that was stressful. -Natalie" "It was pretty good, the dog was pretty cute. -Iris"

10/10.

Saw this movie as part of mystery movie Mondays at Regal Cinema with my family. Great movie we all agree! There's happy parts, sad parts, a real rollercoaster and tearjerker of a movie. Worth watching even if you're not a big Mark Wahlberg fan and don't like Marky Mark. Glad to have seen this movie! Mystery movie Mondays at Regal Cinemas are great. I liked seeing the real pictures of the real people and dog at the end.

I usually avoid trailers and spoilers before watching a movie, but with this one, even the poster hinted at a heart-wrenching story. Discovering it was based on real events hit me even harder.

Dogs are just too precious, and movies like this always tug at the heartstrings. While it may not reach the emotional depth of classics like "A Dog's Journey" and "Hachiko," it still manages to make you care about the characters.

Considering it's based on true events, there might not have been much room for story changes. However, I felt the human characters could've been more developed. For instance, the hiker girl revealing her father's cancer right before the race felt like a cheap way to evoke sympathy.

Even Mark Wahlberg's character felt a bit underdeveloped. It's a classic case of "show, don't tell." Simply mentioning his emotional drivers through exposition didn't quite cut it and lessened the impact of his character growth.

I think the movie could have benefited from being slightly longer to establish the stakes more firmly and give the dog more screen time in the first half.

In 2015, Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) leads a team of extreme racers. His driven stubborn decision ends their race early. His combative second Leo (Simu Liu) posts an unflattering pic. It's 3 years later and he's struggling with normal life. He decides to race one last time. He recruits veteran racer Chik (Ali Suliman) with a bad knee, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Leo who has since become a social media influencer. Olivia is only racing for her legendary climber father who is dying from cancer. Then there is a dog.

This is very fine. It's based on a true story. It is a standard underdog sports movie. Heck, they even have a dog. It is sweet. It is sincere. There are some good adventure thrills. The zip line scene looks great on top of the thrills. Again, it has a dog. It's great.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Arthur the King is a pretty fair adventure film following Michael (Mark Wahlberg) who his team go on a endurance race thats 400 mile some race that takes them across the Dominican Republic. While during the race they come across a stray dog that guides and follows them through the race.

Plot was great. It has a bit of heart with Michael bonding with the dog during the race which the dog saved one of them from falling off a cliff. While they travel through rough terrain. The story can be a bit emotional for animal lovers.

It has a great cast ensemble lead by Mark Wahlberg.

The direction could have been better which was a bit generic for a adventure movie. Its a wonderful story just the direction did not offer anything new.

Arthur the King knows the unbreakable bond between man & dog gives it a free pass and an added edge in everything it's doing, which it uses to full effect. It's very easy to get invested in with a plot propelled by forward momentum as the race takes up most of the run time and the struggle to save Arthur that follows only makes it more emotional and gripping.

Mark Wahlberg shows off a new skill by having a believable bond with his canine counterpart. He gets a good arc and is supported by Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman who makes for a strong core four. When Arthur joins it only gets better, and those earlier scenes where he's on his own are more impressive in some ways since all those lack human support.

Simon Cellan Jones directs with a fair bit of handheld camerawork to give it a sense of immediacy. Visually it's a little too grey but it's still nice to see so many natural locations and the zipline sequence in the middle stands out simply by being as tense as you'd expect. Kevin Matley's score saves the best for last, bringing the feels to ensure the ending is as lovely as possible.