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Our movie guy, John McCann, says ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ is much better than he expected!…
Bruised and battered by the critics, Guy Ritchie’s take on the classic tale of King Arthur was one that had me intrigued from the beginning.
Adding Charlie Hunnam in what is his first major lead role in a motion picture and surrounding him with a formidable cast, Ritchie’s unique directorial style and a multi-million dollar budget and the results were always going to be interesting.
Whilst the film does have its faults, the overuse of CGI being a primary one, there is definitely enough here for fans of this particular genre who may be longing for the grand Lord of the Rings type production that has been missing from our screens for sometime now.
Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur.
Hunnam is also noteworthy in his role as King Arthur as he produces a subtle, yet strong performance in the title role, but is slightly upstaged by the magnificent Jude Law as the evil Vortigern.
Guy Ritchie’s unique vision of the classic Excalibur myth, traces Arthur’s journey from the streets to the throne in the same swashbuckling style that made the Sherlock Holmes movies such a success and that same energy is evident here throughout!
David Beckham’s dreadful cameo aside, the movie itself is quite entertaining as the frenetic pace and high intensity action sequences batter your senses continuously over the two hour running time.
Sure, it may be loud, brash and over the top at times, but it’s also a lot of fun and the combination of the director of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and a violent and epic tale was never going to be a quiet and subtle affair.
So if big budget CGI driven blockbusters with a twist of playful wit is your thing, then you could do a lot worse than this film!
3/5
King Arthur:Legend of the Sword is currently playing in Tralee Omniplex. To read more of John McCann’s reviews, check out his blog here
