“Game of Thrones’” Aidan Gillen) provide comic relief and a bewildering array of regional Brit accents. But the story arc is utterly predictable and serves mostly as a skeleton on which to hang flashy effects.Īrthur’s bunch of close buds (played by, among other, Djimon Hounsou and Some of the elements tap into the Arthurian legend (the sword in the stone and the Lady of the Lake, though no Guinevere or Lancelot). She’s got all sorts of skills, like commanding birds and other animals. Meanwhile Vortigern obsesses over finding and killing his nephew, enforcing his will with an army of black-masked warriors who look suspiciously like they’re wearing costumes rejected by the “Star Wars” franchise.Įnter a magician (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) who has been sent by her wizardly kinfolk to help Arthur recognize his heritage and abet his ascension to the throne. (Seriously, there’s dialogue referring to “kung fu.” In Medieval London.) He’s protective of the harlots who sheltered him, and regularly attends classes at a dojo run by an Asian martial arts master. The boy grows up to be hunky Charlie Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”), raised in a brothel and unaware of his royal origins. In a prologue the kingdom of Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana) is seized during a great battle (war elephants the size of battleships…in England) by his scheming brother Vortigern (a sneering Jude Law, who portrays Watson in Ritchie’s Holmes franchise).īefore dying Uther sends his young son Arthur off to safety. Basically it’s a big shapeless slice of sword-and-sorcery, CG battles and quirky humor (providing you find it at all amusing). Know from the start that this “Arthur” has about as much in common with Malory or Tennyson as “Clash of the Titans” did with Bulfinch. Predictably, “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” is visually elephantine and dramatically stunted. Having shrunk the great Sherlock Holmes to fit the limited palette of short attention span theater (more Vin Diesel than Conan Doyle), filmmaker Guy Ritchie has now unleashed his reductive skills on the Arthurian legend. “KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD” My rating: D+ (Opens wide on May 12)
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