KING ARTHUR

KING ARTHUR

          Since Shakespeare wrote it and his theatrical company performed it, Hamlet has undergone innumerable interpretations and transformations, from the literal to the bizarre; yet the play, in all its messy brilliance, remains a universally acknowledged masterpiece.  In a similar manner, the great English myth, the story of King Arthur, appears in innumerable incarnations throughout the ages, including dozens of films, from adventure stories to comedies and musicals.  Like the prince of Denmark, the king survives them all, and he will no doubt survive his latest version, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

Guy Ritchie, who directed the new movie, turned the immortal story into yet another summer spectacular, with a gaggle of monsters, including some pachyderm type beasts and a trio of reptilian women, gobs of magic, and of course, a plethora of computer generated imagery.  His Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) pulls Excalibur from the stone as expected and in fact demanded, but proves reluctant to assume the responsibility of ruling the land now under the control of the evil Vortigern (Jude Law), who controls his people with the assistance of some supernatural powers.  After a long period of preparation and training, Arthur leads an army against Vortigern and, after much slaughter and other assorted difficulties, defeats him.  He ends the film knighting his faithful followers and creating the famous Round Table, a piece of furniture that initially puzzles his knights, and which suggests a sequel as well.

Despite all the spectacular effects, the film adds little to the great legend beyond a number of comical anachronisms.  Arthur speaks of being “proactive,” for instance, a term that I think was not terribly common back in the Middle Ages, along with his use of “razzle dazzle” and another knight’s mistaking the table for a carousel.  Hardly a commanding or charismatic figure, Charlie Hunnam seems flat and dull compared to his adversary, whose character actually dominates most of the action.  On the upside, Arthur introduces the modern concept of diversity to the Round Table, with an African knight, Bedivere, played by Djimon Hounson, and an Asian knight, Kung Fu George, played by Tom Wu.  King Arthur: Legend of the Sword otherwise ranks quite low on the long list of Arthuriads in fiction and film; the great story, always worth retelling, deserves a better incarnation, possibly with some sense of character and action and absent all the magic of contemporary cinema.  It is, after all, a long, long way from Camelot to Avalon.