KING ARTHUR (2004) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Antoine Fuqua
Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffud,
Ray Winstone, Stellan Starsgard, Til Schweiger,
Stephen Dillane, Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen
It's the Dark Ages, and King Arthur and his knights are little more than a well-tailored band of mercenaries, conscripted by the Romans to fight the Woads, a fierce, dirty, long-haired race of barbarians in a desolate, godforsaken backwater called Britain. After 15 years of more or less nonstop killing, the guys are looking forward to retirement and safe passage back to their own pagan lands, when, wouldn't you know it, they're dispatched on a last suicidal mission north of Hadrian's Wall. This leads to a lot more killing and some of the knights don't make it, but Arthur (Clive Owen) does get it on with Guinevere (Keira Knightley), who teaches him that not all Woads lead to Wome. It's transparent storybook moviemaking, as enjoyable as it is disposable, complete with castles and catapults, broadswords and battle axes, flaming arrows fired from longbows, and nasty-looking men with knives clenched in their teeth. Highlights: Stellan Skarsgard as the Saxon chief, a tense standoff on a frozen lake, and the sporty leather harness Guinevere wears into the final battle. A guilty pleasure.
