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Paul Kay

King Arthur: Director's Cut

Starring:

Clive Owen, Keira Knightley,  Ioan Gruffudd

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

The film: Anyone expecting the kind of sword and sorcery epic that has become synonymous with the Arthur legend will be sorely disappointed  by this retelling, which strives for  period accuracy over magic and, unforgivably, entertainment.

With the action relocated to a fifth-century Britain under Roman rule, Arthur (Clive Owen) and his band of knights are on the verge of earning their freedom after 15 years of service to the empire when the nefarious Bishop Germanius (Ivano Marescotti) sends them on a seemingly suicidal mission to rescue an eminent family stranded deep in Saxon territory. Along the way, they rescue imprisoned warrior-woman Guinevere (Keira Knightley - below, with Owen), find themselves in conflict with the Woads and their leader Merlin (who looks like the result of some bizarre government initiative to make old homeless men mine for coal) and make a final stand against the invading Saxon hordes on Hadrian's Wall.

Camelot, the Lady of the Lake and Arthur's magical sword, Excalibur,  are all omitted in favour of long, painfully drawn-out dialogue  and unintentional comedy courtesy of an over-wrought screenplay that takes itself far too seriously.

Ioan Gruffudd as the charming, double-sword swinging Lancelot  and Ray Winstone as the gruff and inexplicably Cockney-accented  Bors add some pep to proceedings, while  Knightley is suitably feisty as an unconventional (that is, not a damsel in distress) Guinevere. But one of the principal failings of the film is that  Owen never seems comfortable in the title role, delivering a performance only marginally less wooden than the round table he presides over.

Stellan Skarsgard,  however, is good value as the Saxon king Cedric, showcasing his ability to whisper menacingly to full effect, while the scenery is always stunning and beautifully shot by veteran cinematographer Slawomir Idziak.

The battle scenes, as you might expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer production, are well-choreographed and suitably gory - arrows fly into eyes and heads are lopped off with  abandon. But, in a post-Lord of  the Rings world, apart from an impressively staged clash on a frozen lake, they lack the wow factor that could, perhaps, have dragged this movie out of the Dark Ages.

The extras: A gushy making-of featurette in which no one has a bad word to say about anyone or anything and a lacklustre photo gallery add little to the disc's appeal, although the darker alternative ending is more in keeping with the tone of the film than the one that makes the final cut.

The verdict: Shorn of magic and mysticism, King Arthur makes for a dull historical drama, with little to recommend it and a noticeable lack  of Bruckheimer's patented visual fireworks. Pick up a copy of John Boorman's  lavish and brilliant Excalibur, instead.



King Arthur: Director's Cut