Blu-Ray Review by Kam Williams
Visual F/X Variation of the Classic Tale Arrives on Home Video
Do you remember what happened to the Sherlock Holmes franchise in Guy Ritchie's hands? The low-key, cerbral sleuth who solved mysteries with his intellect suddenly morphed into a flamboyant, two-fisted superhero as likely to rely on brawn as brains to solve a case.
Well brace yourself for a similar transformation with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Again, Ritchie makes a concession to the attention-deficit demographic in crafting a fanciful reimagining of the beloved epic that plays out more like a frenetic, action-packed video game than a classic medieval tale.
Nonetheless, the good news is that the movie works, if all you're looking for is to be entertained by an overblown summer blockbuster with an A-rating when it comes to state-of-the-art special f/x. And the characters even sport familiar names, from King Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) to Lady Guinevere (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) to Merlin the Magician (Kamil Lemieszewski). But I still defy anyone to make sense of this hyperactive adventure which abandons the British folklore upon which it's ostensibly based in deference to a cinematic mandate for incessant stimulation.
The picture's rudimentary plot unfolds as follows. At the point of departure, King Uther (Eric Bana) is assassinated at the behest of his power-hungry brother, Vortigern (Jude Law). Instead of ascending to the thrown, Arthur grows up a lowly street urchin, utterly oblivious of his royal bloodline until the moment, years later, he manages to pull the magical sword Excalibur out of a stone.
Cognizant of his rendezvous with destiny, with the help of a big bird, an archer (Aidan Gillen), a black knight (Djimon Hounsou) and psychic Guinevere, Arthur embarks on an epic quest to reclaim his birthright. And what an eye-popping spectacle it proves to be!
Guy, I like what you've done with the legend!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, action, suggestive content and brief profanity
Running time: 126 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment
Blu-Ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Arthur with Swagger; Sword from the Stone; Parry
and Blood; Building on the Past; Inside the Cut: The Action of King
Arthur; Camelot in 93 Days; Legend of Excalibur; and Scenic Scotland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rbPTQIdjmY
To order
a copy of the King
Arthur: Legend of the Sword Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:
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