The Kid Who Would Be King

I've always been a sucker for a good fantasy film. Anything that gets my imagination going with epic battles between good and evil. I've always appreciated any time there is a unique twist on the usual legends as well, which is probably why The Kid Who Would Be King appealed to me so much. As I sat in that theater, drinking my Coke and munching my Truffle Parmesan Popcorn, grinning ear to ear, I have to say this is some of the most fun I've had watching a movie in a while now. 

Alexander (played by Louis Serkis) is a misfit at school along with his best friend Bedders (played by Dean Chaumoo). He lives with his mother, Mary (played by Denise Gough) in suburban England and Dad is no longer in the picture. One day, while avoiding the school bullies Lance (played by Tom Taylor) and Kaye (played by Rhianna Dorris), he ducks into a local construction site to hide. There, he finds an old sword sticking out of a half destroyed concrete column. He is able to pull the sword from the stone and takes it home. Upon examining it with Bedders and entering the Latin inscribed on it discover that the sword is the one and only Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur. Soon after, Merlin (played by Patrick Stewart), often in the guise of a teenage boy (played by Angus Imrie), appears to tell Alexander that by pulling Excalibur from the stone that he is charged with a great quest to defeat the evil Morgana (played by Rebecca Ferguson), who is plotting to escape her underworld prison and take over the world. Using his knowledge of King Arthur from a childhood book, Alexander recruits Bedders as well as Lance and Kaye in his fight against Morgana, who is due to rise in only four days during a solar eclipse. 

The film was written and directed by Joe Cornish who does a fantastic job blending the old Arthurian legends with the contemporary world, while keeping the proceedings strictly family friendly. In the process he crafts a fantasy adventure for all ages that is very much in the mold of 80's family adventure films such as The NeverEnding Story, The Goonies, and especially Time Bandits. Within that mold, he crafts a wholly original adventure tale about a quartet of kids who stumble into a quest to save the world, with some assistance from the legendary Merlin. Unlike Cornish's decidedly more adult previous film, the equally stupendous Attack the Block about dayglo aliens attacking a London block of lower income housing, he keeps things from getting too intense while also making the impending threat of Morgana a very real one, both her and her army of fiery undead soldiers sent after our quartet of heroes to vanquish their threat and obtain Excalibur for her. The best stroke is that it would have been easy to make it all a silly goof, but Cornish wisely takes the proceedings seriously. There are flourishes of humor throughout the film, but the central quest of Alex and his mates have a refreshing sense or earnestness as they rise to he challenge of becoming pre-teen knights, challenged to live up to the values of bravery, honesty and teamwork. Woven within this is also Alex's own personal struggles, namely growing up without a father, a plot thread that to my surprise did not go in the direction the audience might expect. I also appreciated the ways Cornish blended the Arthurian legend with contemporary Britain, such as Merlin requiring an special potion to keep his youthful energy up only to his surprise finding every element he needed in a diet of fried chicken and cherry cola or the kids purchasing armor at an Antiques store and re-purposing construction signs as shields.  Capping everything off is a fantastic synth score by Electric Wave Bureau keeps the energy in the film up, as it clocks in at a lean two hours. It's a wonderful score that again ties the film to it's 80's fantasy film roots. 

The cast for the film is strong, led by Louis Serkis as Alex. Serkis does a good job capturing both Alex's courage in standing up to bullies, as we see early in the film, as well as his uncertainty and trepidation when the task of saving the world is placed on his and his friends' shoulders. He does a good job hitting the emotional beats of the story and makes Alex an engaging character that it's easy to root for. Dean Chaumoo is great as Bedders, who creates quite an endearing character. It's the little flourishes, like Bedders being an aspiring illusionist, so he naturally relishes spending time up close and personal with the real Merlin, even taping Merlin performing a duplication spell with the intent to study it and learn how to do it himself, to which Merlin simply responds he'd most impressed if he did. Speaking of which, Angus Imrie adds a delightfully offbeat and geeky turn to Merlin that is refreshingly different and unique from previous portrayals. Patrick Stewart likewise makes the most of his few scenes in the film as the older Merlin and whose addition is always welcome. Rebecca Ferguson adds some genuine menace to her role as Morgana, making the most of an unfortunately rather underwritten role. Likewise, Denise Gough is saddled with the worried mother role of the film, but does convey her character's genuine and understandable concern for her son's strange behavior, especially running around with a sword and leaving notes that he's going on a quest.

Going into The Kid Who Would Be King, I already knew I was going to enjoy it as it fit neatly into the fun fantasy film genre but I was surprised just how much I enjoyed it. This film perfectly recaptures what was great about the fantasy films I grew up on while creating something new and remarkably relevant to the world we live in today. It's got plenty of charm, adventure, and genuine magic to it. It's just a shame no one's going to see it, because it really is a genuinely good movie and one I can't wait to watch again.