Thursday, July 15, 2004

muzing # 029: a man worth killing

..that would be King Arthur, if you've somehow managed to avoid the numerous previews of this latest retelling of the Arthurian legend. Or rather, the "true story" behind the legend, which of course has never been proven, or disproven as the case may be. I've been looking forward to this film since I first heard it was being made. As someone with slightly more than a passing interest in the evolution of the Arthurian legend, it certainly piqued my curiosity.

Countless less-than-complimentary reviews during the past week did not deter me from heading out to see this film today, opening day (which is unusual for me). I figured that at worst it would be a couple of hours of eye candy (and eye candy there was - nary a bad looking bloke at the round table).

Happily, there was far more going for the movie than the eye candy on show, in my opinion at least. Numerous reviews had commented that the movie was a bore, but I didn't find that the case at all. I actually wished it had been longer - the story could have used some padding, likewise character development. For the most part I couldn't fault the acting (although Clive Owen as Arthur seemed a tad deadpan in his line delivery at times) - even Keira Knightley didn't bug me as she has in other films. I very much enjoyed the jovial camaraderie between the knights, and Bors in particular is a source of light amusement. The cinematography is stunning, and the action set-pieces are impressive enough, though strangely bloodless. Now, I'm a bit of a sensitive gal when it comes to bloody battlescenes, but the almost complete lack of blood in the film (apart from the stuff smeared across the length of Arthur's sword!) was a bit odd. Apparently there was some serious editing to get this film a PG13 rating in the States, hence the lack of blood, but the DVD may change this and gorify (did I just invent a word?) the battlescenes. So I've heard anyway.

I will admit this film won't appeal to all, especially those misguided souls who've gone into this expecting many of the elements of the legend. Some of them are there, to be sure, but even those elements generally get only a passing mention.

If you like your battlescenes bloodless and your humour of the blokey "boys club" style, you can't go wrong with this one.

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feeling: a-ok!
groovin' to: "Lucky You" - lostprophets
last movie viewing: "King Arthur" [cinema] 4 stars

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