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Rating: 1.5 out of 5
We all know the legend of King Arthur. The dude that pulled the sword from the stone and became king of England. Actually, there are many different versions of the King Arthur legend. Some have him pulling the sword from the stone. Others are grand and magical, with the famous wizard Merlin at his side. Some go into vast detail on how he was born and his battle against his half-sister Morgana. If you need some refreshers, I suggest watching the following: Disney’s Sword in the Stone, the fantasy film Excalibur and even Starz Camelot. I could go on and on with the different versions.
One version that seems to be told is King Arthur’s wife, Guinevere, and his trusted knight Lancelot and that whole love triangle. First Knight is a film that tells the story of an elderly King Arthur marrying Guinevere and fighting against an old ally. The film goes like this: King Arthur of Camelot (Connery) has been in battle for many years and finally has led the country to peace and justice. As a weary old man, he decides to marry the beautiful Lady Guinevere (Ormond). Yet, war is on the horizon as Prince Malagant (Cross), the former knight of the round table and once Arthur’s strongest warrior, wants Camelot for himself and King Arthur deposed. Many have decided to follow Malagant and decide to attack Guinevere. Also, within the country is the free-living and highly skilled sword fighter, Lancelot (Gere). Lancelot manages to save Guinevere, and the two fall in love with each other at first sight. As Guinevere is set to be married to Arthur, her love grows for Lancelot. Soon a love triangle develops, which could result in the downfall of Camelot and England as a whole.
Once again, I’ve seen many versions of King Arthur, and this one doesn’t really hit like it should. I used to watch this movie a ton back in the day. Julia Ormond was my girl back in the day. After watching this movie again, it’s pretty meh and bland. It’s actually really meh and boring. One reason the story and movie are meh is that they tried to be authentic and serious. It stripped everything from Merlin to Excalibur and Morgana and pretty much gave us a love triangle story. I’m sorry, but first, how do you get rid of Excalibur? That is the whole concept of King Arthur. He pulled the sword from the stone and the entire thing with Lady and the Lake. His sword was everything, and in this film, he just has some regular old sword.
Another aspect of the film that is pretty bad is this whole love affair. Yes, it’s pretty known, and we can see the dilemma that homegirl Guinevere has, but it seems like Arthur was in love, and Lancelot was like, “Hey girl, we can hook up, but I ain’t trying to commit to anything. You can come along with me because you’re cute, but if I need to me, I’m out.” Then when everything came out in the open, Arthur was heartbroken and even then accepted their love. Dude was beyond Christian and understanding. Actually, the whole film made the love affair seem off and strange.
Let’s talk about Prince Malagant. He was a good villain for the story and made sense with his backstory, but it just didn’t flow with the whole film. I think it’s because I’m biased towards Morgana and Modred. I think now, Mordred has taken center stage, and Malagant is more of a Lancelot villain. I guess that is where the story becomes meh because it focuses on Lancelot, but Arthur is the more prominent figure. I like how it tried to show how Lancelot because a knight and trusted person, but it was a boring tale.
As far as the acting goes, I think Connery was a great King Arthur. Connery played Arthur as one that never seemed to raise his voice and a gentle king. A king that had faith to the fullest and wanted the world to love like he did. On the other hand, Gere seemed to play Lancelot as a somewhat don’t care playboy who falls in love but doesn’t want to commit and all that. Actually, I would say that Gere looked like he really didn’t care about the role. Julia Ormond was decent, but I don’t know. She seemed all over the place with her emotions.
First Knight is one of those King Arthur films that can be skipped. It is not very entertaining and tries to be a serious version and fails at it. Since the world is used to Merlin, Excalibur, Morgana, and all the other fantasy aspects that made King Arthur famous, this one just doesn’t hit that well. Watch different versions and be entertained by them.
