After the war with the mages, England is at peace. Or is it? When his power-mad Uncle Vortigern usurps the throne and kills his father, young Arthur escapes and survives on the streets being aided by women in a brothel. Vortigern knows, though, that Arthur must be alive . . . and the powerful sword in the stone can be wielded only by him. Obsessed with finding the heir, Vortigern will make any sacrifice . . . while Arthur wants no part of power. Still, he may not have much choice . . . and from nothing will come a king.
I've had this 2017 film on my list for quite a while. It was definitely different; a visual spectacle with powerful music and some unique (and fun) storytelling methods. Those aspects I enjoyed. What I didn't:
- an emphasis on the mystical. Vortigern is building a tower that (apparently) makes him powerful somehow, Arthur's sword yields superhero-like strength, and there are mages that can control animals. And some other really weird stuff.
- there is very little Arthurian here; a few nods to the legend get buried in what feels more like Robin Hood or A Game of Thrones at times.
- I can't tell what the overall message is. It appears to be that Vortigern's evil created Arthur. Suspect theology.
Still, there was at least one good message in the film: Arthur's transformation. He doesn't want to embrace who he is. At one point, when he's resisting that, his companions put him through a test. One fears they are going too far and might kill him, but another replies:
You don't want all of him to survive, that's the point. You have to break his old self completely, wear him down. You want him to think big? Give him something big to think about.
Later, to Arthur directly, she encourages him to stop running, and reminds him that:
You will face it when it's worth it to you.
We are reminded consistently in Scripture about putting off the old self and putting on the new, and putting worth in what truly matters (vs. our old desires). So that subtheme was done well.
Overall, I both liked this more than I expected but was somehow also disappointed. The aspects I enjoyed made it fun, but my disappointment came in its claimed ties to Arthur.
Rating: C+
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