Reviewed by: Joe

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Produced by: Jerry Bruckheimer

Cast: Clive Owen, Stephen Dillane, Keira Knightley, Hugh Dancy, & Ioan Gruffudd

Released: July 7th, 2004

Drama and Action/Adventure 2 hrs. 10 min. As the Roman Empire crumbles (circa 450 A.D.), the British Isles are thrown into a loose anarchy as errant knights are entrenched in years of territorial battle. Then, one king emerges to unite them, Arthur, with his concept of a Round Table of united knights.

For those who had grown up reading about the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, the Jerry Bruckheimer spectacular may come as disappointment, not so much as to the point of echoing Warner Brothers’ Troy, but rather for its less attractive approach to the legend. For the less informed individuals of this society not willing to venture to Spider-Man 2 for the twentieth time in a week, King Arthur at least offers itself as a reasonable, if not an inferior, alternative. When Jerry Bruckheimer originally envisioned the film, he had planned on a no-holds barred blood, sweat and tears aspect of the Arthurian legend but unfortunately producers must bend to the whims of their studio masters, in this case Disney (can someone just dump Eisner already?), and so the wonderfully choreographed battle sequences are toned down to the level of PG-13 audiences in order to reap in more box office coin. As one can probably guess, the film, namely its action sequences, suffer severely because of this … perhaps if they had left out a “love scene” between Guinvere and Arthur, which, considering their ages (Knightly – 19, Owen – 39), comes off as more disturbing then anything else, and the language had been toned down a bit, certain sequences could have been saved. Don’t get the idea that the film’s an utter mess; it’s actually quite decent if one understands the historical context in which the film is placed and isn’t expecting something on the level of Gladiator but more along the lines of the usual Bruckheimer diversion. It’s definitely a disappointment considering the amount of marketing blitz Arthur has been given and Bruckheimer’s 2003 summer hit, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, but if one goes in looking for a simple diversion for the summer, then you won’t come out demanding your money back at least.