Will there ever be a good King Arthur movie?
I am always on the lookout for new British History movies, especially if they are set in the Dark or Middle Ages. So, it was with some excitement that I learned about the new movie, The Last Legion, which claims to tell the story of the early days of Arthur. The trailer looked good enough, but when I checked the reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes, I quickly lost interest. A large percentage of the reviewers had the same thing to say: A strong cast let down by poor CGI and abysmal dialog. Sigh.
It got me thinking. Has there ever been a good King Arthur movie? The last movie to bear that title was a pile of Hollywood rubbish, notable for having the Picts using huge siege engines. Before that, you have First Knight, where the Knights of the Round Table are partial to using one-handed crossbows. (snicker).
Going back ever further, there is Excalibur. This big-budget monstrosity includes the bulkiest platemail armor ever seen in film. Heck, even Disney's Sword in the Stone is a second-rate animated feature.
So why is it that the most popular legend of the Western World hasn't been turned into a good flick? Who knows? Probably Hollywood can be blamed for a lot of it. Hopefully, someday, a director will come along who cares about the story enough to do what Peter Jackson did to the Lord of the Rings. Until then, I think I'll go see Ratatouille instead.
