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Articles: 'Arthur' redoes old legend

Posted by admin on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 12:44 AM

This ain't your mother's "King Arthur." In the new retelling of the Camelot legend, Guinevere's a warrior, Lancelot's a stiff and Arthur's a very troubled man. Worse yet, there's no love triangle or a future to consider. This is very much "fight for today."
In light of the success of "Lord of the Rings," directors have felt compelled to make all battle scenes alike. At times, you'll swear you're watching "Braveheart." Even Keira Knightley, as the comely Guinevere, dons blue paint and makes like Mel Gibson. She's found in a prison by Arthur (Clive Owen) who's in a big battle with the Saxons. His Knights of the Round Table are in tow but they don't have the same swash as they've had in other films. Most, in fact, brood pretty often. Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) isn't a threat to Arthur, just a sidekick. That undercuts the tension and makes this a very straightforward battle. Director Antoine Fuqua has turned the story upside down, inside out. It's not the old "sword in the stone," just another "Troy." "King Arthur," in fact, has much in common with Brad Pitt's recent film. There's the lone wolf aspect, the forbidden love angle and the flaming arrow connection. Add in a bunch of "Lord of the Rings" warriors and it could be a clone from another century. If this film -- an expensive, expansive effort -- has something new to offer it's a battle scene shot on a sheet of ice. It's a clever way of luring the dreaded Saxons into the Romans' trap. It has great visuals and yet another one of those "shoot the arrow in the air" moments that rarely fails to impress. The rest of the film is pretty ho-hum. Arthur and Guin share a night of passion but most of it's off camera. Some of the knights get a few good laughs and Owen has an opportunity to show he can be the next Mel Gibson, given the right material. This, though, isn't the film that will push him over the edge. It's much too knight and not enough day to register. It's also one more version of the Arthur legend we didn't need to see. Rated PG-13, "King Arthur" features plenty of violence. On a scale of four stars, "King Arthur" gets: 2 stars

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