★ 4 / 10
Empty watch, probably won't watch again, and can't
Kamurai
Empty watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend. This movie is a good example of Warner Bros' desperate desire to be like Disney instead of doing…
Empty watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend.
This movie is a good example of Warner Bros' desperate desire to be like Disney instead of doing their own thing when it comes to animation. It even looks like they lifted a character directly out of "Alice in Wonderland", and maybe there was a legal loophole they had , but it was really unnecessary.
Honestly, most of the premise is a lot of nonsense, and I don't mean to dash dreams and lose the fancy of imaginative creation, but it's not even just fun. They took one of the few popular free stories (King Arthur) that Disney hadn't monopolized ("Sword in the Stone" only covers Arthur as a child, and this is after Camelot was realized), and then added so much magical guff to it that it was hardly recognizable as a version of the original story. This is not a "King Arthur and his Knights" story, it's a Kayley, and you don't know who that is because they made her up.
Even Cary Elwes (Princess Bride: The Man in Black), by far the best actor / character in the movie, seems to have impatient disdain for having to perform the role, and he's probably the 3rd most occurring character.
A knight that Arthur never would have made a knight, that the audience doesn't know, traitors the crown (when Lancelot did it, it was impactful) and kills a knight, that the audience doesn't know or care about, so the main character is launch into adventure on a basis that the audience objectively doesn't care about, and that adventure is further preluded with a Griffon dropping Excaliber into a cursed wood (which would have normally been represented by Merlin and/or the Woad), and having some magic would be fine, but they basically rip off the "Fire Swamp" from "Princess Bride" and add in all these questionably real people with weapons for hands.
Everything I just wrote sounds insane, and that's without the guide being blind or there being a 2-headed dragon that hates itselves.
I'm tired, and you should skip this unless you just have to see the train wreck.
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★ 6 / 10
Enjoyable but flawed Arthurian Adventure
FilmFlaneur
This is a film that I have watched several times now with the kids and find myself enjoying it more each time. Previous comments have compared it unfavourably…
This is a film that I have watched several times now with the kids and find myself enjoying it more each time. Previous comments have compared it unfavourably to Disney but this seems unfair - it is clearly a separate product, darker and more cynical than the works of that other company. The song by dragons Devon and Cornwall - 'Without You'- stands in stark contrast to, say, the sentiments of 'You and Me Together' in Disney's Oliver and Company. Neither could I imagine Ruber, with his particular vein of sarcastic villainy, appearing in the products of that more family centred studio.The weakest individual moment, for me at least, is anachronistic. Devon and Cornwall sing about their mutual hostility, and their song is animated with some twentieth century props and in-jokes. This is a jarring note in a film which otherwise tries to maintain some sort of historical integrity. It is funny but creates a disruption that is hard to forget. (More acceptable is the 'Do you feel clucky?' line later on)There has been some criticism of the animation quality, and it does seem to vary. Some of the movements of animals, in particular, seem jumpy at a distance. However balancing out these weaknesses are such scenes as the evocation of a cold morning, when Kayley hears of her father's death, and Ruber's splendid witchcraft scene.Overall the film suffers from being underwritten - one wishes more time was taken in filling out character and incident before the final attack on Camelot. Cayley and Garrett fall in love too easily, while Devon and Cornwall (delightfully witty and charming creations) have too little to do. And what happens to Merlin? He's reduced to flying a bird. It's a shame as other supporting characters, like the Gryphon and the axe chicken are very well judged, and completely memorable. More unforgivable is the character of King Arthur, who is just bland.On the plus side, this is still a good film, utterly free of pretension. Ruber's magical creation of his henchman is a highlight, a demoniac sequence that is quite thrilling, a brilliant musical set piece that moves the plot forward, sparking huge suspense. His creations are delightfully original in themselves, frightening and intriguing in equal measure. Watching it again I was reminded of how little of this quality of real wonder appears in another non-Disney animation, Prince of Egypt - a much more favourably received work, and far more earnest in tone.This Arthurian adventure can be quite revealing in comparison when taken this as an unofficial sequel to The Sword in The Stone, throwing stereotypical Disney values and methods into greater relief. In its own right it is very enjoyable in any case, although it could have been even better with some extended work on the script.
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Eric Idle all the way