MONSTERS AT THE MOVIES
The Kid Who Would Be King reviewed by Nick Spake • grade: B
The Kid Who Would Be King is a modern take on the Arthurian legend, although it has more in common with Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. Of course, both of those young adult franchises were clearly influenced by the story of King Arthur. In that sense, you could argue that Joe Cornish’s movie brings matters full circle. That’s not to say this is the first film to combine Camelot and contemporary times. We’ve seen this done before in A Kid in King Arthur’s Court and Avalon High, although neither of those films set the bar especially high. As far as family-friendly versions of the Arthurian legend go, The Kind Who Would Be King is one of the better ones, even if it doesn’t reach the heights of Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. Andy Serkis broke out as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he passes the torch to his youngest son in this fantasy adventure. Louis Ashbourne Serkis plays Alex Elliot, an everyday lad who spends his days talking about magic with his best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) while dodging a couple bullies named Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris). If you’re up to date on the King Arthur mythos, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that these four are destined to become the new Knights of the Round Table. Upon pulling Excalibur out of a construction site, Alex is paid a visit from the one and only Merlin, who informs him that the evil Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) is set to return in the wake of humanity’s darkest hour. Having previously directed Attack the Block and cowritten Ant-Man, Cornish does a solid job at balancing effects and humor. The most amusing character in the film is Merlin, who looks like Patrick Stewart 52
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back in his heyday. Since the wizard ages backwards like Benjamin Button, though, he appears to Alex as a teenager played by Angus Imrie, who talks like a “D&D” fan who takes his role as Dungeon Master extremely seriously. That’s perhaps the best way to describe the film: goofy while still having an element of gravitas. At times it’s even reminiscent of ‘80s
