Review: KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD is an Overly Ambitious Retelling

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is the latest film from director Guy Ritchie. Other than a couple trailers I’d seen, I didn’t know anything about this film going in, but I’m usually a fan of Ritchie’s work. I like his use of quick, witty dialogue and innovative action sequences. And boy, was there a lot of both in this movie!

King Arthur stars Charlie Hunnam as Arthur, a quick-witted Robin Hood type who was rescued and raised by prostitutes as a child after his evil uncle, King Vortigern (played by Jude Law) took control of the throne. A prophecy about Arthur returning and using the sword Excalibur (currently stuck in a stone, obviously) to vanquish him prompts the King to round up all the young men in the kingdom to have them try to remove the sword from the stone in order to remain one step ahead of his missing nephew. When it’s Arthur’s turn, to his surprise, he removes the sword, which tips off his uncle immediately and starts an uprising against the evil king. Now Arthur must decide whether to follow his destiny and stop his uncle, or to ignore it and go back to his old life on the streets.

The acting in this film is actually quite good. Jude Law is a fantastic villain, while Hunnam is witty and independent, but also loyal and likable. The supporting cast is great as well, including Djimon Hounsou and GoT’s Aiden Gillen. Ritchie has always done a great job with sharp dialogue, and there were several hilarious bits that had the whole audience laughing. But ultimately, this movie is kind of a mess.

While this is easily the most original King Arthur movie ever made, I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing. It felt like it was trying too hard to compete with the blockbuster superhero movies with grandiose special-effects and epic fights so fast-paced, I couldn’t tell what was going on most of the time. All that combined with a very unique soundtrack that stood out a little more than it blended in made this movie completely overwhelming.

For example, there was some eye roll-inducing cheese with the overuse of 3D arrows flying into the audience, as well as a moment when Arthur grabs Excalibur during an especially intense fight scene and the sword lights up with a swishing noise. There’s even a giant fiery skull guy that shows up a couple times when things really get intense. The only thing keeping it from going full old-school Soulcalibur was the lack of scantily-clad warrior women. Thank goodness.

I don’t have any problems with huge-scale fight scenes and impressive special effects, but this movie went overboard, while ignoring the true heart of the story. When I watch fantasy, I want fantasy! I mean, there weren’t even any dragons! A whole zoo’s worth of giant elephants, eagles, and snakes? You bet. Dragons? Not even a tiny baby one.

If you can wade through all the visuals and find a good story under all those jump-cuts and CGI animals without getting a headache, then you’ll probably really love this movie. I’m sure a lot of people will. But for me, it was all just too much.