The Kid Who Would Be King

“There's something written on the guard. Put it into Google Translate.”

Filmology Rating: 2.5 out of 4

The Kid Who Would Be King is another stab at this King Arthur thing. It stars Andy Serkis' son, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, and a bunch of other forgettable children as Alex (Serkis) realizes he is of worthy inheritance of Excalibur, King Arthur's Sword. He must assemble his Round Table of children to defeat Morgana, a plot device to give our hero something to do. Patrick Stewart shows up in his bath robe for four scenes and collects his paycheck.

There is really nothing wrong with this movie. It is a serviceable, cute children's film for all under the age of 8. Personally, I found the experience tedious to a point where I actually began to enjoy it's ridiculousness. However, it would be very wrong for me to say that this is not an enjoyable, good film for children.

Most of the children actors were forgettable, however, Angus Imrie (Young Merlin) was actually a lot of fun. There is an excuse in the script to have Merlin be a kid because the production couldn't afford Patrick Stewart for more than a day, so Angus Imrie portrays Young Merlin who really amped up the ridiculousness of the film and made me somewhat enjoy it. Overall, he could slice some good ham (meaning he was purposely overacting for the sake of entertainment). From a story and character standpoint, it's fine. Characters have motivation and an arc and one scene leads into the next; there is no fat here. It's a competent film, but it simply was not for me. I found it boring and long.

There is actually a theme throughout the film that a nobody can be a somebody, which was great. I am sure younger, younger audiences will love the film. However, if you are above the age of 13, you are not the target audience.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan