Ali Plumb reviews The Kid Who Would Be King

A film with a big heart that means well

Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) is having a typically tough time at school: he and his best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) are being picked on by bigger kids, namely Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Dorris). Things start to change, however, when Alex discovers – whatdayaknow? – the fabled sword of King Arthur, Excalibur, buried in a concrete pillar on a building site. Swiftly removing it from its stone sheath, Alex becomes… The Kid Who Would Be King, going on an adventure across Britain to save the world from the evil Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) with the help of his friends and some guys called Merlin (played, magically, by both Angus Imrie and Sir Patrick Stewart).

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Pros:

Now here’s a film with a big heart that means well. Here’s a film that wants to inspire and encourage, a film that wants you to walk out believing you can make a difference in a world that’s less than ideal. One of the best things about The Kid Who Would Be King is that it doesn’t patronise a young audience by saying “Everything is pretty great”, instead it acknowledges the fear and anxiety that plagues us all right now.

One of the movie’s neatest ideas is making Merlin both young (Angus Imrie) and, after a sneeze, old (Patrick Stewart), playing with a relatively unknown part of Arthurian lore. This allows for a few neat gags, and Imrie’s infectious personality is let loose over a screen that desperately needs a bit of oomph. Here’s a gang of sombre kids, challenged with saving the world, who don’t get along that well, stressed out beyond belief: thank the lord there’s a fast-talking ancient sorcerer who can turn into an owl, eh?

This is an old school kids’ adventure, a traditional family fantasy film that will remind you of ‘80s Amblin adventure movies, and one that is not going to offend – though the pretty sharp-looking ghostly knights may spook a few of the younger viewers. A tip of the cap to the VFX department though, as the visuals are on point when it comes to the bad guys.

Cons:

Frankly, TKWWBK needs more wit and zip and energy and ideas. It’s all fine, but you want more jokes, more colour, more speed. There's a scene where our four leads walk into a foggy sea, arguing with each other, bickering away, and you desperately want to be back fighting monstrous flaming undead knights. You just want it to be more… fun.

Similarly, the characters are a little flat (aside from our double-trouble version of Merlin, who steals every scene, of course). They all feels a little too normal, which I guess is the point in terms of inspiring young ‘uns to reach higher and do well, but there’s a big part of you that wants more edge, more spikiness, more… verve, I guess. Everyone is all too earnest and real.

Quite how this ended up being two-hours long is pretty staggering. To justify that sort of length, it needs to have done so much more and said so much more, and it just doesn’t deliver enough, outstaying its welcome with a good half hour still to go.

Three word review: Okay, I guess.