The Kid Who Would Be King is a contemporary retelling of one of the most legendary stories of all time — King Arthur and the knights of the round table.
Things get mystical when London-school kid Alex, while fleeing a pair of bullies, stumbles across a medieval sword imbedded in a block of concrete at a construction site. Just as young Arthur did in the legendary tale, Alex draws the sword which is of course Excalibur.
From there on the fate of the world rests in his hands and those who become his fellow knights.
Alex is played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis the son of Andy Serkis who first made his name in the Lord of the Ring series.
Written and directed by Joe Cornish, the film has received well-earned reviews of which you can see samples of below.
JUDGEMENT
“Luckily, the film’s bright spots are pretty bright. A dialogue-light training montage — where Alex leads his team in sparring with sentient trees(!!) — is especially good, as is a nightmarish post-dream sequence involving a demonic skeleton knight (this scene brings to mind the original 1953 sci-fi chiller Invaders from Mars). Even a handful of key emotional scenes work, mostly because Cornish knows how to let his actors’ body language and facial expressions speak louder than anything that they’re verbally saying.” Simon Abrams, rogerebert.com
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“The likeable but much-teased Alex (Ashbourne Serkis) discovers an ancient blade on a local construction site, realises it’s Excalibur, and ends up embarking on a quest with his best friend and the bullies who have been making his life hell, the quartet slowly transforming into four pint-sized knights. Read that description, and it’s hard not to imagine a very silly comedy. But Cornish achieves a balance between laughs and earnestness, aided by a terrific performance from Serkis.” Nick De Semlyen, empireonline.com
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“You don’t hear much about chivalry these days; you hear about ‘toxic masculinity.’ But The Kid Who Would Be King is rife with chivalry usages. Because King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table were all about chivalry. And so, it would appear, is director Joe Cornish. Chivalry went way past laying your suit of armor across a mud puddle for a lady to step across. Oh yes! The code of chivalry was a law of conduct for knights, a moral system going beyond the rules of combat and horsemanship to embracing bravery, courtesy, justice, mercy, generosity, faith, hope, nobility, honor, and gallantry toward women. That’s good stuff. That’s stuff your kids should see, and embrace, and use once in a while, just to keep it alive.” Mark Jackson, Epoch Times
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“Now, finally, we get to luxuriate in the big-budget, studio-financed kiddie-friendly effects-filled Arthurian fantasy version of Brexit. No, really. Written and developed by Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) during the initial flowering of post-vote Brexit hostility, it addresses, whether by design or cultural osmosis, the nature of a country at war with itself. And it does so with affection, wit and buckets of charm.” Kevin Maher, The Times
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“They don’t make ’em like this anymore. In a world of hyperactive Avengers and Lego movies, The Kid Who Would Be King seems like a throwback to a simpler time. This earnest children’s adventure — written and directed by Joe Cornish, who also co-wrote Steven Spielberg’s Adventures of Tintin — is a gentle update of the King Arthur myth. It follows a bullied British schoolkid who pulls a sword from a stone and sets off with schoolmates on a quest to save humanity. Along the way they learn a few lessons, obviously.” Richard Trenholm, CNET
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“The Kid Who Would Be King has an uncommon ability to treat the conventions of big-screen fantasy with equal parts earnest seriousness and offbeat humor: Just when you think you’ve had your fill of swordplay and spell-casting, Cornish will spring a priceless tongue-in-cheek gag involving a Ren Faire souvenir shop. His story pays instinctive homage to popular ’80s adventures such as The Goonies and E.T. (Cornish was a co-writer on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin), but it is no less aware of some of the more imposing standard-bearers of its genre, from Harry Potter to The Lord of the Rings.” Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
