King Arthur

The summer blockbuster season gets one of its more boring entries with King Arthur, a strange dullard of a film. By taking the magic and wizardry out of the story—in much the same way that Wolgang Petersen brought Troy down to Earth—director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) has managed to turn the engaging legend into a morose Braveheart rip-off. Yes, it’s a nifty idea to take the legend and base it on something allegedly more historical, but director and crew have come up with something that makes one yearn for the magic in those old tales. The wizard Merlin is reduced to some cranky, forlorn rebel leader scampering around in the woods; the Knights of the Round Table are a bunch of indistinguishable actors that are either too whiny or too boorish to give a damn about; Guinevere is super hot in the form of Keira Knightley, but even she is directed with a somber, uninspiring tone; and Clive Owen, as King Arthur, makes for a rather unenthusiastic, uninspiring action hero.