I've been learning about the evolution of the legend(s) of King Arthur, and to this end I decided to watch a couple of recent movies centered on him. I just finished the 2004 film
King Arthur, which has been marketed as an "historical" and "demystified" take on the character. Indeed, it is
demystified in that there is no magic whatsoever depicted in the movie. And it does set Arthur in the correct historical period from whence the Arthur legend originated, namely the late 5th to early 6th century, as opposed to the high Middle Ages as he usually shown. But on the whole there is not a lot in the movie that could be considered historically accurate.
In the film, Arthur is a "Roman knight" on the verge of retirement, and the story line is devoted to battle and political intrigue. Several characters have the same names as those in the traditional Arthurian stories, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends. Although not a terrible movie, by abandoning the fantasy elements of the legend,
it's just not much fun. I watched it on Hulu, but it's not there anymore.
6/10
Next up,
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which should be the virtual opposite of the 2004 movie.
