The Kid Who Would Be King Review

The legendary King of the Britons and the myths surrounding him have seen many iterations in popular culture. The Kid Who Would Be King is a modernised version of the legends in a delightful package for children.

A long time ago Britain was a divided land that was only united when Arthur Pendragon pulls out Excalibur from the stone. With his enemies turned allies Arthur was able to defeat his power-hungry sister, Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) – but she promises to return when the lands of men are divided once more.

Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) is a 12-year-old boy living in modern day London with his single mother (Denise Gough). Alex discovers the sword on a building site and is told by Merlin (Angus Imrie) he only has four days to find a way to defeat Morgana and her army of the undead.

The Kid Who Would Be King was written and directed by Joe Cornish, the director of Attack the Block. This was unexpected because Attack the Block was a horror-comedy geared towards teens and adults and after making that film Cornish became an in-demand director. He was linked to the fifth Die Hard film and Star Trek Beyond. Yet he took the bold step to make something original (or as original as one can be with a King Arthur story).

There are some similarities between Attack the Block and The Kid Who Would Be King. Both stories focus on young Londoners from modest backgrounds who are thrown into an extraordinary situation. One focused on space monster, the other being a fantasy tale. Both have similar building materials but are constructed differently.

Recent attempts of Arthurian Tales have failed miserably. Starz’ Camelot was cancelled after one season and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword was a massive box-office bomb. Even The Kid Who Would Be King flopped in the United States. The theory why the film flopped was because it so British but foreign audiences loved Harry Potter and Paddington because of their Britishness. It was probably due to the King Arthur property not being a big draw. It would have been wiser to release the film in Europe first and built up a buzz before going Stateside.

Despite the modern setting The Kid Who Would Be King is an old-fashioned adventure. It could have easily have been made in the 1980s. It was about a group of kids who dislike each other having to go on a journey together. They all learn and change during their quest and become friends on the way. Like a Spielbergian film the father is absent in some way and it affects Alex. He is not just looking for a way to stop the big bad guy, he is also searching for his father and makes the quest more personal.

As expected from this type of film it has strong visual effects and decent action scenes. Morgana’s army had a strong design – they were basically flaming skeletons in armour. They can only appear at night so they were particularly striking when they appeared. There are four major action sequences in the film – the most important being the car chase and the final battle.

The other major feature of the film was the humour – it was consistently funny. Angus Imrie was a terrific find as Merlin and he had some of the funniest lines. His character has no concept of embarrassment so made himself look foolish. Imrie otherworldly performance was similar to Matt Smith’s version of The Doctor. Both played characters who were older than they really looked, alien and had some strange cravings. Imrie could be a good candidate to play The Doctor in the future. Patrick Stewart also played the role and he added a bit more gravitas to the film – he appeared to give a dire warning or motivation for the characters.

There are some issues with the film. The biggest was the villain where Rebecca Ferguson was wasted. She was a generic fantasy villain without any depth, nor was menacing enough. She was no Sauron or Lord Voldemort. The other issue was the film was slower-paced than other family films. 10-to-15 minutes could have been trimmed to help make the film a leaner package.

The Kid Who Would Be King is a solid family film for children, being the right mix of fantasy, comedy and positive message. Whilst it might have not done well at the box-office in America it deserves a second life upon the home release.