Rent The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

Ok Children's fantasy Film - The Kid Who Would Be King review by GI

A gateway film for youngsters into perhaps more adult fantasy and probably the sort of fantasy story that is really appealing to young teenagers who have been exposed to Tolkien and Harry Potter. This lacks the originality and the energy of director Joe Cornish' previous film, Attack The Block (2011) but does have its moments of horror although after awhile the nasties are all a bit boring. This is the story of Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), a bullied schoolboy living with his mum in a Britain undergoing some international tensions. One evening he finds a sword buried in a block of stone and is then visited by a strange teenager who tells him he is descended from King Arthur and must start to prepare to fight the evil Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) who is soon to rise from the Underworld. The sword is Excalibur, the stranger is Merlin (Angus Imrie) and there's magic, evil dead knights, etc etc. You can see the influence of John Boorman's Excalibur (1981) and the various fantasy franchises of recent years and simply put this is a group of kids who are given some magical powers and have to save the world (or in this case their school) from an evil queen. There's some vague themes about bullies and the children being the future of the world but its all a bit undercooked and routine. Ferguson is the best thing in the film but woefully underused and Patrick Stewart has a cameo. Kids will love it though.

Not sure why I hired this........... - The Kid Who Would Be King review by BE

From the perspective of a ten year old, I should think this film would be very enjoyable. It appears to have everything that would keep a pre-teenager occupied and attentive. A well trodden storyline but probably quite fresh to younger movie watchers. From the perspective of a more seasoned movie goer - seen it all before!  

A film that's very definitely for kids - The Kid Who Would Be King review by BG

Having enjoyed Joe Cornish's 'Attack the Block' and been wowed by the trailer for this movie, I decided to give 'The Kid Who Would Be King' a whirl.

The plot is pretty straightforward kid's wish-fulfilment stuff: - bullied kid discovers that he may well be the saviour of mankind, and has to unite friends and enemies to defeat a monstrous threat. It's standard stuff from the family movie playbook, but with the enticing hook that Rebecca Fergusson is the evil witch Morgana, confined beneath the earth but threatening to rise and destroy everything if left unopposed...

Unfortunately those hoping for the same levels of charisma, cheek and charm that were on display in 'Attack the Block' may be sorely disappointed. While many of those actors were able to give performances of surprising range and depth against a backdrop of genuine danger, the tone here is much less serious (think the 'Narnia' films) and the performers all give much more of a typical 'British kids from stage-school' performance; more formal, stiffer, and all coming across as a bit too plummy and upper-class despite the script's constant efforts to suggest that they're attending a slightly rough school and have hard lives. Louis Ashbourne Serkis is likeable as the lead ('Alex'), especially considering that he has to shoulder a great deal of the scenes, but unfortunately neither he nor the other kids ever quite convince, always looking like someone has just called 'ACTION!' off camera, or like they've been waiting to 'perform'. The impression isn't helped by badly written and stilted dialogue, and incredibly unconvincing violence where the bullying and fights almost always consist of someone just getting shoved over. Admittedly this is a film tailored for families and kids so you don't expect somebody to whip out the knuckle-dusters, but it's less intense and less convincing than movies made in the '80s, and that should be telling us something...

Rebecca Fergusson is almost entirely wasted as Morgana, getting barely any genuine time to menace anybody before being replaced with an occasionally-iffy special effect, while Patrick Stewart feels oddly miscast as the older Merlin.

Thankfully Angus Imrie brings a performance of such excess and absurdity as the younger Merlin (including intentionally hilarious and disastrous attempts to fit in at school) that he saves many of the scenes he's in. Similarly excellent are the special effects involving Morgana's fiery minions; burning skeletal warriors who are often on horseback and convey a sense of genuine threat.

The film also makes a very brave, original and extremely mature attempt to confront a particular trope about absent fathers, and scores a serious home-run for not veering away from it.

However, these plusses struggle in the face of hammy acting, poor dialogue, and a climax that veers between 'awesome if you're a kid' and 'cringeworthy if you're an adult'. It may be that this is one of those films that loses points if you're no longer still at school. Unfortunately it suffers greatly in comparison to 'Attack the Block', and is probably best left to an audience that's the same age as the protagonists.