The King (2019)

OK Historical Drama - The King review by GI

This big sprawling historical epic links aspects of Shakespeare's lyrical play with real history and manages to create a rather tawdry film in the process. A shame really because Timothée Chalmet's performance as the reluctant King Henry V is rather good. So here we have a young Henry or Hal to his mates spending his time drinking and whoring with his drunkard of a friend Falstaff (Joel Edgerton as a sort of Little John figure) - Falstaff is a direct lift from Shakespeare as he didn't really exist. His father Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn in a nice cameo) disinherits him but Henry comes to the throne in any event and is then faced with treachery and political intrigue and forced into a war with France which culminates in the Battle of Agincourt. The final battle is a little anti-climactic although it does stick as close as possible to how the real battle went although it lessens the mythological impact of the longbow's decisive use. Indeed the battle scenes are very reminiscent of The Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones, a strong influence on the film as a whole. Overall this is a bit too long, has many things going for it but ultimately it's disappointing,