Written by David Franzoni, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed Antoine Fuqua, King Arthur is the epic tale of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Franzoni creates a different and more realistic story in comparison to the well known fairytale. He bases this legend on more factual content as apposed to the glorified fable of a king, a queen, a few nights and a wizard. From the start of the movie the story is set with a quick history lesson. We learn of ancient Rome’s conquest over Britain. The story begins 1000 years before King Arthur’s legend and sets the scene on how Arthur and his knights came to be in Britain and how the fight unfolded to set Brittan free, both from the Romans and then the invading Saxons.
Arthur was half Roman himself, born to nobility. His nights were the result of a lost battle 1000 years before between the Romans and the Sarmations, of which the Sarmations lost. The Romans were so impressed with their fighting skills that they enlisted the survivors into the Roman army. However the sons of the sons of the sons of these survivors were destined to be taken by the Romans as payment for their compassion to the Sarmantions that fateful day. The story moves on fifteen years to the era of Arthur and sir Lancelot. Arthur is not yet a king and he rides with his knights protecting the Roman territories in Britain. We meet these characters when they ride to rescue a roman bishop from an army of native British warriors. These warriors resent the invading Romans and embark on an epic struggle to regain back ownership of their lands. Franzoni portrays Arthur as a knight with a loyal yet misguided allegiance with Rome. Arthur believes in the idealistic Rome of fifteen years ago, unaware of its recent change in religious and political status. Because of this Arthur and his nights do battle to protect the Roman families who live in Britain. However Arthur learns that his dream of Rome is just that, no more than a dream and the real Rome was less than glorious. It is when he saves Genevieve that Arthur reassesses his believes and as a result starts to allie himself with the warriors who he once fort and killed to set Britain free. Genevieve plays an important roll in convincing Arthur of his destiny and in some ways is portrayed more of a heroine in this tale. She is far from defenceless and openly fights with her army in battles. She is portrayed with keen fighting skills as well as high intelligence. Merlin is far from recognisable in this tale. He plays more of a witch doctor roll within the warrior tribe. You do however get the since that he foresaw all of what was to happen to Brittan and her people and that he wheedled his had in manipulating the outcome of events. I particularly liked that Franzoni portrays him more of a leader than a mere wizardly influence.

Rating: 8