The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

Where to start... Based on the trailers (and the fact that it's Arthurian-related!), I had been really looking forward to seeing The Kid Who Would Be King last winter, except it came and went in the cinema so fast I missed out on my chance. And now I'm kind of glad I didn't see it because owww... I don't know if it was because I wasn't in the right mind frame when I watched it last night (and half asleep), or I've finally outgrown kids' movies (boo!) or it's just not that good? I will say that the lead kids themselves were pretty good with their roles, and fit well together as duos and then the team. Particularly Louis Ashbourne Serkis, whose Alex is a fitting stand in for a young King Arthur.

For me the reference points from previous Arthurian tales for this movie are clearly T.H. White's The Once and Future King, or for the kids watching but who haven't read it Disney's The Sword in the Stone, and also the film A Kid in King Arthur's Court (for the mix of medieval and modern warfare tactics, but in the present instead of the past). You could imagine it as a centuries-later sequel to the animated film. It even starts out with an animated retelling of the main points of the Arthurian legend - with an added level of fantasy with a stronger and more evil sorceress Morgana who swears to return to claim the land once Arthur is gone and no longer remembered and basically the world has gone to shit (wars, famine, greed etc. in abundance - so basically present day).

Obviously, spoilers below!

So the time is ripe for Morgana's return, which means it's time for Excalibur's return as well. To be found and claimed by a 12 year old boy named Alexander who is as heroic as a 12 year old can be (defending his best friend Bedders from bullies Lance and Kaye - see what they did with the names? 😉). Merlin (who apparently ages backwards and so now is a teenage boy who occasionally changes into Patrick Stewart when he sneezes, and other times into an owl) guides them on their way, they somehow (magic?) get the head teacher to help recruit all their classmates as soldiers and they fight off Morgana and her undead knights and win the day.

Alex is a cool kid, I can see how the movie is meant to be inspirational for the appropriate age audience, although it's often a bit too on the nose with its messages, like they're underestimating children's intelligence... I like how they made Kaye a girl, and both her and Lance's move from bullies to heroes seems realistic (it's not all at once, they screw up a bit before they fully change). And to explain how all the adults are oblivious to what's going on (otherwise how could you justify a group of kids taking this on?), well apparently the only people who can see Morgana and her knights are Alex, as the wielder of Excalibur, and anyone he has knighted (cue funny moment when he's knighting every last one of his schoolmates 😜).

How about if someone who's seen it with kids tells me how they liked it?

Elements from Arthurian Legend

• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (as narrated in the beginning animated section)
• Morgana, still the evil half-sister who thinks she should be Uther's heir, even more magical this time around
• Excalibur, definitely a magical sword, as it appears when needed and warns of enemies' arrival. And of course starts off in a stone, and only the one who is worthy can pull it out.
• Merlin, who reappears at the same time as the sword, to guide the person who wields it. Younger than one is used to seeing him because he ages backwards?! But "old" Merlin does make an appearance from time to time. Expert at giving somewhat cryptic advice.
• Alex is a stand in for a young King Arthur, who tries to do what's right by his friends (and also grew up fatherless)
• The modern version of his key knights are his friend and enemies Bedders (i.e. Bedivere), Lance (i.e. Lancelot) and Kaye (i.e. foster brother Kay)