SYNOPSIS
After many years of war, King Arthur (Sean Connery) has finally brought peace to his kingdom. But Camelot is threatened from without by the vengeful Malagant (Ben Cross), who covets Arthur’s throne, and from within by the blossoming romance between the young Queen Guinevere (Julia Ormond) and the sell-sword Lancelot (Richard Gere).
CRITIQUE
As you’ve undoubtedly surmised from looking at the cast and story elements, First Knight is largely unfaithful to most established tenets of the Arthur legend. Much like 2004’s King Arthur, this movie co-opts a few characters and ideas simply for the sake of name recognition, then uses them in the service of generic plot. (There’s no Merlin, Morgana, or Mordrid here, nor is there a Lady of the Lake or quest for the Grail.)
This is simply an ill-conceived and revisionist period romance featuring characters who share their names with legendary characters. And while this movie isn’t the worst cinematic version of the Arthur legend (that would be the staggeringly silly Sword of the Valiant, which also starred Connery) or even the most boring (that honor still belongs to Camelot), it’s arguably the most inert. It goes nowhere and practically does nothing for most of its 134 minutes, wasting some handsome design work and Connery’s forceful performance. Those two aspects aside, the movie is largely worthless.
I have a feeling this project was doomed from the start. Director Jerry Zucker’s only previous solo gig was Ghost, the success of which allowed him (for a short time, anyway) to write his own ticket. But that doesn’t explain why anyone would be foolish enough to allow him to tackle a historical epic. This is the sort of material that requires a filmmaker with visual panache. (Yes, the scenery, costumes and some of the sets are often beautiful, but this has nothing to do with any effort on Zucker’s part.)
Things get even worse whenever a battle begins, as Zucker doesn’t know how to stage, shoot or edit action sequences. I’ve been a sucker for guys carrying swords, riding on horses and bashing each other’s brains out for much of my life (probably comes from seeing Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian back-to-back one night on cable when I was twelve), but not enough of a sucker to care about what happens here.
William Nicholson’s script is also a liability. Nicholson (who also had a hand in Gladiator) doesn’t make Malagant’s threat to Camelot seem real, and the romance is written as if the intended audience consisted solely of teenage girls and lonely housewives. The purple, flowery dialogue is often howlingly bad, and the only reason Guinevere and Lancelot fall for one another is because the plot requires them to. This is the Arthurian legend for the Harlequin Romance crowd, not for anyone who expects even a shred of believable human interaction or emotion.
But the movie’s most fatal flaw is Gere’s presence. The easy thing to do would be to liken his work here to that of Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but I think Gere is actually even worse (hard to believe, huh?). At least Costner attempted an accent, while Gere sounds as if he’s never even heard anyone from Britain; the Lancelot of legend arrived in Camelot by way of France, while Gere’s apparently arrived there by way of Indiana. (You know you’re in trouble when one of the first words out of a medieval knight’s mouth is “gonna.”)
Furthermore, putting him next to Connery only makes matters worse. Did anyone really expect him to old his own against the elder actor? Furthermore, the combination of Gere’s off-putting performance and Nicholson’s awkward take on the character (maybe it’s meant to be a deconstruction; if so, it was the wrong decision) make it hard to believe that even a scullery maid, much less the allegedly intelligent, headstrong queen of a country, would fall for him.
THE VIDEO
The 1.85:1/1080p looks more like a fairly good standard-def transfer than it does a high-def effort. Colors are generally strong, and black levels are fairly solid, but depth and detail are lacking in many shots. There’s also a good bit of digital noise in some scenes, and the level of grain is highly uneven.
THE AUDIO
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track (available in English, French, or Portuguese) is handcuffed by the elements of the original mix. Dialogue is uneven, with many lines exhibiting a canned quality; the low end exhibits a moderate oomph, but it doesn’t push quite as deep as it should. Surround action is the biggest problem: it’s been mixed at far too high a level, often overwhelming the fronts and center (this is most noticeable whenever Jerry Goldsmith’s excellent score begins to swell).
Additional sound tracks include Spanish and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as a Japanese Dolby 2.0 Surround track. Optional subtitles include English, English SDH, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese.
THE EXTRAS
The commentary by director Jerry Zucker and producer Hunt Lowry is a far more entertaining chat than the movie deserves. They give a warts-and-all discussion of the movie, covering the usual production details and also dissecting elements they don’t think quite work in the finished product. (Nice to see the past decade had provided them with at least some perspective.)
The commentary by Arthurian legend expert Corey Rushton is more akin to a boring lecture, as Rushton boringly discusses the origins of the Arthurian legend and its various permutations. (Given that plot bears little resemblance to any of the legends, a fact Rushton never really mentions, I’m a little puzzled as to why this track was even included.)
The Quest for Camelot: The Making of First Knight (20 minutes) is a vintage EPK making-of featurette. Expect the usual comments about what an enjoyable experience everyone had and how great the movie’s going to be.
In Shining Armor: Knights in Training (20 minutes) looks at weapons, armor, and fight choreography and training.
The included deleted scenes (7 minutes) are more often extended scenes. Regardless, though, there’s not much to them.
The Creation of a Kingdom (19 minutes) covers costume and production design, location work and sets.
FINAL THOUGHT
If you’re already a fan, then by all means have at it. I certainly can’t recommend First Knight to anyone else, though.
