The Kid Who Would Be King Review
PG: Fantasy action violence, scary images, thematic elements including some bullying, and language
20th Century Fox, Working Title Films, Big Talk Productions
2 Hrs and 12 Minutes
Writer/Dir: Joe Cornish
Cast: Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Patrick Stewart, Angus Imrie, Dean Chaumoo, Rhianna Doris, Tom Taylor, Rebecca Ferguson, Denise Gough
Release Date: January 25th 2019
Every year you can expect a delightful family movie released in January that’ll take everyone by surprise. The Paddington films are a prime example of this. Director Joe Cornish is keeping that tradition alive with “The Kid Who Would Be King” which has no reason to be so impressive for such an early release.
Old-school magic meets the modern world when young Alex stumbles upon the mythical sword Excalibur. He soon joins forces with a band of knights and the legendary wizard Merlin when the wicked enchantress Morgana threatens the future of mankind.
One of the strongest aspects of The Kid Who Would Be King is its screenplay. From the get go, the movie lets you know that this is 100% a Joe Cornish movie. The film follows the familiar narrative structure of “the hero’s journey” used for adventure films popularized in (as even Alexander mentions in the film) Star Wars and Harry Potter. Yet, Cornish reinvigorates that structure with creativity and fun. Infused with enough humor to keep the film moving at a fast pace while never losing track of its story and message, Cornish claims his mark as an effective storyteller. While the film is based on a worn out mythological medieval legend that somehow no filmmaker can properly adapt (most recently Guy Ritchie and his disastrous King Arthur: Legend of the Sword), Cornish finds a way to reinvigorate the tale by adding a new spin to it for a contemporary age. As the narrative setting takes place in our modern day, it is expected to have some pop culture references thrown in for comic relief, but because of how the kids are written, it’s never distracting or makes you want to roll your eyes, for actual effort is put into the jokes rather than just a simple name drop.
Every character is given a distinct personality. For every worn out, cliched trope you see in family films, Cornish adds a little flavor to them through their dialect. What Joe Cornish accomplishes through his screenwriting is well-written characters who feel authentic to their age. One of the primary charms of his previous feature, Attack the Block, were the kids. They were ghetto, asshole street kids from the hoods of Britain, but they felt their age. Cornish doesn’t shy away from kids being kids, even down to how mean they are towards others. He doesn’t coddle his viewers from the reality that kids are mean to each other, and he knows how to develop them into well-written characters. It bears the same camaraderie Attack the Block has where Jodie Whittaker’s character is forced to assist John Boyega and his crew and they form an understanding in order to defeat the alien invasion.
The kids feel less like characters and more like people, especially the lead, Alexander, played by an incredibly charming Louis Ashbourne Serkis in his feature film debut. He provides a great performance that sells the movie. The camaraderie he has with his costars and the chemistry is strong. Since the story relies on his performance, he sells it all the way through similar to how Radcliffe did when he began the Harry Potter franchise.
A name that will become known after this film’s release is Angus Imrie who is the absolute showstopper of the film. He portrays Merlin who cloaks himself in a teenager’s body and is so over-the-top in the performance that it feels as if he was taken straight out of a Shakespearean theater play. Granted, that is his background. Not only does he perfectly fit the lighthearted tone of the film, but he is the root of the most hysterical highlighted sequences of the film. He has this hilarious running gag that always seems to land and it’s mostly thanks to his comedic timing. He’s like a young Mr. Bean in the making.
Then, you’ve got the style that adds another layer of unexpected cleverness. Cornish provides stylistic camerawork. If I was around 8-12 years old, this movie would’ve blown my mind.
Besides the well-written characterization of the characters and the story it tells, Cornish’s style is magnificent nearly on the same ranks as Paul King’s Paddington series. The visual effects are stunning, the camerawork is inventive and stylish, and the action sequences are spectacular. By the time the film reaches its climax, it truly becomes legendary in the eyes of a child. The movie even opens with an impressive animation sequence in the same comic pop art style as Spider-Man: Into Spider-Verse, but it utilizes 2D animation instead. I would never use this term because it’s a critic/cinema student cliche, but there is a *sigh* early Spielberg-esque aura surrounding the film. They don’t make family films like this anymore, and when they do they’re overly saccharine or sentimental. Besides providing an epic tale (bearing the running time of one, no less) for kids, there is fun to be had for the parents sitting with them as well. It delivers a fun trip for adults without having to cash in on their nostalgia (which is a major modern Hollywood trend). The amount of effort and creativity makes you feel like a kid again. Personally, The Kid Who Would Be King reminded me of Guillermo Del Toro’s animated Netflix series Trollhunters where it played upon the King Arthur mythology but delivered a mature and exciting tale that was meaningful and action-packed.
Usually family films are relatively short. The Kid Who Would Be King is an epic tale for kids, so much so that it bears a running time of 132 minutes. While I do believe kids deserve an epic, larger-than-life film that is worth the journey, similar to your regular Lord of the Rings, the film runs on a tad bit too long. It moves at a fast pace but there some lulls and kids tend to have rather short attention spans. While I believe it could’ve been condensed to be about 20 minutes shorter, for kids might get lost in the placement of the story, it still packs an enjoyable ride. Plus, I’m glad this is a one-and-done story instead of being the first installment in a franchise, which is a thing that Fox has a tendency of doing to their properties. Thankfully, this is a director’s passion project, not just a studio movie, and it shows in the most triumphant results.
Joe Cornish’s sophomore feature, The Kid Who Would Be King is a refreshingly clever and stylish family adventure that provides an epic story for the young and young at heart. Truly an instant classic family film, not just for all ages, but for the ages as well.
Rating: 4/5 | 81%
Super Scene: Making knights out of middle schoolers.
