Okay Curious Ones, this isn’t a review about a book, but I HAVE to get it off my chest…It’s about the movie, The Kid Who Would Be King. I have to begin by saying that I am a HUGE fan of the Merlin and Arthurian legends; borderline nerd. Saying that, I’m not the kind of person who will fight someone about it either.
The point of the legend, in my opinion, is to encourage equality, friendship, determination, kindness and compassion. I rarely run into a version where I have really big problems with creative liberty, so when I saw a new film coming out called The Kid Who Would Be King, I was elated. Finally, a modern-day version of King Arthur that could have limitless possibilities. Oh, man was I wrong!
If you make it through this whole Curiosity, I will conclude it with the suggestion of a novel that I consider a personal favorite and a must-read for any fantasy enthusiast.
The Good
Let me start by talking about what I loved. First, I loved that the main kid, Alex, didn’t actually descend from the Pendragon line. It is a perfect reflection to state that you don’t have to come from greatness to achieve greatness. It was saying that anyone, anywhere in the world could be kind, uplifting, and all-around good; just as King Arthur and his Knights were.
The message of anyone achieving goodness, no matter their last name or upbringing has kind of been lost and Alex drawing Excalibur based off his merits and inner beliefs instead of his bloodline is more powerful. You don’t have to be a descendant from a special lineage; either good or bad, to be good or bad.
I hope that made sense because it was an important moment in The Kid Who Would Be King that was kind of just glossed over in one line.
The other aspect I really enjoyed was the evil sorceress Morgana. It was wonderful that they kept one of the two original baddies from the legends and I think Morgana was a better pick than Mordred. So, good news-bad news. Good news is, she was one hell of an amazing baddie and was played by a personal favorite, Rebecca Ferguson.
The sparse moments she had screen-time you actually believed what was going on. She turned into a humanoid wyvern and brought ancient knights back to life on horses made of ash and fire. She was amazing!
Bad news, she barely had any screen-time!
She is this all-powerful evil sorceress that King Arthur, wielding Excalibur with the help of Merlin couldn’t even kill, and yet, some twelve-year-old boy with three twelve to fifteen-year-old friends (two of which weren’t even friends, they were bullies! I will get back to this thread in a moment) defeated in two battles? I mean, really???! Morgana is one of the first evil antagonists in the history of antagonists and she was defeated by a twelve-year-old?
On to the Bad of The Kid Who Would Be King
So, that was the stuff I liked. Let me now tell you what I didn’t like. I apologize now if it gets a little scatter brained and all over the place, but hopefully you can keep it straight.
You all understand now, that this is a reproduction of the King Arthur legend, so before I dig into the film storyline, I HAVE to address the sword, Excalibur. The sword is a mystic item that helps the king become even greater by increasing strength, agility, and compassion. It is a beautiful, old, magical and powerful sword, by all accounts. So, tell me why, in this case, the sword is depicted as an extremely simple, plain sword with a glowing orb in the center. I can take in the simple, plain sword because a magical sword looking ordinary is a magic in itself, but the glowing gem in the middle of the hilt?
Excalibur, like I said before, is a mystical, magical item that helps guide Arthur. It adds strength and helps him know where to go and how to do what he needs to do to bring the land complete peace. It doesn’t flash when you need to know what tunnel to take to find the evil sorceress you are hunting. It doesn’t even tell you where to go. It is an extension of your soul; something that gives you a feeling of knowing where to go or what to do. I can easily compare Excalibur in The Boy Who Would Be King to a video game weapon where the faster it beeps the closer you are to your enemy. That isn’t anything special! Anyone can see where the sword is telling you to go and it reduces the magic of the sword.
The whole point of the sword was glossed over to strictly giving the boy Alex the confidence to realize he was a good person who can achieve greatness simply because he could pull it from the stone – or concrete slab in this film – and that is extremely disappointing! It was cheapened to a level of something I am struggling to explain when it should have been fully encompassed by the film and the boy who draws it from its resting place. Seriously, I can accept many things in Arthurian legends, but making the sword comparable to a toy is beyond what I can accept.
In the Beginning…
Okay, it’s not enough said about the poor depiction of the great Excalibur who is the center of entire legends itself, but I must move on before I lose your curiosity.
In the beginning of The Kid Who Would Be King, we are introduced with a flashback showing King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table not defeating Morgana, but trapping her in a tree until a time of evil resurfaces and she gains her strength back. I enjoyed that part. I tend to be partial to flashbacks anyways, but it was realistic in a way that they couldn’t eradicate her influence and existence and her being tied to a tree was a beautiful allegory. The symbol and importance of trees are all over the mysticism of the Arthurian legends, so it was very fitting.
Then you are shown how the world has deteriorated, evil is growing, and mankind has ruined itself. I actually enjoyed that we brought on our own downfall; a heavy message for the movie that helped you settle into the universe it created more easily because it is truly what is happening today.
Naturally, it is filmed and set in England so it helps keep you more connected. I mean, you can’t easily have a two-hour film based off an ancient story set solely in medieval Britain and expect viewers to love an American or Asian or Latin setting/cast. It could easily cause a disconnect so I was happy it was set in the original world.
You are introduced to this kid named Alex. He goes to school and finds his best friend Bedders getting bullied by two slightly older kids, Lance and Kaye. Bedders is Alex’s only friend and he isn’t confident in himself, which is what causes the bullying. It appears that they all go to what I think is a private school – I am not too well-versed in the education system of London – and I think it is worth mentioning that Alex’s mom is kind and generous and his father is no longer in the picture. I felt this was a good, solid set-up…
Figuring Things out In Time-Travel Speed
Except that while running and hiding from the bullies because he defended his best friend, he finds a sword in stone, pulls it out, takes it home and invites Bedders over. They do a Google Search to translate the inscription on the hilt, and decide it is the Excalibur of legend and he must be the reincarnation of King Arthur. He even “knighted” his best friend. Seriously Curious One. That’s what happened. I mean…
COME ON! REALLY?! You find a random sword and within an hour of inspection and fact-searching, you believe you may be reincarnation of one of the greatest legends ever documented?
Meanwhile, the sword appearing and being drawn from the concrete slab wakes Morgana in her tunnel of darkness, Merlin appears in Stonehenge and so begins the adventure.
So, with the simplest of Google searching, these kids believe it is Excalibur. Yet, when new kid Mertin comes and declares he is Merlin and that the kid is in fact, the new king, they don’t believe him?
You believe because a stone with a sword in it that you found in the middle of an abandoned lot when you were running from bullies is the real sword Excalibur, but you don’t believe a strange kid doing magic and declaring he is Merlin? I mean, you never had real evidence that you were a reincarnation, but you believed it and yet you get shown real evidence of the possibility and suddenly you want to put the sword back and not believe in what is happening?
Let me repeat, they are twelve!
So, he spends some time with Mertin/Merlin, getting convinced that this is all real and happening and the sword chose him, and blah, blah, blah, when he does something that makes no sense. He asks two other kids to join him as knights. Remember those two bullies I was talking about earlier, Lance and Kaye? Yeah, you guessed it, he asks them! Why? “Because you are the strongest people I know…” Oh…my…goodness… seriously????!!!!!
Knights of the Round Table are based off complete goodness and kindness, which was encouraged by Arthur’s own goodness and compassion and that was half the reason why the lands prospered under his rule like no other time before or since! Yet this kid, Alex, who doesn’t even REALLY believe in what is happening chooses the kids who bully him and Bedders at their school? I still don’t understand it, not one bit.
Four Days because of the Four Chivalric Codes?
Anyways…
The Kid Who Would Be King continues and Merlin has a moment where he expressed that he thought he had four years until the lunar event where Morgana will return at full strength, not four days. This is Merlin here, not some juvenile, half-wizard, but the real Merlin from the time of Arthur and he doesn’t realize that he only has four days? Why the number four?
I feel that was more important that it was expressed in the movie and I wanted to know more about that information which was glossed over. Alas, we will move on from this and go to the point where the Knight’s Chivalric Code is introduced. I enjoyed the code. It made sense in a simple, twelve-year-old way. I suppose.
The Chivalric Code goes as follows:
Honor Those You Love – A knight shows gratitude and admiration for the people in their community.
Refrain From Wanton Offense – A knight must only use his/her strength for good through acts of chivalry and kindness.
Speak the Truth At All Times – A knight never tells a lie and is a truth worthy and reliable member of the community.
Persevere in Any Enterprise Until the End – A knight never quits, even when it’s tough they follow through until the end…
Except that they are twelve years old in this version and even in medieval times human were humans and not any one person is wholly good or wholly bad. We all have good moments and bad moments. I don’t know about you, but I have had bad or negative thoughts, even though I feel I am a good person. Bad things happen and people can’t always only see the best. You get glimpses of evil every day and to make a code that says “if broken ever, even once, your quest has failed before you even begin” is a little dramatic, don’t you think?
Especially for a twelve-year-old. At twelve, you don’t even know what your favorite food is, let alone having the ability to follow a code where if you don’t follow it the whole time, the world will literally be consumed by an ancient evil sorceress.
Suffice it to say, picking two bullies and your best friend as your top knights and then going on a quest to find your long-lost, estranged father halfway across the land of Great Britain by themselves, at twelve, and not lie to their parent’s about what and where and with whom they are doing this quest with is honestly really unbelievable.
The Chivalric Code was made in this movie to help young kids growing into adults realize that goodness and kindness and not lying and being altogether a considerate person is more fulfilling than being rude, being a bully, lying, and quitting. I love the message, but to expect a band of twelve-year-old’s on a quest who are already doing/breaking all aforementioned pieces of the code is just…. I am bothered by it, as you can easily tell.
Back to the storyline…
Merlin tells Alex that he and his new knights must find Morgana’s lair, so Alex convinces Bedders, Lance and Kaye to go with him to Tintagel. I LOVE that they went to Tintagel, but it doesn’t make sense, because, again, they are twelve years old. Anyways, while they are WALKING to Tintagel, Merlin is attempting to train them and leaves for a moment, which is where Morgana steps in and disrupts the training by poisoning the lesson with darkness and turning them on each other.
Lance is the first to betray Alex by stealing/taking the sword Excalibur for himself because Alex is weak and doesn’t deserve the greatness and guidance that Excalibur represents and provides. Merlin comes back and uses all his strength to save them which is where, I can’t believe I am saying this, Excalibur breaks – yes, the movie broke Excalibur – because Lance and Alex fought for it or over it or with it, I have no idea.
I cannot get over the sword breaking.
So, Alex is mad, frustrated and hurt and throws the broken Excalibur into a marsh that they are now walking through. Have I said yet how they are twelve and even though they were just described in detail the Knight’s Chivalric Code, they have already broken it? Well, they are!
Alex realizes that he needs Lance and Kaye in order to succeed because he and Bedders cannot do it by themselves so based off a book he got from his father when he was younger, he decides to call upon the Lady of the Lake to restore the sword and return it to him. She does and they band back together just in time to take on a substantial number of Morgana’s stone and ash knights, reunited together.
More happens, of course, but I have to give you something to be surprised over if you decide to watch The Kid Who Would Be King…
The Power of Words In The Kid Who Would Be King
It is worth mentioning that somewhere in a minuscule moment of Morgana having some character build-up, she is able to determine the individual weaknesses of the knights and the reincarnation and they make a point of including this information, but then nothing really happens with it, except getting Lance to steal Excalibur from Alex.
So, moving on, Alex finds out that his father is a drunk, he doesn’t descend from the Pendragon line, he throws a “fit” and claims it was a waste, he isn’t worthy, etc. So, Merlin comes back in and convinces him that he doesn’t have to be a Pendragon to be someone and that the sword chose him not because he is a descendant from Arthur, but because he is a strong person and just as capable of being as great a leader as Arthur was.
This reignites his drive and the group of them find a store in town, buy armor and ride to the castle where Morgana is gathering her strength. They descend into her domain where Bedders, Lance and Kaye get overtaken by cursed tree roots.
This makes it so the Alex has to battle Morgana alone. As I am sure you all called it, Alex broke the code by not honoring those he loves and lying to his mom, so when they thought they defeated Morgana in a flimsy battle scene that didn’t actually do much, they didn’t really defeat Morgana.
Merlin was not present for this battle because he couldn’t take form at night or something like that, plus he saved them from the aforementioned cursed trees earlier which took his strength so he had to go heal himself with fried chicken and soda.
So, the next morning comes and they have returned home. Alex’s mother is worried and upset he left without telling her what he was doing or where he was going and as he deals with the fallout of his decision, he notices blackened tree roots growing over his room window, which indicates that Morgana still lives. With the realization that he broke the code and needed to come clean to his mother in order to actually defeat Morgana the second time around, he tells his mom everything, including showing her the Lady of the Lake by asking her to return the sword to him.
I did find it clever that he uses water in his bathtub to do this in The Kid Who Would Be King. Upon seeing the Lady’s hand shoot up with the sword, his mom believes him and he goes back to school.
Okay, so after some time passes and Merlin casts some spells and the principal of the school replacing the final exam with helping Alex and his knights with their situation, a couple hundred kids, the whole school, gets knighted. Alex needed an army to face Morgana’s army, so aside from a massive amount of potential Chivalric Code issues here in the form of a couple hundred random kids of all ages, equipped with shields made from street signs and swords that looked exactly like Excalibur, he had an army of knights.
King of the Castle
The kids used the school as a castle and created layers of defense within the school, including pews strapped to their parent’s cars. I thought something amazing would happen with all the replicas of Excalibur running around, since the whole point of Morgana awakening was to steal the sword in order to be more powerful and rule the world, but literally nothing happened with the duplicates, other than providing a couple hundred random kids with weapons.
By the way, all the adults were spelled by Merlin and his ridiculously embarrassing dance of snapping, clapping, and flapping to put them under a spell so they were compliant in this battle going on.
I cannot believe Merlin, the greatest wizard that everyone knows about simply by name, was reduced to a childish, fantastical production of waving around his arms and snapping his fingers or clapping his hands to cast a spell. I think my jaw dropped the first time it happened. Unbelievable.
The greatest wizard in history has been reduced to an embarrassing choreography of simplistic noises that gives the illusion that anyone can do the magic. The best thing about Merlin in this film was his ability to morph into a falcon and disguise himself and a child. That, and only that, made sense and was perfect for his character.
Back to the Defense of the School
Of course, being children of the age of twelve, they obviously didn’t have car-driving experience and after using the cars in forward, couldn’t back up and kill even more of the stone knights, so it was honestly just a waste of time. If Merlin spelled a hundred or more adults to be complacent than he could have definitely waved his arms around in a disgraceful dance and given the kids a 10-minute crash course on how to reverse and not lose control of the vehicle and crash into each other. Just saying.
After the cars there were a couple other defenses they had and in the end all of Morgana’s stone knights were reduced to rubble and so she finally gets some real screen-time and the battle begin. All these kids start to rope her and other stuff happens and she eventually gets defeated. I was so disappointed in this film and the final battle with Morgana that I can’t even finish talking about it. You will just have to be curious about it or see it for yourself.
In the end of The Kid Who Would Be King, Alex returns the sword to the hands of the Lady of the Lake for safe-keeping until he needs it again. There wasn’t much of a conclusion in regards to what happened to all the parents after they woke from Merlin’s spell, if any kids died during the battle, how the Bedders, Lance and Kaye dealt with their parents and the explanation of what happened to the school, but whatever.
I was left with multiple questions and maybe a little bit of anger towards this version of one of my favorite tales, especially how little Morgana was actually used.
They could have done so much with her and she truly felt like a character who was put in there simply because they have to be on a quest for something and there has to be an antagonist that wants to take over the world, so she was just used as a some space filler to complete the adventure. I was left wanting a better movie and with a huge gaping hole where a beautiful story could have taken place.
It was also confusing with trying to interpret whether it was supposed to be fun, funny, comedic, serious, dramatic, childish, thought-provoking, or just adventurous. I had no idea how to feel during this two hour watch and it confused me on many accounts.
By the Chivalric Code, I swear I Get It
I feel the need to insert here real quick that I promise I do realize this is supposed to be a kid’s movie and that this is supposed to be teaching the moral lessons of don’t lie, cheat, steal, bully or quit, because if you do the repercussions are worse than if you hadn’t done them to begin with.
I swear I understand and I am happy they are using the amazing base-story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. What made Arthur such a great king was his ability to help bring even the most terrible of enemies into the light and join him at his table of equality, so I suppose it isn’t too ridiculous that the kid in this movie chose two bullies to be some of his first knights. It just irks me to no end that they are 12.
I have always had issues with super young heroes mainly because even when you are in your 30’s or 40’s or even your 50’s you still struggle with the morality of choosing “good or evil” because circumstances change things.
You can make a choice thinking it was a good choice and you could spend years trying to “atone” or “fix” the choice you thought was good and wasn’t. I struggle with twelve-year-old’s understanding the significance of what exactly this movie was trying to explain to them.
*All links to Amazon are links through the Amazon Affiliate program! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.*
You can purchase The Kid Who Would Be King on Amazon, but it is included with your HBO subscription if you have one.
A Shining Light
With all this said, if you are still with me here Curious One, I have a suggestion for you. If you have watched The Kid Who Would Be King or if you are going to watch it now in order to understand what you just read, I would love to suggest a palate cleanse. It comes in the form of one of my favorite Arthurian legend adaptations. Mary Stewart has written an Arthurian Saga that seriously captures your mind and digs into your soul.
The first novel is called The Crystal Cave. It begins with a young Merlin finding his father, the importance of being who he is and finding an ally in the unlikely form of Arthur Pendragon. It has new names that pull you further and further into the world. I struggled putting them down until I read all four novels.
Truly, Curious One, look it up if you are the least bit interested in fantasy novels; especially those surrounding the beautiful legend of Merlin, King Arthur, and his Knights; it will help reinstate the greatness of this legend that this film failed to achieve.
Keep being curious and until we meet again, it’s time for me to find a book…
*Normally, an Arthurian Legend would be covered in the Fantasy category, but since I went off course and reviewed a movie, it is in the Time for a Notebook. I would appreciate feedback on my Curiosity on The Kid Who Would Be King!
Support Time for a Notebook
You can support Time for a Book by visiting The Library! Any purchases you make through there supports Time for a Book!
If you want more curiosity in your inbox, please subscribe below to have every new post delivered! You can also like on Facebook!