Review of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) by Wiscojoe — 11 May 2017

If you've ever wondered what would happen if Guy Ritchie directed a King Arthur movie, here's your answer. Other than that there's not much to recommend about this film. It's rarely boring, and Ritchie's style mixed with the near-sacred source material often leads to some novel, if incongruous, moments.

Still, it's mostly forgettable B-movie fantasy hokum, like Game of Thrones goes Grindhouse. Fair warning for those who care... Every female character, save one, is literally sacrificed to advance the story and the desires of men.

The only female character with agency isn't even given her own name. For a movie set in the dark ages, this makes logical sense, except for the fact that Ritchie clearly doesn't care about anachronisms.

It seems like the retrograde gender politics is less an essential part of the historical setting and more a signature feature of Ritchie's "blokes only" wheelhouse.