King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

King Arthur opens with a great battle underway and King Pendragon (Eric Bana) bravely and virtuously fights again a sinister dark evil using a powerful sword—Excalibur. We learn his brother Vortigern (Jude Law) is responsible for the disturbance and despises his brother the King so much that he is willing to sacrifice everything for his chance to rule.

Sensing something afoot, the King grabs his wife and young son Arthur and flees, only to be ambushed by a dark menacing figure that challenges the king to fight the king the sword the source of all his power. The sword is used to conquer evil forces. Despite his efforts, the father is unable to defeat the evil figure. The Queen and King are both murdered, while their son watches.

Arthur escapes on a boat and is discovered by a group of prostitutes. They take Arthur in, raising him in their brothel.

With the rightful heir to the throne lost, Vortigern seizes power. Years pass, and the new king’s power reaches a peak, until the sword Excalibur reveals itself—waiting for the true king to take his place.

This is the opening of “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.”

I found the characters well-developed and detailed. I felt sorry for some, in the suffering they faced, and cheered them on, as I despised the villain for being such an evil, maniacal character. The cast worked exceedingly well together. The plot is fast paced, but easy to understand. I found it exciting; my eyes were glued to the screen.

Content concerns

There is quite a bit of objectionable content. The most obvious is the abundance of witchcraft and occult pagan practices. A trio of demonic naked female nymphs are consulted—long hair partly covering bare breasts—and bare rear bottoms are briefly seen. Prostitutes are shown dressed in attire attributed to their trade. Their transactions with men are visible, and men are taken to their bedrooms (but sex is not depicted). Men are repeatedly shown shirtless. A tapestry pictures bare breasts. Naked female wood nymphs that are partly trees have bare breasts and bottoms (depicted as wooden parts of the trees).

There is also vulgar language throughout, blood, ritual sacrifices, and much strong violence and many people killed.

One theme is personal destiny and realizing one’s purpose in life. The film also deals with lust for power and a person’s willingness to sacrifice everything to achieve it. I was reminded that when people forget God and covet something that is not theirs, they will likely begin to hate that person and everything about them. This is what drives the antagonist to do all that he does. As Christians, we must resist the temptation to covet—and all other temptations to break God’s commandments. To resist, we must fear the Lord, repent of the wrongs we have done, and trust and follow Christ and His Word.

Although I generally enjoyed the unique direction of Guy Ritchie, and the cinematography and special effects, the overwhelming use of dark magic and sorcery was a definite distraction. Due to the film’s various negatives, it is not recommended.

Violence: Very Heavy / Vulgarity: Heavy—f-word, s-word, t*ts, a**, b*stard / Sex/Nudity: Heavy

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.