The Kid Who Would Be King delivers as a family-friendly fantasy-adventure based on the King Arthur legend and an allegory for Brexit.
The Kid Who Would Be King tells the classic story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table via Brexit era Britain. As Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson truly chewing the scenery) — the villain of both the myth and the movie — says, “the land is divided — lost and leaderless.” It’s an on-the-nose reference to Brexit, but also the reason the movie works so well.
Director Joe Cornish — who made waves with his debut Attack the Block — mines the tale for everything it’s got and everything you’d expect out of a kid’s adventure movie. As the story goes, we meet young tween Alex Elliot (Louis Ashbourne Serkis — yes, he’s Andy Serkis’ son) as he defends his best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) from two bullies — Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris). Those names should all sound familiar.
From there, the movie closely follows the legend of King Arthur — which is also a book that Alex’s father used to read with him before he disappeared. After being chased by Lance and Kaye to a construction site, Alex discovers a sword in a stone — the sword in the stone, also known as Excalibur. He easily pulls it out, which means that he is the chosen one and the rightful king.
He doesn’t know this yet, but he will soon find out. He brings the sword home and like any good friend call Bedders over to joke about the possibility that it’s really Excalibur. The relationship between the two kids is one of the main reason for the movie’s success. It drives much of the development and emotional storyline.
The next day at school, an odd new student shows up named “Mertin.” It doesn’t take a lot of critical thinking to learn this is actually Merlin (Angus Imrie), who is sent to help Alex on his quest. Many of the comedic moments — particularly ones that will appeal to kids — come from Merlin’s silly hand gestures when performing spells, his attempt to blend in as a normal student, and his always hilarious tranformations into an owl and an older version of himself played by Patrick Stewart clad in an oversized Led Zepplin shirt.
After being attacked by a fiery demonic skeleton sent by Morgana, who is gaining strength for her return to Earth to enslave all the inhabitants, Alex and Merlin recruit Bedder, Lance, and Kaye to be his Kights of the Round Table. Their quest is to find the door to the underworld and defeat Morgana before she returns to Earth in four days during a total solar eclipse.
Along the way, they train to be proper knights, are attacked by more of Morgana’s minions, and fight each other before finally uniting and bonding as a team. Cornish hits all the expected points but hits them a grounding in character and a strong anti-Brexit point-of-view. Don’t get it wrong. This is a fantasy-adventure kids movie. But a kids movie with very real implications in the real world.
As with Attack the Block, The Kid Who Would Be King is a good story told in a great way with playful visuals and a strong young cast. It’s a blast to watch this group of seemingly mismatched kids “on a quest to save Britain,” as Alex rights on a note he leaves for his Mom.
And as a Brexit allegory, it’s heavy-handed but clear on its message: we’ve lost our way by focusing on our differences and it’s only by teaching this new generation about acceptance and unity that we’ll get through this mess. What makes Cornish an exciting director is he can balance that while delivering a light, fun, and funny fantasy-adventure with dragons, sword-fights, and a mega Home Alone style final staff between an army of school kids and an army of demonic skeletons.
The Kid Who Would Be King is the first of many great Brexit-era movies that I’m sure are to come. And overall, Cornish’s attempt at merging a classic legend with our modern day issues is successful. It’s yet another feather in the cap of the young director. Nothing but respect for our king.
The Kid Who Would Be King is in theaters now.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.
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