Summary:
The story of Henry V; a wayward prince rises from a life of drunken depravity to lead the English army against France.
My Thoughts:
Netflix has been pumping out movies faster than the average person can watch them, and many a new release gets lost in the shuffle. The quality of Netflix releases is something we at TMM have discussed frequently; I feel there’s almost always something ever-so-slightly… off about Netflix releases, and even the best of their releases (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) seem to have parts that are of lesser quality than films that receive true theatrical runs. Even earlier this year, Netflix released a medieval epic that was so middling that it gave me little hope for any future historical epics from them (“Outlaw King”).
But though I had little hope in Netflix’s upcoming releases, I find I generally enjoy medieval epics. There’s something about that world- the grit, the violence, the exquisite costumes and elaborate sets, the royalty of it all… Something about medieval epics just gets my blood pumping, from the really good epics (“Braveheart”) to the middling (“Excalibur”) to the bad (“Season of the Witch”), there’s usually something that I find to enjoy.
“The King” further piqued my interest with its cast, and some of the characters included in the billing. Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me By Your Name”) is one of the more talented actors working in Hollywood, and Robert Pattinson’s (“The Lighthouse”) recent projects have catapulted him to the top of my ‘Actors to Watch’ list. Add to that the fact that Joel Edgerton (writer/director of “The Gift”) helped write this and stars as the fictitious soliloquizing drunkard Sir John Falstaff, the famed Shakespearean character that popped up in several of his plays (and also the protagonist of Orson Welles’ “Chimes at Midnight”). Call me boring, but I’m a bibliophile and the fact that Falstaff makes an appearance paired with actors I like, was enough for me to ignore the middling reviews and say, “Sure, okay, I’ll check this out.”
I’m glad I did check this out, because this film is certainly a step up from some of the Netflix releases I’ve seen from last year. To a point, I understand most of the middling reviews for this film. It’s not perfect, far from it: it’s a bit too long; Timothee Chalamet acts circles around everyone else on screen; and I will admit that some of the scenes in the first half of the film that feature Falstaff away from Hal are rather unnecessary. Some of the writing, too, feels a bit over-earnest, and at times a bit cheesy, but there are other moments where the writing soars (Chalamet’s speech before the final battle).
There are parts of this film that made me feel as if it deserved a 3/5 star rating, but other parts that truly worked for me in brilliant ways. I thought the fight sequences, for instance, were fantastically brutal and realistic, and some of them reminded me of the sequences in Polanski’s “Macbeth”. Many medieval films have their heavily outfitted knights swinging from ropes, hurtling over barriers, and running great distances without ever showing signs of tiring. The amount of physical strength that would take is astounding. In reality, if you were heavily outfitted in metal armor, it would be difficult to move quickly; if you fell over, the battle’s fate would reside on your ability to regain your footing before your opponent lops off your head. The film also shows how weather, landscape, and trickery could all play important parts in battles, and I loved that sort of realistic approach to the battles; it certainly boosted my rating a bit.
The overall story that is told in this film is pretty wonderful, but it is one we’ve heard before. The story of Henry V is that of an unwilling prince rising to his station; it’s a story of friendship lost and found, of destinies realized, and of betrayals most foul. When we start the story, Henry (or Hal) is a drunk whom has no interest in the throne, but as the film goes on, he finds himself drawn into the world of politics regardless of his own misgivings. Though Hal is a prince at the beginning of the story, the way he lives his life makes it feel as if he’s a pauper, and the story, then, becomes a sort of rags to riches story. I do think that some of the scenes towards the beginning of the film, where Falstaff mopes around after Hal has let him, were only included in the film so that Edgerton could have more screen time (remember Edgerton co-wrote the film).
It was Chalamet’s performance that convinced me to give this film a 4/5 star. He absolutely kills it in this film, as he has in every single role I’ve ever seen him in. Seeing Pattinson in this film, however, was a bit of a shock. For the past few years, I’ve been saying Pattinson is someone to watch, because after the whole “Twilight” thing, he really started to turn his career around. This is not one of his best roles; in fact, it’s easily one of his most questionable performances I’ve seen. Chalamet speaks French, yet Pattinson is the one playing the French prince in this film. There are parts when Chalamet approaches Pattinson and speaks French, but then Pattinson, the French Prince, says he would prefer to speak in English, and he does so with the most outrageously over-the-top accent. It feels as if we’re watching a caricature of a Frenchman, and it is almost laughable at times. I actually felt bad for Pattinson, because he’s had a great year (“The Lighthouse” is awesome!); I hope this performance doesn’t detract from his better ones.
Verdict:
This film teetered on a 3.5/5 and 4/5 star rating the whole time I was writing my review, and I decided to give it a 4/5 star. There are issues with this film; I wont pretend there aren’t. But this film also shows a lot of improvement over some of the direct-to-Netflix releases I’ve seen recently. I would much rather have films like this, that fall make a vie for greatness and fall just shy, than I would have a dozen more middling, soulless, committee-written-and-approved Marvel movies. This film might not be the one of the great medieval epics that will be remembered for years, but it’s a step in the right direction for a company who has, at best, only put out decent movies so far.
Review Written By: