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Posted in: Kaitlyn Booth, Lionsgate, Movies, Review | Tagged: arthur the king, Review
Arthur The King Review: Exactly What You Think It Is And That's Fine
When Arthur the King hits a streaming service and ends up on airplanes, people will watch it, enjoy it, and probably forget about it several hours later.
Article Summary
- 'Arthur The King' blends adventure racing and dog-hero tropes in a familiar tale.
- Based on a true story, the film navigates expected journeys of triumph and friendship.
- The cast delivers adequately, with no single standout, in a narrative seen many times.
- Ideal for casual viewing, the movie suits streaming services and in-flight entertainment.
Arthur The King is pretty much exactly what you expect from a dog movie where humans and animals save each other, but it also does nothing to set itself apart from the many different entries we've seen in this genre.
Director: Simon Cellan Jones
Summary: Over ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. Based on an incredible true story, Arthur the King follows Light, desperate for one last chance to win, as he convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty, and friendship truly mean.
'Truth is often stranger than fiction,' but sometimes even the truth can feel redundant. That is what you're thinking as you watch Arthur The King. It's very cool that some variation of this story happened in the real world, but there is also this nagging sense that you have seen all these beats before. That is the thing that makes this film essentially mediocre all around. It is something that is far from terrible but also has nothing to write home about. It's a true story that sounds awesome when you think about it, but in movie form, we have seen all of this before in other dog movies and other movies about people trying to accomplish great physical achievements.
Arthur the King essentially smashes two movie genres that we have seen a million times over people trying to accomplish their dreams later in life, which require great physical achievement and a dog coming along where humans and dogs save each other. If you know nothing about this film and you're going into this story completely blind, you might be wondering why it's taking so long for dogs and humans to meet up because it does take a significant amount of time. This is a dog movie and sports movie, but it leans pretty heavily on the sports aspect for a decent portion of the first and second acts while occasionally cutting back to shots of Arthur making his way toward his new people. So the sports movie people will be annoyed they keep cutting back to the dog and the dog people will be annoyed it takes so long for Arthur and the team to meet up.
That said, when the team and Arthur finally meet up, the movie comes together and gets better. The ending, in particular, is the kind of stuff that can only happen in real life while also feeling like it was written by someone who spent a lifetime writing movies for Lifetime. That is in no way a bad thing; that is what we like from movies like this, and when it gets down to it in the final leg of the race, Arthur the King does deliver. It's a bit sad and tugs at the heartstrings while also being uplifting about what it means to be a winner. The cast does a fine job of portraying everyone, and they all go on the journies that you expect them to. No one is really a standout, but no one drags the production down, either.
Arthur the King is an airplane movie. Nothing here really needs to be seen on a big screen, or that merits the theatrical experience, though the film does its best to take advantage of the impressive landscape. However, it's not that kind of movie, and if given the choice, there are other options to spend the money when going to the movies. When it hits a streaming service and ends up on airplanes, people will watch it, enjoy it, and probably forget about it several hours later. These movies are part of the movie ecosystem, and those who seek it out probably already know they will enjoy it. For everyone else, it's fine, and sometimes being fine is a win.
Arthur The King
6/10
Arthur The King is pretty much exactly what you expect from a dog movie where humans and animals save each other, but it also does nothing to set itself apart from the many different entries we've seen in this genre.
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