Movie Review: “The Kid Who Would Be King” is a wonderful kid-centric take on Knights of the Round Table legend

Movie Review: “The Kid Who Would Be King” (PG)

“The Kid Who Would Be King” feels like someone took a handful of my favorite ’80s movies and fused them with a kid-centric take on the Knights of the Round Table legend. And yes, in case you’re wondering, that’s a good thing. In fact, it’s a great thing, and I have director Joe Cornish and crew to thank for it.

In “The Kid Who Would Be King,” a picked-on young boy named Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) engages in the adventure of a lifetime after discovering the legendary sword Excalibur. Together with his best friend (Dean Chaumoo), a pair of bullies (Tom Taylor and Rhianna Dorris), and a quirky, fish-out-of-water Merlin (Angus Imrie), this most unlikely team set out to save the world from the dark forces of wicked enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson.) Through it all, Alex finds himself on the road to becoming the leader he never dreamed he could be.

Clearly, Cornish has traded in the edgier styings of his expertly crafted “Attack the Block” for something aimed more at the kids, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel like a kid again after this movie came to a close. This is a wonderfully conceived adventure in which old-school magic meets the modern world. Furthermore, Cornish’s infectiously likable fanboy spirit is on full display here. In addition to the previously mentioned ’80s movie influences, you’ll most certainly sense elements from “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings,” “The Sword in the Stone,” “Harry Potter,” “Army of Darkness,” and the many quirky and whimsical works of Terry Gilliam (most notably “Time Bandits” and “The Fisher King”). That said, “The Kid Who Would Be King” still feels very much like its own thing.

There’s a real sense of danger throughout stretches of this film, but “The Kid Who Would Be King” never crosses any lines. It’s fairly intense and even a little scary for PG, but this is the kind of adventure I loved as a kid. More importantly, I took my youngsters to see it, and they were positively riveted. From a fantastic car-chase sequence in which Alex and crew must outwit an army of undead warriors to a training montage involving our fearless heroes testing their skills against a forest full of living, breathing trees to an epic battle that finds Alex teaming with his school to take on the forces of evil to the best use of Stonehenge since Rob Reiner’s “This Is Spinal Tap,” Cornish and crew work overtime to bring this imaginative world to life. And they’ve done so by way a modest budget.

From a performance standpoint, the kids are terrific. But the film really belongs to Imrie. His take on Merlin is undeniably energetic, righteously hilarious, and endlessly quirky. Every time he’s on screen, he chews the scenery. He even manages to upstage a wonderfully playful Patrick Stewart, who appears as the older version of Merlin. Of course, the highest form of flattery I can pay Imrie is to say that my sons mimicked his character all the way home from the theater.

Is “The Kid Who Would Be King” perfect? No. There are times when one can’t help but feel that perhaps there are key elements that might have been cut from the film, particularly where Morgana is concerned. Ferguson feels a bit short changed as the film’s big bad. Furthermore, “The Kid Who Would Be King” does get a bit sluggish in the midsection.

No matter, though, because the absolute thrill of it all reigns supreme. And it goes beyond the creative special effects and stunning production design. Cornish really has created a wonderful movie that captures the spirit of youth and he even finds time to share a few life lessons along the way.  These attributes aid in making “The Kid Who Would Be King” a fantastically entertaining adventure for the entire family.

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