The King is a Tale of Violence and Glory
Bathed in golden hues, The King tells the story of King Henry V with heavy inspiration from the plays of William Shakespeare. Timothée Chalamet stars as the titular king, and it's a difficult role to take on. Henry undergoes three key internal transformations throughout the course of the nearly three hour film, but Chalamet handles each subtle shift in personality with the dignity the role deserves.
There are brief instances where the film fumbles, particularly in the strangely sanitized way it depicts the future king's reckless lifestyle prior to his position in power. The film shows him hungover, and we see him with a fully clothed woman beside him in his bed on a couple of occasions, but it fails to properly depict him as the failure everyone in the film sees him as. After his newfound role as king there are some slower scenes to slog through, but once France (and Robert Pattinson's performance as The Dauphin of France) make an appearance the film succeeds in finding its footing and ventures forward with a quick enough pace to hold audience members captive.
Pattinson's performance is absolutely deserving of praise. The Dauphin is a twisted and purely evil character who finds great pleasure in antagonizing others, and he does it all with a smile on his face. Even though Pattinson's French accent isn't the greatest, it's easy to overlook when he's taunting Henry until the king sheds his pacifist ideologies and longs to see some bloodshed. Perhaps the worst part about Pattinson as the Dauphin is how little we see him throughout the two-and-a-half hour run-time due to how much plot the film has to wade its way through.
Joel Edgerton (who also wrote the screenplay alongside David Michod) is easy to like as Henry's loyal friend Sir John Falstaff. He's a war veteran who finds himself plagued by the horrors of war and can't celebrate his victories the same way other soldiers can. This story of PTSD set in the age of knights and kings is something barely touched on, and it makes John a character who is easy to empathize with. So, when he sees potential and good in Henry, we try our best to see it too.
The fight sequences are satisfying to watch, they don't hold back on the violence and the camerawork provides plenty of clear steady shots to avoid confusion as men clad in armor beat each other senseless with hands, swords, and hammers.
You can watch it now on Netflix and in select theaters.
There are brief instances where the film fumbles, particularly in the strangely sanitized way it depicts the future king's reckless lifestyle prior to his position in power. The film shows him hungover, and we see him with a fully clothed woman beside him in his bed on a couple of occasions, but it fails to properly depict him as the failure everyone in the film sees him as. After his newfound role as king there are some slower scenes to slog through, but once France (and Robert Pattinson's performance as The Dauphin of France) make an appearance the film succeeds in finding its footing and ventures forward with a quick enough pace to hold audience members captive.
Pattinson's performance is absolutely deserving of praise. The Dauphin is a twisted and purely evil character who finds great pleasure in antagonizing others, and he does it all with a smile on his face. Even though Pattinson's French accent isn't the greatest, it's easy to overlook when he's taunting Henry until the king sheds his pacifist ideologies and longs to see some bloodshed. Perhaps the worst part about Pattinson as the Dauphin is how little we see him throughout the two-and-a-half hour run-time due to how much plot the film has to wade its way through.
Joel Edgerton (who also wrote the screenplay alongside David Michod) is easy to like as Henry's loyal friend Sir John Falstaff. He's a war veteran who finds himself plagued by the horrors of war and can't celebrate his victories the same way other soldiers can. This story of PTSD set in the age of knights and kings is something barely touched on, and it makes John a character who is easy to empathize with. So, when he sees potential and good in Henry, we try our best to see it too.
The fight sequences are satisfying to watch, they don't hold back on the violence and the camerawork provides plenty of clear steady shots to avoid confusion as men clad in armor beat each other senseless with hands, swords, and hammers.
You can watch it now on Netflix and in select theaters.
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