The prophecy that “the meek shall
inherit the earth” is Biblical, the assertion that strongmen are
weak leaders is political, and the idea that many stories are the
same is (Joseph) Campbellian. One combination of all of these
narrative aspects is The Kid Who Would Be King, a modern, Arthurian
reimagining of the “sword in the stone” story and the Knights of
the Round Table. The movie functions as a children’s empowerment
story, that you can be strong by being kind, and that you do have
power and purpose in this world.
While The Kid Who Would Be King
is self-aware and inter-textual, explicitly referencing Star Wars
and The Lord of the Rings, in addition to more traditional
versions of the King Arthur stories, it very much tries to stand on
its own two feet by having some originality. The humor in the film
also adds to the sense that it is its own story, although it would’ve
been nice if the jokes had more double entendres to make it more of a
family film than a kid’s film.
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| This is my sword. There is no other like it. And some other mumbo jumbo. |
The story centers around Alex Elliot,
an under-confident middle schooler who, along with his best friend,
Bedders, gets picked on a lot at school. One day, when Alex is
evading his adversaries, Lance and Kaye, during a garden-variety
bullying chase scene, he happens upon the sword Excalibur. The
discovery of the ancient and mythical weapon in contemporary England
sets off a number of events that lead Alex to embark on a quest to
defeat the evil sorceress Morgana, who covets the sword Excalibur and
the reign over England that it guarantees.
In the process of Alex’s world being
invaded by fiery demons and a comical incarnation of Merlin the
wizard, Alex determines his heuristic. He uses his old King Arthur
book as a roadmap, first assembling a crew of knights, made up of
Bedders, his best friend, and Lance and Kaye, his main antagonizers.
The message is rather galvanizing for children, “make your foes
your friends, and you’ll never be weak again”. Next, Alex decides
to take his brigand across England to a remote island, where he
expects to find his long-lost father, who might have the answers in
how to defeat the evil sorceress.
The film climaxes, of course, with a
glorious and entertaining last battle scene, wherein Alex, Lance,
Kaye, and Bedders knight and outfit the entire student body of their
school to defeat Morgana and her seemingly-endless waves of fiery
demons.
This contemporary reimagining of the
Arthurian legend is fun, albeit sometimes a bit underwhelming. The
kids like it, though.
-Blake Pynnonen
