Man, That Is Very Good

on a date with the wife

It's a neat feeling, having been married for two and a half years, to still be able to go out to a movie with Allie and have it still feel like going on a date. Knowing that she was headed back to Medicine Hat in a couple of days, and that she may or may not come back to Edmonton one more time before we move, made it feel more datelike for some reason.

We went to see King Arthur, and while I didn't dislike it, it didn't do much for me, either. I found it uninspired and uninspiring at the same time.

Some of the complaints I've read are based on the "realness" of it, the lack of magic, etcetera, but I have no problem with that aspect at all. I've been a huge fan of Jack Whyte's take on the pre-Arthurian legend for years, as any of my friends will tell you. All "King Arthur" really did for me was make me wish for a big screen version of Whyte's books.

I can't say they're the most well-written books I've ever read. They're flawed, no question about it, but the combination of well-fleshed out and sympathetic characters, along with the "historical fiction" aspect that places these characters among real historical figures and events results in a compelling, entertaining read.

From the very little reading I've done on the history of Britain, I think Whyte took far fewer liberties with the historical figures than "King Arthur" did, as well.

I haven't enjoyed the latest of Whyte's books as much as the first, probably because as the story progresses, there is less and less "historical" in the "fiction". That's why they called them the Dark Ages. Although the entire series has been a lead-in to the telling of the tale of Arthur and the Knights, it's not nearly as riveting as the tales of Arthur's grandparents and the final days of the Roman occupation of Britain.

But back to the movie, yeah, it was OK. They left out what was, to me, the tragedies that defined the legend, and it was the lack of those, not sorcery, that killed the potential of the movie for me. Somehow, I suspect test-screened audiences, or producers anticipating such, demanded that the ending be happy.

posted by Unknown @ 7:41 PM