Arthur & Merlin (2015)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The acting in this movie is really good.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Very good origins story of the modern Arthur & Merlin tales. Considering the budget a job well done and entertaining throughout. Good to see a film relying on the story and characters rather than emdless special effects.

It's very worrying that such a dreadful, completely awful film has been given decent reviews. I can only imagine that people associated with this feeble production or relatives of the actors have been busy giving it good publicity. It's a slow moving take on the Arthurian legend, clumsily filmed and badly acted. I am trying to be kind, but as others have said, the scenery is the films best feature. It really is painfully bad. The people from the dark ages are clean, some have modern haircuts, the Wench's make up is full on, complete with false eyelashes, lipstick, highlighted hair and curls straight from her heated tongs. The new wicker fences surrounding the pathways are a dead giveaway that this is a low budget film. Add appalling acting, grimaces and gruff voices trying to convey urgency or danger, accompanied by a dreadful score and you have what amounts to an hilarious parody of the genre. It really is bad. There are no special effects, no magic, no mystery, nothing. This is a very poor man's attempt (think poorer than a Big Issue seller) at a Lord of the Rings type film. You'd be hard pressed to know it was about Merlin and Arthur. The people writing favourable reviews must have seen a different film. This really is very poor. There is nothing to recommend it. However, if you need a 'bad film yardstick' this is the one to watch.

How to be fair to this movie? Is it a story or is it a movie? I know, dumb question. But as a film, it seems like a student project. That's okay, cause it focuses on story. The acting is suggestive of a play rather than a movie. I would give it ten stars as a narrative. It's a wonderful story. It works as a celtic myth, if such things appeal to you. Ten stars as a play. It could be done at the high school level, it could be off Broadway. But the critics are correct in that it basically takes no advantage of the film medium. It didn't "need" to be a movie. You could read the plot easily in book form. This is or is not a problem - depending on your personal preferences. My suggestion: If you read a book when it first comes out, you'll like this. If you wait for the movie - you won't.

Considering the reviews so far are either 'zeroes or heroes', I thought I'd offer a middle-of-the-road approach.This movie is by no means horrible. It reminds me of a better than average pilot for a TV series (albeit one made in the 80's), or could even pass as 'part-one' of a mini-series.The leads are unknown, but solid without being brilliant. David Sterne who plays King Vortigern is a better than average TV actor, and he was very believable. Charlotte Brimble who plays Olwen (the lead female) does a very creditable job, and she didn't have to get her kit off to do that job either!Special Effects were very, very, simple and wouldn't have over-stretched the budget, eg the occasional fog machine got switched on, but that worked in the movie's favour, as it meant that nothing was done 'badly'. ie there was no need to cringe at poorly constructed monsters.The Story was also very, very, simple, but that meant that it wasn't as rushed as B-Grade movies can often feel, as they try to pack a script worthy of War and Peace into 90 minutes. The last 12 minutes were 'so-so', as endings go, but once again, 'not horrible'. In summary, you wouldn't pay to go see it at the movies, but you wouldn't regret watching it, if it turned up on Netflix either.It's not worth much more than an honest 5, but it's definitely not a 1!