Dove Review

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” features several nicely-crafted scenes of the legend, including the sword in the stone, Arthur wielding the famous sword, Excalibur. Even the round table is set in place near the conclusion of the movie. The shadow world Arthur enters is very vivid and stands out. It is filled with scary creatures—a giant rat, a giant bat, snake, and just about every loathsome creature one could conjure up in the dark recesses of one’s brain. It also features a great villain—Vortigern (Jude Law), the arrogant king of the ancient British Isles. He had to be rid of his good brother, Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana). But Pendragon’s son survived, and he will exact the ultimate revenge on Vortigern. Jude Law stands out as the villain king, with an undercurrent of evil always brewing just beneath his exterior. And the question should be considered: is betrayal worse when it involves a family member?

The wonderful cast features Djimon Hounsou as Bedivere, Arthur’s right-hand man. By weaving themes of betrayal and devotion, this movie is fast paced, the special effects work well, and Arthur wears his crown by movie’s end. Arthur protects the women that helped raise him. He is loyal.

There is a lot of sword fighting and battles in the movie, along with fistfights, with resulting blood in some cases and many, many characters bite the dust in the film. Also, the “F” bomb is both used and mouthed once, which seemed completely out of place in this period piece. For these reasons we are unable to award the film our Dove Family-Approved Seal. The movie does a good job of showing why Arthur and his sword became legends in the first place.

Dove Rating Details

0

Faith

None

0

Integrity

A lot of violence including battle scenes with sword fights and the cutting of flesh; knives used to stab people; fist fights; large scary creatures attack soldiers; blood seen on several characters, including on their faces; wounds are seen; a man's ear is cut off and this is seen; explosive flames and several people are seen devoured by the fire; explosions; a character smacks into a wall; several characters fall from a great height; a woman is thrust through by a lance; a woman is pulled along a street by her hair; a man slays his own daughter with a knife, believing it will give him more power with which to fight; not shown but a woman's throat is cut; man's face is slapped; man slaps woman; man abuses his wife and his grown son knocks him down; several arrows strike people and kill them; a boy cuts his hand by holding a sword and some blood is seen on his hands; a beaten man has a swollen face and blood on his face; sword shoved in man's stomach; a big snake bites a man on the neck.

2

Sex

A brothel is seen and mentioned; prostitutes are mentioned.

3

Language

G-1; F-1; What the F (mouthed)-1; A-3; ba*tard-3; pi*s-1; bo*locks-3; stupid-1.

4

Violence

A lot of violence including battle scenes with sword fights and the cutting of flesh; knives used to stab people; fist fights; large scary creatures attack soldiers; blood seen on several characters, including on their faces; wounds are seen; a man's ear is cut off and this is seen; explosive flames and several people are seen devoured by the fire; explosions; a character smacks into a wall; several characters fall from a great height; a woman is thrust through by a lance; a woman is pulled along a street by her hair; a man slays his own daughter with a knife, believing it will give him more power with which to fight; not shown but a woman's throat is cut; man's face is slapped; man slaps woman; man abuses his wife and his grown son knocks him down; several arrows strike people and kill them; a boy cuts his hand by holding a sword and some blood is seen on his hands; a beaten man has a swollen face and blood on his face; sword shoved in man's stomach; a big snake bites a man on the neck.

2

Drugs

A snakebite makes a man hallucinate; drinking of wine in a few scenes; a comment about getting something to drink.

2

Nudity

A sea creature is partly made up of women, and bare shoulders are seen as is the side of a woman's breast; cleavage in a few scenes; shirtless men in several scenes.

2