You know almost immediately that you aren't about to experience the same old thing from this movie. It opens on a jousting competition and we can hear Queen's We Will Rock You playing as the movie's soundtrack. The odd thing though is that the large crowd of medieval peasants seem to hear it to. They sing, clap and stomp along in perfect time with the song.
 This weird mixture of a historical setting with thoroughly modern touches continues through out the film, setting an offbeat tone that keeps the viewer from ever getting totally comfortable.
When we first meet him, our hero William Thatcher is a lowly squire to a knight. Unfortunately said knight has perished in the midst of a competition. He needs only stay on his mount for one last ride to win the match but being dead, this presents a bit of a problem. William quickly dons his armor and using the faceplate to hide his identity makes that final ride. This gives him the idea that he and the other two squires, Roland (Addy) and Wat (Tudyk), can successfully forge a career for themselves in this manner. They begin to train and head off to their first competition, with William jousting under the name Ulrich von Leichtenstein of Gelderland. Along the way they pick up the writer Geoffrey Chaucer (Bettany), who is trudging through the countryside nude, having had his clothing forcibly taken. William agrees to pay and clothe him if he will forge the needed papers establishing William's nobility, which is a requirement for admittance to competitions.
William is fairly successful at the tournament but can't win the jousting contest because he is thoroughly outclassed by Adhemar (Rufus Sewell). Ever the relentless competitor, William vows to someday best this black knight. This leads him through a long series of competition where we get to see endless lances explode on some poor knight's chest or head, with some competitors thrown from their mount in spectacular fashion.
This movie is of course at its heart a sports movie and thus has to follow certain conventions. This movie does that but takes every opportunity to break free from convention. Several times I thought I saw something coming simply because it always happens that way in the movies. Much to my surprise and delight, the story refused to take that heavily traveled road and instead tried some different ideas. The romantic subplot is a perfect example. Any of you guys who have done some dumb things for love will really appreciate this part of the movie.
The little modern touches that are scattered through the movie are going to drive purists mad. If you are the sort of person who is highly concerned with historical accuracy in a movie then don't even bother going to this one. Those little things like the use of rock music, modern hairstyles, clothing, wild makeup and dancing are completely out of place and can't be very distracting. But then again this movie is primarily a comedy and thus rarely takes anything too seriously. Those modern touches really serve to put the viewer in the proper frame of mind. As a result of these little things it is abundantly clear that this is not a straight action/sports/drama/whatever movie and should be given a little leeway so that it can be properly enjoyed.
The ads for this movie seem to promise a high octane movie with lots of bonecrushing jousting action and on that promise it does deliver. What those ads won't tell you is that the movie is really a comedy. Ledger plays the straight man while his crew goes for the jokes. Tudyk with his shock of red hair and personality to match plays a man obsessed with filling his belly and inflicting pain on anyone who bugs him. Bettany is a a riot and steals scenes with extreme regularity. His introductions of William are great fun and definite crowd pleasers. Mark Addy is, as always, a steady and confident source of humor. Even, Laura Fraser, as Kate the female blacksmith/armorer gets some good laughs. At first it seems like a throw away role but it slowly evolves into a character on par with William's other compatriots. As a group, they work effortlessly together, playing off each other to enhance the humor keep the laughs coming steadily.
The only major problem I had with the movie is that it was generally a bit too heavy handed in its more serious moments. The subplot involving William's father seemed like nothing more than overly obvious attempt to play with the viewer's emotions. It's a shame really because the movie was working well enough in all other areas that it didn't need such over the top sappiness. It makes for a few slow spots that partially kill the story's momentum.
Heath Ledger does well as William, showing us a lot of the intensity and presence that brought him praise in The Patriot. As good as he is though, with such a talented supporting cast he has more than a few scenes stolen from him. Rufus Sewell particularly stood out for me as a wonderful villain. He kept the performance very restrained, giving Adhemar an attitude of arrogance and conceit so complete that he can't even imagine viewing William as a real threat. The best villains are the ones you feel real hatred for by the end of the film and Sewell pulls that off beautifully.
This is a very entertaining movie that left me with a pretty big grin. It's not perfect but its flaws are only a speedbump in the way of a lot of good laughs. The action is great and the special effects do a quality job of recreating a medieval world. This might prove to be one of the year's surprise hits.
- John Shea
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