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| Tookey's Review |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2013 |
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| Genre: |
ADVENTURE
ANIMATION
FAMILY
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| Origin: |
Spain |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
96 |
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A myth-take.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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From the poster and the quality of its voice-over stars, I was hoping this would be good family entertainment. It isn’t.
The script gets off to a poor start by positing a mediaeval kingdom where knights have been banished in favour of the rule of law. According to the film, the rule of law is a bad thing: a view which parents may consider strange to be teaching impressionable young children.
Our young, red-haired hero Justin (voiced by Freddie Highmore) especially dislikes the rule of law, since he doesn’t wish to be a lawyer like his father (Alfred Molina) and would much rather be a knight in order to impress the local, vain, silly princess (Tamsin Egerton).
Matthew Jacobs’ awful screenplay fails to notice that his hero is a twerp. The film that follows is low on adventure and weirdly lacking in structure, tension and surprise.
The attempts at humour are crass and unfunny. David Walliams is excruciatingly lame as a schizophrenic magician, Rupert Everett an embarrassment as a flamboyantly gay knight. Even Antonio Banderas is off-form as a macho Spanish knight who isn’t a patch on his Puss in Boots.
The storyline limps turgidly onwards as Justin learns to become a knight under the tutelage of three aged knights (Charles Dance, Barry Humphries and James Cosmo) and overcomes the underwritten villain of the piece - Mark Strong, never worse.
It’s all terribly weak and unthrilling. Heaven knows how this screenplay ever got made. The Spanish animators are uninspired, and haven’t a clue how to make the most of 3D. This is easily the dreariest animated film of the year. Even The Smurfs 2 had more ideas and vitality.
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