The reviews for ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ are pretty terrible

'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' film premiere - Arrivals

Here are some photos from last night’s London premiere of King Arthur: No One Wanted This (real title: Legend of the Sword). I’m including photos of Charlie Hunnam, Poppy Delevingne, David Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham. David has a smallish role in the film, and Brooklyn was his “date” for the premiere. I kind of think Brooklyn is trying way too hard to look cool, right? Charlie looked nice though – he’s really found a haircut that works for him and he doesn’t look so flesh-beardy these days.

There are some nicer stories and interviews with Charlie going around, but nothing incredibly notable. He was profiled by the New York Times, but there’s no news there other than he’s still pretty happy that he backed out of Fifty Shades of Grey. There are also a lot of stories about how Charlie is BFFs with… Marilyn Manson? Apparently, they’re very tight. They cook together. Marilyn calls him one of the most handsome men in the world.

But really, the real story is that King Arthur sucks. The reviews are terrible. The film currently has a 24% all-critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although that’s up from 19% earlier this week. Among top critics, the film is bottoming out at (gulp) 6%. The reviews are scathing and considering the film’s release was pushed back at least a half-dozen times, I don’t think anyone should be surprised.

Hilariously, some of the worst reviews are for Beckham’s cameo. The Telegraph’s critic wrote: “Even the sword-pulling scene itself is sabotaged from within by a David Beckham cameo that goes on for line after forehead-slapping line, and saps the moment of its mythic excitement. The former footballer appears under facial scarring make-up as one of Vortigern’s soldiers, and shows just about enough dramatic range to have played the stone the sword got stuck in.” Here’s the clip:

King Arthur Legend of the Sword European premiere

King Arthur Legend of the Sword European premiere

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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47 Responses to “The reviews for ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ are pretty terrible”

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  1. Millennial says:

    Honestly, Charlie should have just played Christian Grey. He’d have done better than Jaime Dornan, and his career likely would have recovered respectably a la Robert Pattinson post-Twilight. Instead he’s making big budget garbage.

    • Nanny to the Rescue says:

      But 50 shades did even worse than Arthur. Part 2 has 9% on RT right now.

      He dodged a bullet there. Caught one here, tho.

      • INeedANap says:

        I think he would have picked up a legion of devoted female fans though. The fanbase he developed as Jax Teller is hardcore enough to have gone after his girlfriend, which sucks for his personal life (and hers) but is good for his career. Probs better to do 50 Shades than this nonsense.

    • Deering says:

      I would not have wanted to see Matt Bomer’s career tied to the 50 Shades crap, but he would have made a hella good Christian.

  2. Jem says:

    Isn’t Johnny Depp also BFFs with Manson?

    • Yawn says:

      Johnny ain’t beautiful anymore, so Manson moved on to greener pastures! Lol

    • Anna says:

      Im pretty sure they are.
      I think Marilyn and Charlie are friends because Marilyn had that (awful) guest role on Sons of Anarchy during its last season

  3. astrid says:

    What kind of crazy-ugly suit is DB wearing in the last photo?

  4. Linda says:

    David Beckham ‘shows just about enough dramatic range to have played the stone the sword got stuck in.’ This is why I read movie reviews.

    • minx says:

      I know, right? LOL!

    • slowsnow says:

      I LOVE reading film reviews, much more than contemporary art reviews (which is my line of work, wooppss).

    • Sigh... says:

      It is a SCIENTIFIC FACT (in my head) that the worse the movie, the better the reviews! 😂

    • teacakes says:

      Same. I love the turns of phrase movie and restaurant critics come up with when they hate something, it’s a good way to get at least some fun out of a bad experience.

    • Digital Unicorn (aka Betti) says:

      Beckhams scene is all over the net and it’s bad bad and I agree with that comment. The stone and sword gave more tot the scene than he did. He’s getting panned In the press for his god awful appearance esp in a pivotal scene.

      But Ritchie has previous for PR stunt casting.

  5. Jenns says:

    I knew it would be bad, but I was hoping for a Rocky 4 kind of bad. An awesome movie, even though it’s kind of terrible.

    But after reading the reviews, this movie sounds like a loud and messy dud.

  6. Myrto says:

    I love the King Arthur legend so I went to see this movie without reading the reviews. Huge mistake. It was AWFUL. Like absolutely terrible. I walked out of the movie theatre after one hour because it was just so bad. The only good thing about this movie was Charlie Hunnam.

  7. seesittellsit says:

    They never can leave a classic story to speak for itself. One look at the trailers, and you knew what you were getting: an adaptation of a layered, magical story turned into a bloated violent gore soaked piece of crap. I love literature and I love magic. The Arthurian legend is a wonderful blend of both. This – not. It’s too bad, I really like Charlie Hunnam but he can’t seem to find quite the right vehicle. Crimson Peak and now this . . .

    • Deering says:

      They would have done better converting EXCALIBUR to IMAX and screening that. 😉

      • justme says:

        @Deering I love EXCALIBUR! I do wonder who thought we really needed a street smart King Arthur? I am sick to the teeth of street smart motherf**ckers. Now I’m thinking of that great scene in Excalibur when the king returns and the dark winter landscape starts turning into spring in a few minutes. Or the Lady of the Lake at the end and Arthur’s departure on the ship – magical.

      • eggyweggs says:

        I made my boyfriend watch Excalibur recently — somehow he’d completely missed it (weird cuz he’s a nerd in his early 40s). Anyway, he loved it and I remembered how much I enjoyed it, too.

      • Robin says:

        I would LOVE to see Excalibur remastered and converted to IMAX. Brilliant movie, especially the ending. And the soundtrack!

    • bella says:

      I absolutely love Excaliber which is based on the book by E.B. White , ” The Once and Future King.” Fun fact, Helen Mirren plays Morgana. All I can say is —Lancelot is so handsome!!!!

  8. Jegede says:

    Brooklyn looks so much like Victoria’s brother. )))

    Kinda sucks when David Beckham is your dad.

    • Ghost says:

      I think he’s better looking than David.

      • Jegede says:

        First time I’ve ever heard that.

        Early David Beckham was gorgeous, if weedy Brooklyn was a random guy down the streets of London, no one would look twice.

      • minx says:

        If his parents weren’t the Beckhams he would not be a “model.” Very ordinary.

    • CooCoo Catchoo says:

      Is it just me, or does Brooklyn look like he could be Tom Hiddleston’s son? Holy smokes!

  9. grabbyhands says:

    Guy Ritchie needs go back to making the movies he’s really good at – Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch etc. And I am still waiting for a sequel to Rock n Rolla.

    • AG-UK says:

      That was always the rub here in the UK when people speak (not football fans) but anyone else is THAT voice.. He’s attractive but they’d have to autotune it for me.

    • bella says:

      I love Rock n Rolla. Handsome Bob!!! Jason Stratham, Mark Strong, (love his voice, and beautiful brown eyes!!!!!), Tom Hardy.

  10. Craicshenaigans says:

    Like were expecting the deep villain movie voice in that scene..but it’s more Bart Simpson with an english accent..

    • Maria F. says:

      yeah that voice is no good.

      I will still go see it, love costume dramas and I will watch Charlie Hunam in anything.

    • Zuzus Girl says:

      That’s what struck me. Beckham has such a weak, whiney voice. It surprised me.

    • ArchieGoodwin says:

      Like Ashley from Coronation Street!

  11. Bridget says:

    This movie looks so bad I can’t even get through a preview without rolling my eyes. Guy Richie is such a hack.

  12. StressyStudent says:

    I went to a free student preview of this movie on Monday in London and when the David Beckham scene was on the audience burst into laughter at how ridiculous he was! It was actually hilarious 😛

    I thought the movie’s fight scenes were pretty bad ass and the special effects were awesome of course, but any serious scene was laughable. Also all the women in the movie were either witches, mythical sea creatures or princesses only around to be stabbed by the bad guy. There was so much room to have a ass-kicking female soldier, a la Brienne of GoT, but Guy Ritchie can’t write for women.

    Don’t waste your money guys, this movie is not worth it.

  13. detritus says:

    I read the article yesterday about the things you don’t know about Hunnam.
    It was not appealing, but I’d like to know more about his organized crime connections. His dad did not sound like a good man.

  14. Sara says:

    I want to see this because of the Queer as Folk reunion!

  15. jenB says:

    Ah well I’m still going to see it Saturday night. Maybe now that my expectations are sufficiently lowered I’ll enjoy it more?

  16. Odette says:

    I’m watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix, and I swear one of the reasons I’m still watching is Charlie Hunnam’s terrible acting. It’s fascinating.

  17. thaisajs says:

    Guy Ritchie produced an unwatchable film? Shocking. Just shocking.

  18. ria says:

    I really hate to read that it is not good.
    My dear husband loves movies with sword fighting, even if the movie is ridiculus, give him some good sword fighting Moments and he is happy.
    Sigghh, once a month we have our Cinema night, sucks for me that it is with a not good movie.
    Well, at least i read that Jude Law has a big role.

  19. Anilehcim says:

    I find Charlie Hunnam gorgeous but completely insufferable in interviews and I have to admit, I think he’s a pretty bad actor. His acting in SOA was definitely not great and in my opinion, it only worked because the show was campy, whether it intended to be or not. I would be surprised if anything Charlie does gets great reviews.

    • Steph says:

      Lost City of Z got great reviews. Charlie better stick to working with auteurs and try gaining some respect from critics before carrying tentpoles. Taylor Kitsch 2.0