Like most major studios, Netflix has waited until this winter to release their own possible award contender films. One of the films Netflix seems to feel most strongly about is “The King” which just recently hit the streaming service. After being blown away by “Dolemite Is My Name”, I had to check this film out as well.
The film depicts the early life of Prince/King Henry V as he goes from being the unwanted heir to the throne to the king of England. Upon becoming king, Henry V aspires to lead his people differently than his father and usher in a more peaceful reign in England. Things become increasingly more complicated however when it appears that France is provoking Henry V. Before long, England and France end up clashing at Agincourt and the outnumbered English army end up managing to win the battle.
The film is based on “Henry IV, Part 1”, “Henry IV, Part 2”, and “Henry V” by William Shakespeare. While the basic stories of his three plays remain intact, the film removes Shakespeare’s dialogue. While I certainly understand changing William Shakespeare’s dialogue to make his work more accessible to modern audiences, this film fails at doing so in my opinion because it removes the Bard’s dialogue for it’s own weighty and bloated dialogue.
The cast of this film is something of a mixed bag. Rising star Timothee Chalamet stars in this film as Henry V. While the young actor did a respectable job as the king of England, he also didn’t wow me either. This film certainly doesn’t give me faith in his leading man status at this point and leaves me a bit worried about the upcoming “Dune” remake for which he stars in.
As for the supporting cast, Joel Edgerton (who also co-wrote the script) shines as Flastaff, a close friend and confidant of Henry V. Edgerton is without a doubt the highlight of the film. Sean Harris also delivers a memorable performance in the film as well. Lastly, Robert Pattinson co-stars as the Dauphin of France and delivers the most talked about performance in the film (with some people loving it and others finding it cringe worthy). To me, Pattinson’s accent and performance was a bit over the top and jarring compared to the other performers (which is why so many people hated it) but I think he gave that performance to make his character more accessible to a modern audience (which is why some people consider it a highlight). Honestly, I personally thought it was the best part of the movie while also becoming a bit worried about his performance in “The Batman” at the same time.
There are a lot of nice visual shots in the film and the costume design is excellent. I do wish director David Michod would have made the battle of Agincourt feel larger in scale. I am sure Michod provided a more realistic approach to the battle, but with battle scenes, sometimes more is more. With that being said, when the battle scenes are more tightly focused on character actions, they are very well shot and provide a scene of danger to the characters.
At the end of the day, if you are going to watch a William Shakespeare light film like “The King” on Netflix, you might as well skip this and just go full Shakespeare with Kenneth Branagh’s “Henry V”. If you feel lost watching “Henry V”, you won’t find “The King” any more approachable.
Grade: D+
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