Review: ‘Last Knights’ puts everything into the last act (Includes first-hand account)

People’s fascination with the medieval era can be traced to long before George R. R. Martin penned the Westeros odyssey in the now widely popular Game of Thrones series. The many stories surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table captured people’s imaginations and have been translated into countless films and books. The period offers so many opportunities for tales of love, bravery, allegiance and war. Last Knights are a dying breed whose fierce loyalty knows no limits.

Bartok (Morgan Freeman) is a nobleman who’s earned the commitment of his knights through mutual respect. Having rescued Raiden (Clive Owen) from a dark path in his youth, he now captains the men and is the closest Bartok has come to a son of his own. When a greedy minister (Aksel Hennie) oversteps his authority, Bartok refuses to stand for the injustice and pays dearly for his opposition. Devastated by the condemnation of their master, Raiden’s men plot his revenge.

This is a film that concerns itself with absolute corruption and loyalty. On the one hand, the minister’s depravity spreads through every aspect of the kingdom and almost everyone is afraid to challenge his immorality. He explicitly demands substantial kickbacks from all the nobleman and frequently abuses his wife. The emperor (Peyman Moaadi) tolerates his behaviour as if under a spell similar to the one that compelled Théoden to follow the advice of Grima a.k.a. “Wormtongue” in The Lord of the Rings. Conversely, Raiden’s and his men’s allegiance to Bartok is infinite, each choosing to follow his command and defend him with their lives, exhibiting the true honour of a knight that is no longer widespread amongst those who serve. Unfortunately for Ito (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the same code of honour obliges him to protect his master, the minister.

After Bartok questions the state of affairs, the attention shifts to Raiden’s incomprehensible despair and the efforts of the knights to avenge their master intercut with the minister’s paranoia and widening influence. What this amounts to is a lot of talking and covert business, but not much fighting. In spite of the noticeably reduced pace, it’s mostly bearable even if it does go on for too long. And the audience’s patience is eventually rewarded with an epic battle sequence worthy of a medieval production. Sword-fighting, arrows flying, explosions and far from even odds produce a thrilling ending that redeems most of the film’s other faults.

Director: Kazuaki Kiriya
Starring: Clive Owen, Morgan Freeman and Aksel Hennie

Similar Posts

  • Review: Even Gina Carano can’t rescue ‘Extraction’ (Includes first-hand account)

    It’s impossible to know what levels and types of espionage are undertaken to ensure the safety of a population from various internal and external threats. But if you were to believe the movies, it’s a lot and is generally unsanctioned or carried out by unauthorized operatives. These fantastical missions require exceptional skill, a tolerance for violence, an ironic distrust of authority and a foreseeable personal stake in the outcome. For better or worse, Extraction follows this formula to a tee.

  • Review: ‘War on Everyone’ is inappropriately hilarious (Includes first-hand account)

    When pondering the size of the universe, it can be interesting to wonder what an alien race completely unfamiliar with our customs and processes would think of the world. Things that make perfect sense to us may be entirely bewildering to them. However, it’s not really necessary to go beyond our universe to encounter such confusion. The Earth is populated with so many different cultures and nationalities, it’s easy to be confounded by another person’s traditions when they are not your own. The same can be said about movie genres. War on Everyone is U.K. director John Michael McDonagh‘s interpretation of the American buddy cop comedy and it kind of puts the beloved genre into perspective.

  • Review: Rom com narrator does opposite of ‘Playing it Cool’ (Includes first-hand account)

    Finding “the one” is a complex quest with no sure fire directives. For most people it’s a matter of trial and error, and even then it may not live up to expectations or be everything you pictured. Unfortunately love is not an exact science, though learning from those experiences is part of the journey. In Playing it Cool, a man whose shunned love most of his life is surprised to find his ideal match is unavailable.

  • Review: ‘1917’ puts audiences on the battlefield (Includes first-hand account)

    Period war dramas still tend to resonate with audiences. Films set during the First and Second World Wars are especially effective, though most of the viewers were not yet alive during the former or, in many cases, even the latter. The less technologically-sophisticated combat strategies and weaponry seem to correlate with greater personal risk to the soldiers, who were generally young men asked to fight and die for their countries. Bouts of fear are mixed in with acts of heroism as they march over the bodies of their fallen friends to finish the task they started together. 1917 follows two British soldiers on a mission to limit the bloodshed.