The Green Knight (2021)

The Green Knight (2021)

 

5/10

Starring

Dev Patel

Alicia Vikander

Joel Edgerton

Sarita Choudhury

 

Directed by David Lowery

 

This is an epic medieval fantasy about a knight in King Arthur’s court. The movie has a nice feel, and you won’t see any reason to doze off, but also no reason to celebrate either. Even though I enjoyed Dev Patel’s performance, I think the movie got too involved in itself. It got lost in its own game and lapsed in consistency with its suspense and magic, leaving you not fully immersed. I’m familiar with the tale, so I understood some things, but I wonder how someone who isn’t familiar would feel. Then the movie does some changes here and there that, for me, didn’t add up to a well-rounded entertainment experience.

The movie has a somewhat different ending from the source material. It also adds some twists to the tale, but the ending doesn’t match the flow with which the movie began its journey.

The movie is adapted from a 14th-century tale called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by an anonymous writer.

The plot is about Gawain (Patel), who is enjoying himself with a lady. He gets home to be scorned by his mother, Morgan La Fey. On the day when he was to be in the king’s court, she was at some gathering working sorcery. A green knight appears at the court and challenges the knights to a game. In this game, a battle will take place between him and an elected knight. When that knight strikes a blow, the fight ends, and the same equal blow will be struck on that knight the following Christmas day. Arthur wanted to take the offer, but Gawain jumps at it. The green knight doesn’t put up any fight but allows Gawain to strike, dropping his axe and laying bare his neck. Gawain cuts off the knight’s head in one swoop. But to his dismay, the body, which slumps, gets up, picks up the head, and reminds Gawain that he must meet him at the Green Chapel next Christmas to receive the same equal blow.

Gawain spends the rest of the year drinking and making merry as he is celebrated, but when the time comes, Arthur reminds him to go fulfill his promise to the knight. The movie chronicles his adventure, his challenges, and the obstacles he has to overcome to reach the Green Chapel.

If you’re into dramatic fantasy with no fights, battles, or magical beams being shot here and there, this is the movie for you. But for me, the movie fails to entertain.