'King Arthur' is royally awful

Editor's note: Robert Setlock is a movie reviewer who runs the YouTube channel, Organized Chaos. He recently watched "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" and reviewed the movie."King Arthur: Legend of the Sword"• Setlock review: * out of five stars• Rated: PG-13• In theaters nationwideThe story of King Arthur is one that has been told and retold many times over with many different incarnations, from "Le Morte D'Arthur" to "The Once and Future King" to "Mists of Avalon."It's a tale everyone knows, and everyone likes to reinvent. This is not one of those incarnations. Sure, the main character is Arthur Pendragon (Charlie Hunnam), son of King Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana). Arthur proves his heritage by pulling the sword Excalibur from a stone. That about where the similarities end. A couple of characters share names with characters from the legend. A round table does pop up. But that's it."King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" borrows its story from many other classic sources while seemingly ignoring all it can from Arthurian lore:• A bit where Arthur appears to grow up in fighting pits hearkens to "Conan."• A squid woman advises the main villain and looks like a clone of Ursula, minus the personality, from "The Little Mermaid."• Arthur's rescue as an infant is a direct reference to the story of Moses.• The most prominent story is that of "Hamlet," with an Uncle (Jude Law) killing Arthur's father to take the crown. I guess they felt it would be too obvious to also have the uncle marry Uther's wife.I might've been able to forgive the massive liberties that make the story unrecognizable if the characters were likable in any way. They're not. Quite often, Arthur comes off as an obnoxious douche. Yes, Arthur who frequently displays humility in other works is, at many times, insufferably arrogant here.Guy Ritchie does manage the usual flourishes for which he's known.Sometimes they fail: As an example, an early montage that feels like Ritchie couldn't decide at which speed to play the video.Sometimes they almost work: For instance, an action sequence late in the movie that comes off like a slow-mo Zack Snyder-style scene tuned up to maximum impact.The best scene is midway through Act 2 in which the construct is reminiscent of a heist scene wherein Ritchie uses music, dialogue and editing to build a moment that is fairly decent. Unfortunately, that scene is drowned out by the piles of crap surrounding it.The filmmakers have filled their world with truly annoying characters that are forced into an Arthurian shell, and, unfortunately, they are not the first to employ the aura of "Camelot" to sell tickets. Subsequently, Hollywood has vaults of movies which examine various aspects of this legend, almost all of which are better than this.This movie couldn't complete the quest.Charlie Hunnam stars in "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword."