Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

The Kid Who Would Be King Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 17, 2019

The Sword in the Stone is frequently cited as one of the less artful (Art[hur]-ful?) animated entries from the sixties’ canon of Walt Disney Studios, this despite the fact that it was the last feature length “cartoon” the venerable production house released before the death of its founder. As such, it’s kind of interesting to compare that film with just the opening couple of minutes of The Kid Who Would Be King, since it, too, features an animated recounting of the life of the legendary boy whom T.H. White famously dubbed “the once and future king”. The opening animation gets through at least some of the “greatest hits” of the Arthurian legend, introducing such iconic characters as Merlin and Morgana, before segueing into “live action” with a quick shot of a book about the Knights of the Round Table (so to speak), in what is obviously meant to suggest the animated overview was being culled from that book. The book of course re-enters the story somewhat later, after young British schoolboy Alex Elliot (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, looking for all the world like a “mini-me” version of his famous motion capture icon father, Andy), stumbles across a, well, sword in a stone in what appears to be an abandoned construction site. Like any kid confronted with such an anachronism, Alex tugs on the blade, and it of course dislodges from the boulder. And thus a “new, improved” once and future king is born — and that’s when the real trouble begins.

While it never really caught on, and may not even be on the radar of many fans who saw The Kid Who Would be King, BBC’s Class: Season One, a spinoff of Doctor Who, essayed some of the same sorts of material as this film, positing a bunch of British schoolkids trying to come to terms with all sorts of supernatural phenomena. What is so instantly appealing about writer-director Joe Cornish’s approach, though, is his unforced way of detailing quite nicely developed character “arcs” (as hated as that term may be), while also achieving nicely redolent echoes of the original Arthurian legends. What's also noticeable about the film is that, while it's certainly elegiac and has moments of outright intensity, it's amazingly cheerful a lot of the time, even as Alex moves through a city littered with newspapers more or less decrying the End of the World.

There are a few arguable missteps made along the way. While Alex almost instantly (and playfully) “knights” his best friend a fellow “bully-ee” Bedders (Dean Chaumoo), after an unexpected appearance from a comedy relief Merlin (Angus Imrie most of the time, with a little cameo from Patrick Stewart as the old, meaning young, version), he also enlists the aid of two “bully-ers”, Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Dorris). That in turn leads to some perhaps needless melodrama as one of those characters’ motivations may not be entirely pure. But the main conflict, as evil enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson), who has been consigned to a Persephone-esque prison underground, attempts to break free to wreak havoc is really well handled and develops to a surprisingly tense climax.

There’s also a rather wonderful balance offered here between two admitted clichés that serve as foundational elements for all sorts of films: discovering your “true self”, and becoming part of a team. Alex has to get past a somewhat roiling home life, with an absent father and understandably concerned mother (Denise Gough), but he’s also responsible for the “knights” he has recruited to defeat Morgana’s forces, which seek to give her dominion over all of England. Cornish nicely fulfills both “missions” of his screenplay without ever really tipping over into anything mawkish or even that rote, especially considering how hoary both of the underlying tenets of the film are. Visual effects are also nicely rendered, but one of the film’s most charming touches is completely practical: Merlin’s “spells” are fantastical combinations of weird arm motions and snapping fingers. Sometimes you just don’t need CGI to make magic.

The Kid Who Would Be King Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Kid Who Would Be King is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. I just recently mentioned in our Dead Ant Blu-ray review how I personally tend to prefer RED captures to Arri Alexa, but this film is an excellent example that Arri Alexas can provide exceedingly sharp and well detailed imagery as well. This presentation does offer just a slight bit of haze in some of the darkest material (as in the first scene where Alex stumbles across Excalibur), but on the whole detail levels are routinely high, even in some of the dimmer moments. As tends to be the case with greenscreened material, some of the backgrounds can occasionally look a bit on the soft side, but fine detail levels on practical items like costumes and even Excalibur's slightly scratched surface are commendable throughout, and at times even the CGI boasts really impressive details, as in the "cthonic" prison Morgana is initially held captive in. The palette is nicely robust throughout, offering a wealth of bold primaries and some really inviting interstitial tones. As tends to be the case with Fox Blu-ray releases, there are no compression issues of any note.

The Kid Who Would Be King Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I'm once again cheating ever so slightly in my score for The Kid Who Would Be King's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix, since the 4K UHD version of this film offers a Dolby Atmos track which does understandably offer more vertical engagement, so I'm scoring this a 4.5, when really I'd say it's a 5.0 when divorced from any Atmos comparison. That said, this is a knockout track from start to finish, with some excellently rendered effects that almost gush through the surround channels at times. Moments like the "eruptions" of what I'd call fire demons who have summoned by Morgana are extremely effective, but even the clatter of the noisy schoolyard where Alex and Beddos attempt to survive to fight another day offer great engagement of the side and rear channels. The pulsing score by Electric Wave Bureau also regularly exploits the surround channels. There are some boisterously forceful rumbles of LFE in selected scenes, but this track tends to be most impressive in some of its more nuanced placement of ambient environmental sounds than in any brief bombast. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly, with the possible exception of some of the spooky spectral "echoes" that accompany some of Morgana's underground pronouncements. Fidelity is fine throughout and dynamic range very wide on this extremely enjoyable track.

The Kid Who Would Be King Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 4:03)


• Origins of a King (1080p; 11:48) is an engaging EPK with some fun behind the scenes footage and interviews.


• Young Knights (1080p; 12:07) is actually pretty much more of the same, and really didn't need to be separated from the previous piece, though this focuses more on the youthful cast.


• Knight School (1080p; 10:03) looks at more of the behind the scenes action as the kids mastered their various assignments.


• The Two Merlins (1080p; 11:48) features a look at what might be called "one character, two actors", with Angus Imrie and Patrick Stewart taking center stage.


• Meet Morgana (1080p; 12:02) has some really interesting material showing how some of the effects were rendered, along with the requisite interviews with actual real, live human beings.


• Movie Magic (1080p; 10:33) is devoted to special effects.


• Hair, Makeup and Costume Tests (1080p; 2:58)


• Promotional Material

  Merlin's Magic: Duplication (1080p; 00:52)

  Merlin's Magic: Mind Control (1080p; 00:53)

  Merlin's Magic: Portals (1080p; 1:00)

  Merlin's Magic: Popcorn (1080p; 00:34)

  "Be the King" Lay Lay Music Video (1080p; 2:38)

The Kid Who Would Be King Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kind of hilariously, one of the first press releases I received months ago when this film was first having its less than spectacular theatrical exhibition (from a box office standpoint, that is), Fox inadvertently titled the film The King Who Would be King in the press materials. I guess that "once and future" part may have played into that mistake (and, yes, that's a joke). It is in fact the title of this film that I think may have put some folks off — while it certainly evokes the Arthurian angle, it just doesn't adequately convey this film's spirit or indeed its heart. There are a lot of parents lamenting the lack of what is almost pejoratively called "family entertainment" these days, and to any/all of them, I can simply say, look no further than this highly enjoyable film. Technical merits are first rate, the supplemental package extremely enjoyable (if a bit repetitive), and The Kid Who Would Be King comes Highly recommended.