The King is so laden with the trappings of profundity and prestige that in the end, it smothers itself to death.

| Dec 6, 2019

The plays are about [Hal's] youth and immaturity - his unreadiness to be king - and Chalamet captures that impetuousness.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 22, 2019

Almost everything about The King works brilliantly, from the casting (not least Robert Pattinson as a deliciously detestable Dauphin) to the generally cracking script by Michôd and Edgerton.

| Nov 13, 2019

Separate from Shakespeare's influence, The King doesn't quite work. Its greatest strength is its visual language, which focuses on the tedium of war.

| Nov 6, 2019

All this is to say that, yes, Pattinson really is the only reason to watch The King. In a film that takes itself so SO seriously, he decided to have a little fun. His performance as the Dauphin is not necessarily what you'd call "good."

| Nov 4, 2019

The Battle Of Agincourt has never looked better. But despite valiant efforts from an underused cast, this is not quite the definitive take on Shakespeare's Henriad.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 1, 2019

What should be soaring is instead lugubrious; what should be a ripping good yarn is instead dutiful and a little bit dull.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 23, 2019

Having survived the trial-by-fire of emerging as a sensitive, talented actor...Pattinson is free from the tyranny of having to make "good" decisions, giving him the opportunity to make interesting ones instead.

| Oct 16, 2019

To quote another of the Bard's royal characters, it ends up feeling like a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

| Oct 16, 2019

I don't expect David Michod's new film to dominate your Netflix home queue for very long, given that the movie - a messy and frequently bloody blend of Shakespeare's Henriad plays, but devoid of their language, scope and, well, drama - is forgettable.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 15, 2019

The battle scenes have a crunchy, tactile feel, all swords slicing chainmail, but there's something standard-issue slick about the rest of the proceedings.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 14, 2019

Adam Arkapaw's sombre, mellow cinematography is simply splendid and all elements of the production, notably the costumes designed by Fiona Crombie and Jane Petrie, are flawless. There's also a great music score by Nicholas Britell.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 12, 2019

With weighty things to say about contemporary and corrupt institutions of power and even dangers of male hegemony, Michôd's non-preachy The King comes with philosophical heft and visual authority to match.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 11, 2019

So much of the poetry and the sense of loss has gone from this decaffeinated version of the story.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 11, 2019

Michôd's most clever revision is in how artfully and skillfully he renders the film's final battle at Agincourt, only to undercut it with a more disquieting concluding note. Shakespeare, robbed of its poetry and its harmony, isn't so much.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 10, 2019

I admire the sentiment but wish Michôd had crafted something more surprising.

| Oct 10, 2019

What's left is primarily a series of grand battleground set pieces - filmed crunchily, and well - and a series of consistently strong performances.

| Original Score: B | Oct 10, 2019

Chalamet is powerful in his first authoritative role.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 10, 2019

It looks to Shakespeare for its basic cues before taking off with a few imaginative flourishes. Most notably it gives Falstaff a new lease of life.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2019

What Michôd never manages to make clear is what we are to make of this version's nationalism, its glorification of war, its ambivalence toward corrupting power and its selective, finally misguided attempt to brush off Shakespeare.

| Oct 10, 2019