Movie Thoughts: Arthur the King (2024)

 

• Released: February 22, 2024
  
• Directed by: Simon Cellan Jones
• Running time: 1h 47min
• Rating 4/5

Synopsis

An adventure racer befriends a stray dog. Together, with the rest of their team, they want to be the first to make it to the finish line.

My Thoughts

I've honestly seen basically no advertisements of this movie so I'm glad I didn't miss out on it being in theaters, because it does really appeal to me in general. Adventures, a flawed main character, pretty environments and a cute dog. What's not to like?

And I'm glad to report I did really like the movie. I wouldn't call it perfect, but I had a good time and it even made me tear up a few times, something that rarely happens when watching movies. I think the adventure race part of the film is exciting and the dog stuff is just cute and wholesome. 

If I do have some criticisms it's that some things which are set up just never really go anywhere. One of Michael's co-racers randomly dumps the fact that one of her relatives is dying from cancer at a point in the film, but it's never really followed up on. We get no resolution to this, it's just "he's dying and he wanted me to finish this race". 

The same applies to when the vets say that Arthur will not survive the flight to the USA, and that the local authorities will not allow the dog to even take said flight. Neither of these points end up being a big deal because Arthur makes it out of the flight okay and the local authorities give their stamp of approval for moving him without much of a hassle. So these three instances are basically just setup where there is no real (big) payoff. Also come to think of it, the fact that Michael used some of his wife's money to pay for the race is not really addressed much, either. So yeah, it could've done a better job paying off what was set up.

Also, I gotta say that Bear Grylls' narration in this film was distracting as hell. It did not feel fitting to the tone of the movie. I get what they were going for, but he narrates the film like it's an epic documentary instead of a film that's supposed to pull on one's heartstrings.

But overall I consider this a good and emotional movie. Not perfect but if you love dogs or adventure-style movies I do recommend this one.