School's tough for everyone but Alexander Elliot (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) is especially having a tough time as he navigates bullies and academic challenges alongside his best pal Bedders (Dean Chaumoo). Further complications arise when Alexander pulls a sword out of some cement and it turns out to be Excaliber, thus making Alexander the modern-day heir to the responsibilities of King Arthur. Now Merlin has re-emerged in the form of a teenager (played by Angus Imrie) to help mentor Alex in stopping Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) from enslaving the planet. That's a pretty steep task for a kid to handle, but Alex is convinced that his long-absent Dad might have some answers in this bold new quest of his.
One of the best parts of The Kid Who Would Be King is how Joe Cornish screenplay refuses to talk down to the youngsters in the audience. There's really nothing in here in the way of profanity or adult jokes that'll make parents want to cover their kids ears, but Joe Cornish's writing never feels like it's dumbing down its dialogue or story just to appeal to kids. The various foes they face, including an army of undead skeletons straight out of Jason and the Argonauts, are actually intimidating rather than bumbling while subplots like Alexander's emotional issues stemming from his absent father to actually have weight since they don't have their darker edges sanded off. Heck, it even avoids just shoving in gratuitous comedy that ends up undercutting pivotal dramatic moments, even the How to Train Your Dragon sequels ended up struggling with that!
Fear not though, The Kid Who Would Be King doesn't wander into tedious grimdark territory, it revels in sincerely executed heartfelt moments as much as it embraces all kinds of fun scenarios stemming from its central premise. The Kid Who Would Be King delightfully makes no apologies for being a fantasy movie (why should it?) with a horde of images and scenes that could only happen in this subgenre. Tree's serving as sword fighting mentors? Rebecca Ferguson's baddie being rooted into the Earth and looking like something out of Pan's Labyrinth? Merlin using magic as a narrative get-out-of-jail-free card when a side character needs to be convinced of doing something? The Kid Who Would Be King has got it all as it revels in all the fun afforded by its fantasy storyline.
Even Cornish's directing is a mighty big cut above expectations for modern live-action family movies. There's a solid sense of framing and blocking throughout the runtime and that's even maintained through the CGI-heavy action set pieces. Such sequences are especially commendable since, despite taking place predominately at night (Morgana's skeleton minions can only come out at night), they're executed in a visually cohesive fashion that ensures on-screen swordfights never become a murky dimly lit blur. Only real problem that emerges in this scenes is that some CGI elements, like Morgana's dragon/demon form, stand out as especially artificial placed against practical sets used to realize environments like Morgana's lair.
It's the same issue Rogue One had with plopping a discernably CGI Tarkin into a movie that otherwise predominately uses more old-school VFX work, but no worries, that's only a minor hindrance. You won't be thinking of those glimmers of iffy CGI work once The Kid Who Would Be King, instead, if you're like me, you'll be raving about Angus Imrie's work as Merlin. Imrie, in his first-ever feature film appearance (he's a British theater actor) is an utter delight with his wacky hand gestures and constantly assured line deliveries. This version of Merlin is all-too familiar with a world Alexander and pals are just becoming aware of and that's the defining worldly trait of the role that Imrie just runs with to hysterical effect.
The assorted child actors in the lead roles also turn in solid work, especially Dean Chaumoo in an extremely endearing turn as best buddy Beddars while Rebecca Ferguson (in what's easily, with apologies to The Snowman, the best non-Mission: Impossible movie she's appeared in) goes all in on chewing the scenery as baddie Morgana. Oh, and Patrick Stewart is also around in a small role to effortlessly provide immense gravitas to his line readings like only he can. Patrick Stewart, a script that doesn't talk down to kids and it never once apologizes for being a classical fantasy movie? The Kid Who Would Be King really has got it all! Writer/director Joe Cornish has delivered something so delightful here that it'll have no problem resonating with both families and general viewers alike!
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