In my long life, rarely have I loathed a movie like I loath this movie. I don't know where to begin, but perhaps all I really need to say is that the casting of Nigel Terry as Arthur ranks as one of the greatest casting blunders of all time. His weak face, his lack of conviction, his negligible screen presence -- it's just totally baffling. In this film, the sun never shines, and the players never smile. Ah yes, the players. They bark their lines as if they are performing in the round at the Globe Theater or, alternatively, upstaging Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in their latest screwball comedy. Seriously, has there ever been more incoherent dialogue? And, if you hadn't read the Classic Comic back in the 1950s, would you have ever had a clue what this movie is (ostensibly) about? The direction. So stiff, so uneven, so uninspired. It's just a complete mess, and, despite the acting achievements of the players in other endeavors, I decline to get caught up in the usual momentum, where bad movies are invariably praised because they are not just bad, but astoundingly bad. This is storytelling at its very worst,and doleful, dark, and dreary only suggest how awful this movie is.
