Netflix's The King Review

I just got done watching the King for third time and I still love this movie. I can't confidently say that this is one of the greatest films ever made, but it is one of my favorite films i've ever watched.

I think this film had a certain charm to it. The acting is so elite that the performance alone made the characters feel well realized. This was the film that introduced me to Timothée Chalamet and it was quite the introduction. His use of mannerisms, whether that be through facial expressions, or bodily movements to convey the character of Hal was so well done. It felt like you were seeing actual people from history going about their day.

Joel Edgerton killed it as Halstaff. Halstaff is that fun uncle who always had stories and life lessons to give, but at the same time will stand his ground with the utmost integrity.

I sort of felt bad for Robert Patterson in his role as The Dauphin because it didn't do justice to the talent he has. Now Robert Patterson did his best and was a great Dauphin. The problem is that Dauphin as a character himself isn't that interesting. He comes off as this cocky young prince who is set up to be this typical villain. It also didn't help when it came to the anticlamctic ending of his character.

This brings us to Sean Harris as William Gascoigne who was the real villain of the story. One that hadn't been revealed until near the end of the film. The man orchestrated everything that would eventually make Hal into someone he didn't want to be. For the entire movie he had been portrayed as a good advisor for Hal but he mixed truth with lies to stir him into going into war with France. This war with France took more from him than he'd liked. It caused the death of innocents such as his soldiers, his best friend Falstaff. He even executed his cousin wiyhout good reason because of him. What took the cake was that William was the cause of Hal's negative character arc. He went from a simple, cheerful and peaceloving person to an angry, perhaps even bloodthirsty, king. The fact that William had accomplished this made him an interesting and well executed villain. This might have been the first film i've seen that revealed the true villain toward the end.

All the characters were great and the performances were out of this world.

I loved the cinematographyof this film. It contributed to the dark and medieval vibe. The use of shadows was very intersting to me especially when it came to Hal. The moment before he decided to address grey and cambridge he stood at the door of the room in complete shadow that gave this ominous affect that signified the darkening of his character.

The soundtrack is probably one of the greatest i've ever heard rivaling that of Interstellar in my opinion.

The siege scene was easily the best combination of cinematography and score. Again there was great use of light and darkness as the sun got to setting over the course of the scene. When night had completely fallen the only source of light came from the flaming projectiles of the trebuchet. It briefly bathed the soldiers in its light as it soared towards the enemie castle, before the darkness engulfed them once more.

Overall this was a great watch for me and I can see myself watching it a couple more times in the future.