The Critics Need To Be Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered

Rating: 10/10 (8 November 2019)

The King is without a doubt one of the best written, directed, acted, and produced pieces of medieval film ever made. The cinematography, productions design, music, casting, costume design, and every other part of this production were top notch. David Michod and Joel Edgerton did a extraordinary job writing this story in such a way that it felt like the characters and dialogue were completely believable. David Michod does a superb job directing both the action and dialogue heavy scenes. I will definitely be seeing all his future directorial efforts.
Timothee Chalamet is phenomenal. I haven't been this impressed with an up and coming actor since I first saw Leonardo DiCaprio. I expect to see big things from him in the future. His character arc from a drunken prince that nobody respected to the well respected king of England is believable and satisfying. Joel Edgerton was excellent as Sir John, friend of Prince Hal. He did an excellent job playing the reluctant warrior. Without him saying a word you could tell had seen his share of war, knew the horrors of it all, and still wanted to fight and sacrifice for his King. One of the few female characters in this film is the wonderful Lily-Rose Depp as Catherine of Valois. She is beautiful, strong willed, and perfectly cast in this role. I absolutely hated the Twilight movies, but Robert Pattinson started to change my mind with his performance with The Lost City of Z, and solidified his position as an outstanding actor in my book with his performance, although brief, as the Dauphin of France. Ben Mendelsohn is in the film only briefly as King Henry the 4th, but he is outstanding as always. He is one of those actors that can make a big splash with only a few scenes.
The Battle of Agincourt is the most realistic medieval battle scene I have ever seen put to film. Usually movies show medieval battles as intricate sword fights and well choreographed battle sequences. The King shows battles like they actually were. The battlefield is filthy, the sides start off organized and soon descend into chaos, and with everyone covered in mud it's hard to tell who is your friend and who is your enemy. This film does a great job in this battle scene showing just how tiring it is to actually fight in armor on a wet battlefield with swords, axes, and hammers. During the siege of Stirling it shows a great depiction of the use of Trebuchet's to pound a fortification into submission. I love Trebuchet's and its not that often you get to see them in use.
Do yourself a favor, if you haven't already, and go watch this movie right now!