Black Knight (film)
Black Knight is a 2001 American fantasy adventure buddy comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Martin Lawrence. In addition to Lawrence, "Black Knight" had a supporting cast of Marsha Thomason, Tom Wilkinson, Vincent Regan, and Kevin Conway. In the film, Lawrence plays Jamal, a theme park employee who is transported through time to medieval England. The film was shot at various locations in North Carolina, mainly Wilmington and Carolina Beach. "Black Knight" was theatrically released on November 21, 2001 to negative reviews and grossed $39.9 million against a production budget of $50 million . Plot. Jamal Walker (Martin Lawrence) is an everyday slacker with a job at a theme park called Medieval World, which is about to receive big competition from another theme park, Castle World. While cleaning a moat surrounding the park, he finds a medallion, and when he tries to retrieve it, he gets sucked into the past. He awakens in 1328 in England, where he is first met by a drunkard named Knolte (Tom Wilkinson). He finds a castle that he thinks is Castle World, so he decides to check it out. The tenants of the castle believe him to be  a French Moor, from Normandy, because he tells them he is from Florence and Normandie, a famous intersection in South Central Los Angeles. Jamal is soon taken in by the reigning king, King Leo (Kevin Conway). He is assumed to be a messenger from Normandy whom the king believes to be bringing news of an alliance between England and Normandy. Although at first Jamal thinks that all the people around him are just actors in a theme park, he changes his mind when he witnesses a beheading. He gives his name as Jamal "Sky" Walker after his high school basketball  nickname, and, after gaining trust from the king by accidentally preventing his assassination, Jamal is made a lord and head of security. While all of this is going on, Jamal learns from Victoria (Marsha Thomason), a chambermaid, about the ruthless way the king came to power by overthrowing the former queen. Jamal, believing the situation to be beyond his control, states to Victoria that "He is not the guy you're looking for." After a brief debate with Victoria who states that he wears the medallion and this deems him to be a man of honor, Victoria becomes frustrated with  Jamal's refusal to intervene and leaves, believing Jamal to be a coward. Later that night, the daughter of the king, Princess Regina (who is infatuated with Jamal) (Jeannette Weegar) sneaks into Jamal's bedroom. Jamal, believing the princess to be Victoria, sleeps with Regina. When the real Norman messenger arrives, seeking the Princess Regina's hand in marriage on behalf of his liege, Jamal is exposed as a fraud. The actions of the previous night have rendered an alliance with Normandy impossible, infuriating the king. Jamal is thrown straight into the dungeon and arraigned for execution with the two  assassins from the previous attempt on Leo's life. In the dungeon, the two failed assassins tell the tale of the Black Knight. It is stated that the Knight could not be bought or bribed, but would only fight for justice. It was told that he was swallowed whole by a fierce dragon, but with a sword of gold, he cut himself from the belly of the beast and he himself could breathe the fire of the dragon. The two rebels and Jamal are brought forth for execution. As a last resort and fearing his life, Jamal poses himself as  a sorcerer and attempts to scare the superstitious onlookers to make his escape. As the executioner begins to choke on an apple, the crowd believes Jamal to have cast a spell of death upon him. In the commotion, Jamal saves the executioner using the Heimlich Manoeuvre. Using this distraction and flaming arrows fired from outside the walls, Jamal escapes the castle with the aid of Victoria and finally Knolte on horseback. Jamal also learns that Knolte was really a knight of the former queen who was disgraced when she lost her throne. Through their help and his own realization of  the situation, Jamal soon understands he must help overthrow King Leo and help restore the queen to her throne. With some effort, Jamal manages to convince the decimated rebels and townsfolk to band together to overthrow the king. Using modern-day tactics used in American football and pro wrestling, he gives the peasants the means to fight the armed and armored king's guards. Out of gratitude for helping him find his honor again, Knolte teaches some basic sword-fighting manoeuvres to Jamal, and also tells him that he has an idea that may give them an advantage in the  upcoming battle. The next day, Knolte and the rebels storm the castle, only to find themselves quickly surrounded by guards and Leo's bodyguard, Percival (Vincent Regan). Seemingly outmatched by armor, archers and cavalry, the rebels are pushed back. The tide turns briefly when the legendary Black Knight charges in, breathing fire and scattering the guards, but the plan goes awry when he falls from his horse and is revealed to be Jamal in disguise. Using their newfound skills, the peasants succeed in overpowering the guards, but Knolte is severely wounded by a longbow shot from Percival, who takes Victoria  hostage. King Leo becomes scared as his troops are being defeated, and asks Percival for safety. Percival, who already sees Leo as pathetic and weak as a leader, kills him and throws him in the moat. Charging to the rescue, Jamal surprises Percival with his fighting skills, rescuing Victoria. However, after waking from being knocked out by Jamal, Percival is then shot dead by Knolte before he could administer a killing blow to Jamal. Jubilation surrounds the rebels when they realize victory is theirs. After the queen's reign is restored, Jamal is knighted by her. During the dubbing, he  awakes back at Medieval World surrounded by his co-workers and a medical team, who saved him from drowning in the moat, implying that Jamal's entire adventure was a dream. Jamal's whole attitude changes from his experience, and he helps his boss to make Medieval World better so that Castle World will not run them out of business. Later on, Jamal takes a walk around the new Medieval World and meets a woman named Nicole (Thomason) who looks just like Victoria. They talk a little and he asks her out to lunch. Unfortunately, Jamal forgets to get Nicole 's number, and when he tries to catch up to her, he accidentally falls back into the moat, waking up in the Colosseum of Ancient Rome, where he is about to be devoured by lions. Production. Development. The film was announced to release on November 21, 2001 by Fox. Reception. Box office. The film opened at #4 at the U.S. box office on its opening weekend with $11.2 million. "Black Knight" grossed $39.9 million worldwide against a $50 million budget, making it a box office bomb. Critical response. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating  of 14% based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 3.52/10. The site's consensus states, ""Black Knight" feels like a lazily constructed movie, filled with lame gags and constant mugging from Lawrence." The film has also drawn attention from scholars. Addressing it as one of the few contemporary films that cast African American characters in medieval settings, Laurie A. Finke and Martin B. Shichtman noted that the film provided commentary on early 21st-century race relations in the United States, noting that despite his triumphs in the medieval setting, by the end, Jamal "continues to live in white  America, which requires hybridity, not dominance, from African American men. He may be a better man for his excellent medieval adventure, but he is still black, poor, underemployed, and living in the hood.”