The kid who would be King

Writer-Director Joe Cornish’s long awaited return to cinemas after his spectacular debut “Attack the Block” is a film that’s at once a familiar child-centric version of Arthurian legend and a film that’s very aware it takes place in 2019. There’s a simple heart to this as our young hero, Alex, pursues his goals (including a couple of surprise twists), accompanied by both mortal friends (best friend Bedders and school bullies-turned-allies Lance and Kay) and the immortal magician Merlin (who’s carefully doled out both as an exposition device and as a deus ex-machina – he’s not allowed to overwhelm the leads). This does have a very British sensibility (even down to the villainous’ Morgana’s threat being specifically to enslave Britain, not the world) and there’s a surprisingly mordant sense of the general awfulness of the political landscape at the moment, but in general it keeps things fast and fresh and clever. Perhaps it’s a bit more middle-class than “Attack the Block” was, and a little more family friendly, but it’s a fast fun functional family adventure.