The Green Knight; A24’s Fantasy Tale Will Be Remembered In Years to Come. Grade: B
The Green Knight tells a tale about an up and coming knight named Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), whom beheaded The Green Knight (Ralph Ineson). The Green Knight flees away, as Sir Gawain will then from a year on embattled on a quest to go to where The Green Knight stays at, as Sir Gawain will then on complete the process of officially becoming a worthy Knight.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding this fantasy A24 tale dating back to last year, the way it has been marketed including having an official board game for it's release is pretty unheard of. Of course with the pain in the ass and all from last year, fans and those extremely curious about what an A24 fantasy film would turn out to be had to patiently wait for awhile. So what was the turnout?! Well The Green Knight most certainly follow the likes of any other fantasy film of it's nature. If you're looking for an exciting adventure, filled with countless amount of violence and gore, you're not going to get it out of The Green Knight, which is why a fair amount of movie goers were certainly disappointed.
The Green Knight is a film that follows a fantasy tale, in which delivers I believe several meaningful lessons. Lessons in which when success is handed to you on a silver platter, the honorable title in which you're striving for will not be earned deservely. When Sir Gawain easily beheads the Knight, even Gawain can't believe it was that easy. As we've come to realize over the course of time, that Gawain through his journey remains steadily the same from that event, meaning he remains to be the unworthy knight in which could not hold pride of one. That's why when we're shown what it would be like for Gawain to become a knight, his entire empire has fallen due to the fact he's nowhere near deserving of the title because he has not worked to rightfully earn the thorne.
Within the journey, it could express a meaningful lesson about one trying to discover thyself. I believe within the journey, Gawain learned a great deal about the world around him, such as dangers of the world, lust, temptation and such. I believe in the ending it showed a great deal towards a meaningful lesson of pride. In order to be a trusted knight, one must honor thy pride, meaning when death comes around... You have to be strong and accept it, like a knight would do for it's people.
The Green Knight though slowly placed as this perhaps is David Lowery's style of storytelling, as we've seen in the past in films such as A Ghost Story and who can forget the Disney Live Action remake of Pete's Dragon . However the film is steadily paced, as Lowery delivers a truly vivid experience with his own fantasy tale. Sure it may not have the exciting factor with regards to violence, however as a film of it's own it is delivering not only a meaningful tale but delivers a stunning visual experience, especially the worlds explored in this tale and the creatures that come along with it. Followed by a lovely composed score and an pretty damn good assembled cast, led by Dev Patel whom gives quite a great performance as Gawain.
The Green Knight is one of those films in which will age well over the course of time, creating a unique original experience within it's genre.
Overall, The Green Knight was dope! I recommend checking this one out, I will say it's not for everyone however if you have an open mind are looking for an experience, The Green Knight will certainly do that for ya. -Mitch Smietana