Movie Review | “Arthur the King”: Familiar Underdog Treat

Getting upset at a movie like Arthur the King for being a completely predictable underdog story is like getting mad at the sky for being blue at this point. Yes, I was able to foretell this based-on-a-true-story retelling of Mikael Lindord’s 2016 memoir down to almost each element, especially with the film’s highly generic, telegraphed trailer playing before each theatrical movie in the past few weeks. Arthur the King is a crowd-pleaser in purest, most unproblematic form, and while there’s nothing notably bad structurally or technically, the lack of truly memorable moments and performances shows that there’re very few new tricks for this old dog to learn.

In 2015, adventure racing captain Michael Light fumbles a disastrous race with his team of fellow racers, beginning a hiatus from racing for 3 years. In 2018, with his career in his dad’s real estate going nowhere and the urge to run getting stronger, Michael gambles thousands of dollars and the quality of life for his family for a spot in the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. Joined by former teammates Liam and Chik with newcomer Olivia, Michael and his team trek through rain, trees, and cliffs in order to win…while followed by a mysterious dog that’ll change their lives forever.

That dog is the best part about Arthur the King, and appropriately so. Played by Australian shepherd-Border collie-Bouvier mix Ukai, Arthur is the easily lovable heart of the film. Despite being a stray and supporting an ever-worsening wound on his right shoulder, the mutt shows his strength and perseverance instead of telling us the importance of it, no matter how tired or hurt he becomes. For my money, Ukai is the best actor in the film. His human companions, however, are somehow a lot more forgettable. Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman are fine, but whether it comes down to the direction or the writing (or both), they feel underutilized.

Mark Wahlberg belongs in the same camp as a lot of big-name actors that relegate themselves to playing characters that don’t challenge them as performers, but instead allow them to just act as themselves for 90 minutes. Wahlberg plays likable, good-natured dudes well enough, but there’s nothing else to them outside of that. Michael Light is a family man who was once a twat and now is less of a twat: that’s all there is to him. There’s a moment at the start where Michael wishes to exit his father’s shadow, but Arthur the King never plays with that idea, instead centering the conflict on the external race to win the competition.

Am I being too harsh on Arthur the King? I don’t think so, the movie really is just okay. The use of shaky-cam is a cool way to express the physical strain and hectic nature of the treacherous race, there’s a zip-line sequence about halfway through that’s the single best sequence in the film, and yeah, the dog was great. I guess I’m just numb to these sanitized looks at underdog stories, and all they make me want to overcome is my urge to watch Rocky and Creed. I hope the dog got all the treats in the world.

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