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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Black Knight
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 out of 4
| *Also starring: | Kevin Conway, Dikran Tulaine, Erik Jensen, Marsha Thomason |
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Review by Susan Granger
2 stars out of 4
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In this very loose adaptation of Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur's Court," Martin Lawrence stars as Jamal Walker who works in
Medieval World amusement park. One day, after getting hit on the head and
falling into the fetid castle moat, he unexpectedly finds himself in feudal 14th
century England. But unlike Twain's 1889 Camelot classic, there's no King
Arthur, Merlin or even Knights of the Round Table. Instead, writers Darryl
Quarles ("Big Momma's House"), Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, along with
director Gil Junger, emphasize the fish-out-of-water riff. And the historical
hallucinatory set-up is funny as Jamal befriends Sir Knolte (British actor Tom
Wilkinson), a once-legendary but now decrepit knight, and falls in love with
feisty, wily and willful Victoria (British actress Marsha Thompson), while
antagonizing Percival (British actor Vincent Regan), a villainous knight who
wants to crush the peasant rebellion against an evil, illegitimate monarch
(Kevin Conway). While Lawrence, a swaggering dude from the 'hood in a bright
green football jersey, repeatedly identifies himself as "Sir Skywalker," the
peasants dub him "The Black Knight" as he trains his new "army" in football and
wrestling techniques in order so they can conquer Percival and his armor-clad
cohorts. Originally, Chris Tucker was cast as the street-smart Jamal but Martin
Lawrence easily adapts the role to his own sharply distinctive style of
inventive, improvisational comedy which includes repetitive contemporary slang,
profanity and jiving dance moves. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Black
Knight" is a grooving 5. It's a vulgar version of "A Knight's Tale" in that both
are lightweight medieval comedies in which the sad-sack protagonist is
eventually proclaimed a hero.
Copyright © 2001 Susan Granger
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