It Worked for Keanu
This is exactly the movie you think it’s going to be – for better and worse.
Arthur the King
Director: Simon Cellan Jones • Writer: Michael Brandt, based on the book by Mikael Lindnord
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman, Juliet Rylance, Rob Collins, Ukai
USA • 1hr 44mins
Opens Hong Kong April 18 • IIA
Grade: B
Lots of people don’t like animal movies. Fair enough. They’re usually manipulative and saccharine, and too often start pet crazes that end with thousands upon thousands of abandoned animals or flushed fish. This is actually a myth, but it’s something cranks like to tell themselves. That said, most of us like animals, scads of us have pets, and puppies and kittens have been staples in advertising for decades because awwwwwww! Look how cute!
Arthur, played by movie dog Ukai, in Arthur the King is very cute. Cute in a mangy, sad way that tugs at the heartstrings and makes you run home to hug your pet if you have one. Adapted from Arthur - The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home, this is by-the-numbers, feel-good family fare loaded up with bland if noble messages about perseverance and selflessness that’s going to win precisely zero awards for originality. But it also ticks a million boxes for anyone looking for some wholesome traditionalism that flirts with progressiveness (Asians! Arabs! Indigenous people! Women!) that makes it seem hip and 21st century. This is Mark Wahlberg’s new brand and Arthur the King is a nearly ideal vehicle in which to declare it. Hey, going to bat for a dog did wonders for Keanu Reeves’s career, why not? Arthur the King is harmless, neither good nor bad and you’ll take from it what you take in. And the dog is really cute.
A boy and his dog
Now, this Ecuadorean street dog rescue was supposedly big news back in 2015 when it happened, but I’ll admit it slipped under my radar at the time. If, like me, you’re coming to Arthur the King with no backstory prestige TV director Simon Cellan Jones (The Diplomat, Ballers, Treme), making his second Marky Mark movie, and writer Michael Brandt (kick ass western 3:10 to Yuma, the Chicago Public Services TV series) are pretty efficient in laying the groundwork. We start in Costa Rica, with “legendary” adventure racer Michael Light (Wahlberg) and his team crapping out and getting stuck in the mud during the last legs of a race – think HK Four Trails with canoeing – and losing. Three years later, Michael’s moping in Colorado and still regretting his last race, while a street pooch fights for food scraps and dodges (canine) bullies in the Dominican Republic (standing in for Ecuador). Desperate for one last chance at glory and a legacy better than the one he has, of him pouting in the mud, he puts together a new team: Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel, Fast X) is the daughter of a world-renowned climber; Chik (Ali Suliman) is a runner with a busted knee that’s been dumped from arch rival Decker’s (Rob Collins) crew; and Leo (Simu Liu finally showing some actual charm) is Michael’s old teammate and the architect of said current, shitty legacy. He and his one million Instagram followers are also a condition of a modest sponsorship. Off Michael goes to DR with his new team and, finally, glory.
Glory doesn’t come so easily, but after Michael’s team faces a string of personal and athletic challenges, and of course picks up Arthur – who has his own medical challenges – everyone finds a different, more rewarding kind of glory. Nothing says “Ka-ching” quite like Instagram follows because you rescued a stray dog and welcomed him into your inner circle. The internet loves that shit. That said, the dog stuff is woven tightly into the race story, so depending on your interest in adventure sports the film’s multiple sequences of zip-lining across jungle caverns or trail running could be taxing. It’s a gorgeous backdrop, though, so maybe the DR can expect a tourism boom in 3…2…
Arthur the King is a specific kind of uplifting, one that wallows in the bonds we forge with our dogs (or cats, rabbits, hamsters, fish… whatever) and really hammers at the companionship quality of that bond. Michael and Arthur click fast, and despite Wahlberg’s limited range you buy it; Ukai clearly raised Marky Mark’s game. But it’s not just Michael. Olivia, Chik and Leo all come to a place where they too will make sacrifices for Arthur – and each other – and accept that trophies aren’t everything. Corny? Hell, yes. And it’s all wrapped in the very safe trappings of classic American manhood: Michael’s wife Helena (Juliet Rylance, who was luminous in the HBO remake of Perry Mason) is also an endurance athlete – but no, no. She’s not on the new team. She’s a wife and mother now, you see. That’s her whole character. When it looks like Arthur’s going to have to pack for doggie heaven no, no. Michael will take him to a “real” vet in the US of A. Jones and Wahlberg aren’t out to reshape society so the 1950s grandpa attitude is a given. Shaking a fist at that, or any of Arthur the King’s schmaltz is wasted energy. It’s a dog movie. The dog will win every time. — DEK