Movie Review: ‘Arthur The King’

Usually, movies that are “based on a true story” bore me. Real life is beautiful and amazing, but it can be boring (and sometimes terrifying) and trying to escape into an exciting fictional film world only to find more of that boredom can be tiresome. However (you had to guess that opening statement was heading for a “however”), the story in Arthur the King is told in a way that is exciting/thrilling, fast-paced, and inspiring (though I will never be able to participate in the type of adventure racing seen in the movie). The movie does not get bogged down with extended meaningless action sequences or unnecessary character development.

The movie can be broken down into three sections. The first section is largely about adventure racing, a team sporting competition that comprises multiple disciplines like mountain biking, kayaking, mountain climbing, and hiking. Mark Wahlberg, as Michael Light (a fictional version of Mikael Lindnord on whom the story is based), leads two teams, first a team that fails to finish showing Michael’s lowest point from which he spends a lot of the movie trying to overcome. A few years later, he puts together the second team for one final shot at glory. The team includes Shang-Chi Ken (Simu Liu) as an Instagram Influencer, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), a mountain climber that only joins for her father, and Chik (Ali Suliman), who has won before, but has an injured knee.

If you were enticed to see this movie because of the promotion of the dog, you might be slightly disappointed since he is barely in the first section (and it is a lengthy section which is why I say “sections” instead of “thirds”). As I said, the first section is largely about the races and if it were not for some inserted shots of the dog wondering around, you would probably forget this was promoted as a dog movie. The highlights of the race include some action and life-or-death thrills and great scenic views.

What I considered to be the second section begins when the dog finally joins the team after inexplicably reuniting with them 3 days and 200 hundred miles after Michael gave the dog a few meatballs at a rest stop. How did he get there? Might never know. The dog is clearly injured, but tags along and helps them avert death at least once, earning the trust and admiration of the whole team.

The third section is the post-race section wherein the filmmakers try to make the audience think the dog was going to die one way or another. Spoiler, this is not Old Yeller. During the last two sections, Michael’s priorities shift from the race to the dog, and he realizes his real legacy should be other people/family/animals. It is a heartwarming ending to an inspirational story. It might feel rushed in some spots, but, overall, I found it to be enjoyable.