Kaamelott: First Installment

Good movie!

Kaamelott is a fair movie but you have to know the TV series, to appreciate the tone and inside jokes. The story is a continuation from the ending of the series. The film kind loose it's sharpness in the middle, and get it back at the end. So, there are parts that feels a bit ordinary. Not much action, and not spectacular. It's a low budget comedy. The soundtrack is pretty good. I give it 72%. It's not perfect and not always well rhythm in terms of pace, but I think it was a nice return to the lore and comedy of Kaamelott.

To be straight - people that do not know the original series, won't understand this movie. And it's a question if fans can like it. It's so bad, that after using IMDB without registry, i registered to leave the firs review ever. Hoped it to be at least 50% of what Les Visiteurs was, but thats not even 5%. I know that french comedy is specific (mostly linguistical), so watching the translated version possibly spoiled some jokes, but even with that, i saw less than 5 jokes over whole movie. It is not comedy enougth to be comedy movie, and the 3 minutes of lighting effect on the sword is not enougth for this to be fantasy movie. It's not funny if you watch it with brains turn off, and not funny when you try to watch it with deeper analysis. It's just not fun. I love absurd comedies, but without enougth density and good punch lines, the movie is just absurd. I adore Les Visiteurs, Monthy phyton and the holy grail, Brians life. But Asterix and Obelix movies are much funnier than this. Its possibly just a bad scripted first year student intro movie for upcoming TV series, that won't be aired outside France.

The series is amazing. 10 stars. But the film was quite underwhelming. Arthur is forced to come back and ends up accepting his role. Basically that is the whole film. The costumes are ridiculous. In the series they were quite of the time or at least as we think of as of the time. In the film they look like something out of Dr Who (fans will know what I mean). Definitely don't watch if you haven't watched the TV show because you will not understand otherwise.

First, to answer English reviewers who believe something was lost in translation. Well, no. Maybe something was lost but the film is not good in French either. I'm a native French speaker. I've loved the TV show and I find this move to be just boring and generally not very good. In a nutshell: The music is good. The story doesn't make sense. The characters actions and motivations do not make sense. The costumes are awful. The humor is flat and empty. I ... got ... bored : something that I find unthinkable when it comes to Kaamelott. If you have seen the TV show, don't watch this movie. If you want to watch this movie: don't, just watch the TV show.

source: Kaamelott: First Installment

Was it worth 10 years of wait? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. The biggest problem is the story is full of holes and the pacing is not great. While it worked fine in the shorter tv format, it is quite frustrating that characters come and go totaly randomly, that some have one or two lines, that some actions that could have been interesting are skipped, but that some scenes that are not very interesting go on and on (like the opening and the sport match). Even Lancelot only have a stint and no character development: what is he doing with Mevanwi, why does he hide Guenievre? Don't know. How did Arthur ended up in slavery when we last saw him in Roma? No idea. And the numerous flashbacks to the young Arthur bring nothing to the story or backstory. Still the lines are funny, the costumes crazy, the music great and it's heartwarming to see all those actors again. But in the end, it feels more like a supercut of tv skits then like an actual movie. Also, I am pretty sure the upcoming film will focus on the younger generation of characters introduced here, Star Wars style.

I love the serie... but this movie try to tell a story and insert joke here and there, without ever truly committing to the movie format. It dragged some scene and include a backstory for no reason. It is darker than it suppose to be and we exit the theatre wondering 'what did i just watch?". I laughed a few time but as much as would have expected. Some people in the theatre didnt know the serie and left. I dont understand the praise.. It is not bad but not as good as the critics told me. A lighter tone would have helped.

The movie's good but feels like a succession of sometimes oddly cut episodes of the TV show. Astier slightly missed the transition to cinema by getting trapped by the profusion of characters and the need to have them all -or almost all of them- appear (to appeal to the fanbase?). Good experience thought, with some really fun moments and some storylines getting picked back up.

First, I must confess that I am a long time fan of Kaamelott. I've seen all the episodes from the TV series more times than I am willing to admit. The movie strikes the perfect balance between new and old. There are a lot of new characters that are very interesting. The music is excellent. It actually feels like a movie and not just a long episode from the tv show. If you have never seen an episode of Kaamelott, you will most likely miss some of the jokes, but you still can enjoy the movie. As a fan, this is a 10/10.