Arthur the King, inspired by the true story of high-adventure athlete Mikael Lindnord and the stray dog named Arthur that became a part of his team during a race, seemed like it could be a fun spin on the Hollywood tradition of dog movies. Unfortunately, director Simon Cellan Jones and star/producer Mark Wahlberg forgot a key detail: to make it entertaining.
This is a movie about an aging athlete in one of the most grueling sports imaginable desperately vying for one more shot and the connection he forms with a stray dog from the Dominican Republic that has gone through hell but becomes the inspiration he and his team needs. Yet the scenes depicting the sport are lacking any excitement or energy, the team of humans at the story's center are flat and have little to no chemistry and are forced to say some hilariously cringy lines.
The few redeeming qualities of the movie is the dog that plays Arthur, in real life named Ukai, who is as adorable as you want, and the movie's emotional climax, which will definitely get many on the verge of tears. However, even that drags on in a movie that feels a good bit longer than its 90 minute runtime.
Easily the biggest disappointment of Arthur the King is that this is a movie that puts a spotlight on the sport of adventure racing, which is described as one of the most challenging around, but depicts it in such a banal way. Scenes where the team is biking down a mountain at high speeds, ziplining across a valley and overcoming various challenges throughout the race play out with all the excitement of athletic-themed screensavers.
This falls primarily at the feet of director Jones, who despite experience with some acclaimed action and thrillers (The Expanse, See, The Diplomat) fails to bring an energy to Arthur the King that it is in dire need of.
The actors don't help matters either. Despite a cast of well known stars making up the main team — Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel and Ali Suliman — it's like they knew they were all going to get outshined by their canine co-star, so they gave the amount of effort that would ensure that. They're not helped very much by a script that has some of the most awkward and uninspiring bits of dialogue you can imagine, but it feels like they're phoning it in here.
No one is expecting The Godfather with these types of movies, but the reason we get an Arthur the King is because dog-centric movies like Marley & Me, A Dog's Purpose and others had qualities beyond the cute dog at the center. Arthur the King could have had that, even has the bare bones of it with the fighting spirit that Wahlberg's character constantly emphasizes, but the movie's lack of execution means it is all for naught.
If you just want to see this inspiring tale told on the screen and be reminded of the power people's connections with dogs can have, then Arthur the King will likely meet those minimum expectations. But beyond that Arthur the King is far from a winner.
Arthur the King releases exclusively in movie theaters on March 15.
