Line #74 Film/TheKidWhoWouldBeKing


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11	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kid_who_would_be_king_ver2_xlg.jpg]]
12	''The Kid Who Would Be King'' is a 2019 fantasy adventure comedy, and the second feature film from writer/director [[Creator/AdamAndJoe Joe Cornish]] (''Film/AttackTheBlock'').
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14	Set in modern day Britain, 12-year-old Alexander Elliot (Louis Ashborne Serkis, son of [[Creator/AndySerkis Andy]]) comes across the legendary sword Excalibur and pulls it from a stone. He soon learns from the wizard Merlin (Creator/PatrickStewart as an old man, Creator/AngusImrie as a teenager) that the dark sorceress Morgana Le Fay (Creator/RebeccaFerguson) will rise from the underworld and bring about a terrible evil unto the world. Alex joins forces with his best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) and bullies Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris) to become knights and defeat Morgana.
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16	Not to be confused with ''Film/TheManWhoWouldBeKing''.
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18	The physical release was on April 16, 2019, making this film the first home media release after {{Creator/Disney}}'s purchase of Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox.
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20	!!This film provides examples of:
21	* AdultsAreUseless: Justified in part that the supernatural elements chasing after Alex and his knights remove anyone else from the situation. When Alex's mom sees Excalibur she demands he turn it into the police, but by that time he's been convinced he is TheChosenOne and refuses.
22	* AnimatedCreditsOpening: The opening flashback is told in a stylistic 2D animated segment.
23	* AntiquatedLinguistics: Merlin speaks almost entirely like this.
24	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: At night we see some lovely shots of the full moon. This is all happening with in 3 days of a solar eclipse.
25	* BigBad: The evil sorceress Morgana Le Fay.
26	* BookEnds: The pose Alex and his knights are in near the end of the film [[spoiler:after slaying Morgana]] closely resembles the one Arthur and his Knights were in during the prologue [[spoiler:when they defeated Morgana]].
27	* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Alex spends the majority of the movie believing that his father was a descendant of King Arthur and was fully aware of Alex's destiny as TheChosenOne, misunderstanding his mother's claims that he had his "demons" as literally fighting demons. Much to his severe disappointment, his father was a drunkard who simply didn't give a damn about his family and just left. Alex ends up having quite a personal crisis afterwards.]]
28	** In a slightly rare case, [[spoiler: Alex himself falls into this in the final act, as he had been the leader of the group and the most idealistic...but is quick to realize that Morgana wasn't defeated after the first confrontation because of his bitterness towards his mother for lying to him about his father, meaning that despite insisting upon the Code within his group, he was the one to break it. However, it's averted in that once he realizes his mistake, he gently confronts his mother about everything and forgives her before going to his friends and both explaining and apologizing. They accept his apology and are ready to fight at his side again to stop Morgana for good]].
29	* CastingGag: Patrick Stewart as Merlin Stewart had previously played a role in ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'', a different film about Myth/KingArthur.
30	** It’s doubly ironic casting that Patrick Stewart played the most well known wizard character in fiction other than Gandalf from the Film/TheLordOfTheRings who was played by his best friend Creator/IanMckellen.
31	* CentralTheme: Each of the four main characters have a theme associated with them throughout the story:
32	** Lance - Fear of inadequacy. Because of his being afraid of not being "strong enough" to others, he tries to establish himself as the dominant guy. Because of this, he has to learn to be a follower and the strength that being a loyal teammate has.
33	** Kaye - Immaturity. Kaye is described as "callow" by Morgana due to the fact that she doesn't take responsibility for her actions and seems to just blindly follow after Lance, blaming it on the world for being in a shoddy state. When she starts to take responsibility for her choices, she starts growing as a reliable ally.
34	** Bedders - Cowardice. Even though he's as idealistic as Alex, he's clearly incapable of taking care of himself and depends on Alex to watch over him. Thankfully, he starts to grow more confident in himself without depending on everyone else to save his butt.
35	** Alex - Fantasy and [[spoiler: Bitterness. Alex spends over half the movie chasing a fantasy that his dad is some hero related to King Arthur, making him {{The Chosen One}}. Once he learns the truth, he goes into a {{Heroic BSoD}} and harbors bitterness against his mother, preventing him from being able to kill Morgana in their first encounter. Once he realizes this, however, he makes amends with his mother and his team before preparing to put Morgana down for good]].
36	* ChekhovsGun: The magic potion. And the metal duplication illusion. And the fact that the Lady in the Lake appears in any body of water in England. And Merlin requiring beaver urine, chicken bone and beetle blood. And Alex's ability to knight people.
37	* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: Played with. Alex initially believes he was descended from King Arthur through his father. When it's revealed that was not the case, Merlin tells him that Excalibur is awarded based on your own merits, not who your ancestors were.]]
38	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Alex is red, Bedders is black, Lance is blue and Kaye is purple.
39	* AChildShallLeadThem: The premise of the film, involving the young Alex having to lead his friends and classmates against Morgana.
40	* ConvenientlyEmptyRoads: Morgana's attempts to seize Excalibur result in a period during nighttime where everyone except the wielder of the sword and those knighted by it disappears. This results in the main characters having a car chase to escape the evil witch's monsters without fear of harming pedestrians.
41	* ConversationalTroping: Much of why Alex goes on his quest is because he recognizes how circumstances matches that of TheHerosJourney. He even compares his story to that of ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', noting the presence of a DisappearedDad and a CallToAdventure.
42	* CrapsackWorld: The opening montage demonstrates how England and the world at large is in a state of crisis, awakening Morgana and necessitating Excalibur's return to be held in the hands of a new once and future king.
43	* CurbStompBattle: An army of schoolchildren manage to fairly easily win against an army of demons summoned by an evil sorceress. Crosses over with ImprobableInfantSurvival.
44	* TheCynic: Both Lance and Kaye, who see the world as already being rotten, and so that is why they are bullies.
45	* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: [[spoiler: Averted. Alex's father was a drinker who simply didn't care about his family.]]
46	* DeconstructedTrope: HeroicLineage and TheChosenOne is deconstructed when, after Alex spending the movie believing his father was a hero involved with the supernatural which is how he got this destiny, finds [[spoiler:he's a nobody. Merlin reveals those tropes were due to those in power twisting the legends to keep their power when anyone could have the traits to be a hero.]]
47	* DisappearedDad: Alex never knew his father. He left him and his mother long ago, and Alex was told by his mother that his father was fighting demons. Alex thinks this means literal demons and that his father was some kind of hero, [[spoiler:but it turns out his demon was alcoholism, and he never really cared for Alex.]]
48	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: As Alex tells Kaye and Lance about how they are modern reflections of King Arthur and his knights, he points out how they are even meeting at a round table...only to be revealed that the kids are currently sitting at a square table. It's round once they get the flaps up, though.
49	* FireForgedFriends: Lance and Kaye are initially cruel bullies who eventually join forces with Alex after he saves them from Morgana's minions.
50	* GenderFlip: The female Kaye is meant to be the modern counterpart of Sir Kay, King Arthur's foster brother in the legends.
51	* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Morgana's attempts to recover Excalibur result in a [[YearInsideHourOutside time bubble]] where anyone but the King and those he has knighted is functionally removed from the setting and remains that way until the mooks are defeated. This includes the climax, and the characters realize the world will never know what happened.
52	* HateSink: Lance and Kaye are initially [[TheBully cruel bullies]] who pick on Alex and Bedders for no reason and take sadistic pleasure in it. This gets [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] as the film goes on as the adventure allows them to [[TookALevelInKindness become better people]]. The real hate sink (despite not physically appearing) is [[spoiler: Alex's father who abandoned Alex and his mother because he was an alcoholic who didn't give a damn about his wife and child.]]
53	* HeroicBSOD: Alex, [[spoiler: when it turns out his father was an alcoholic and he doesn't descend from nobility.]]
54	* IKnowMortalKombat: One bit that was in all the trailers has Kaye behind the wheel of a car, knocking undead minions out of the way.
55	-->'''Bedders:''' Where did you learn how to drive?
56	-->'''Kaye:''' VideoGame/MarioKart.
57	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Since it'd be bad to watch hundreds of school kids getting slaughtered by monsters, this trope only adds to the CurbStompBattle in the finale where the kids are able to fight Morgana's army fairly easily.
58	%%* LargeHam: Merlin
59	* MagicalBarefooter: Accidental (see NakedOnArrival, below), but Merlin does seem to have a certain fondness for being barefoot, as he does question why the police would be suspicious of his "keeping the natural circulation" going. He also puts his bare (and dirty) feet up in the police car.
60	* MagicalGesture: How Merlin's [[spoiler: and Bedders']] spells are cast. It looks like some kind of hamboning and clapping.
61	* MeaningfulName: Alex's knights are Bedders, Lance, and Kaye, each named after King Arthur's knights - Bedevere, Lancelot, and Kay.
62	* MerlinAndNimue: This movie have the younger version (later the older version) of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.
63	* NakedOnArrival: Merlin comes into town completely naked, apparently he merely forgot to generate clothing.
64	* OhCrap: Merlin when he learns the eclipse is coming in a matter of days.
65	* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:How Alex defeats Morgana for good.]]
66	* RousingSpeech: Alex gives one to the students near the end. It doesn’t work... until Merlin has the (mind controlled) teacher say that joining Alex to fight the demons will be an alternate to class work, at which point they all choose to join Alex.
67	* TheRunaway: Alex's mom is forced to contend with her young son running away from home.
68	* RunningGag: Excalibur stabbing through Alex’s backpack.
69	* ScaledUp: Morgana has a humanoid snake-dragon form she becomes to fight Alex and his knights.
70	* ShoutOut: Numerous references are made to other fantasy tales involving a young hero taking on a life-changing journey, including ''Film/HarryPotter'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', and ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''. Lance at one point taunts Alex with "[[Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jockstrap]]".
71	* {{Tagline}}:
72	** "Evil gets schooled."
73	** "Kids Rule."
74	** "An army to fight. A Demon to slay. A world to save. No pressure."
75	* TimeShiftedActor: Based on Arthurian legend, Merlin ages in reverse and so Creator/AngusImrie plays Merlin as a teenager while Patrick Stewart plays him as an old man. It's never fully explained why he needs to revert at all.
76	* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: Morgana must be stopped before the solar eclipse.
77	* TryNotToDie: Bedders tells this to Alex when he goes to finish off Morgana. Alex promises to try his best.

Context Film / TheKidWhoWouldBeKing