I
know that once one accepts giant fire-breathing
dragons that uncannily sound like Brit actor John Hurt
(probably best known to sci-fi fans as the hapless
victim of the alien chestburster in the first
Alien movie) that one
should pretty much accept anything else the
film-makers throw at one.
We however had a tough time putting our
heads around the multiethnic cast of this 2008 BBC
television series, which gives the King Arthur legend
the Smallville
treatment. Black Knights of the Round Table? Asian
peasants? It sounds like a Mel Brooks comedy sketch,
except it isn’t . . .
We always project our present onto the
past and it only makes sense that a British TV series
should project Britain’s own multiethnic present onto
a series such as this, but this sort of political
correctness is a double-edged sword. On the one hand
one doesn’t want a return to those lily-white movies
of Hollywood’s yesteryear (check out all those 1950s
sci-fi flicks such as the original
Day the Earth Stood Still).
On the other hand, does one want kids to really
believe that not only were there plenty of Blacks in
medieval England, but that they were treated as
equals? Then again, we’re the sort who always
complains about historical inaccuracies in movies,
something which probably won’t bother most people.
Once you get past this aspect,
Merlin isn’t too bad. The first few episodes drag,
but things pick up particularly towards the last
handful of episodes.
A better title should have been
Young Merlin. The series follows the adventures of
a youthful Merlin (Colin Morgan) in a Camelot in which
Arthur isn’t king yet and all magic is outlawed (by
punishment of death) by Arthur’s ruthless tyrant dad,
Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head in a role very different
from his role as Giles in Buffy). The plots
tend to be formulaic: usually Merlin must secretly use
his magic powers to protect Arthur from some new
threat, a bit like Clark always protected Lana in
Smallville
without being discovered.
The show’s standalone structure works
against it and it only throws the occasional story
nugget at those familiar with the Arthurian legends.
Often one hopes that it will take some more chances
and more of a serialized approach by maybe killing off
a major character or two. The CGI special effects are
cheesy and some of the acting dodgy, but when nothing
else works out there is always the fresh-faced and
winsome young cast. (Actress Katie McGrath’s cleavage
helps a lot.)
WORTH IT? British television has
in the recent past supplied audiences with some hugely
entertaining shows such as
Doctor Who,
Primeval and
Torchwood.
Merlin isn’t quite as good as these shows, but
its limitations has more to do with the limitations of
the fantasy genre as opposed to science fiction – it
never allows one’s imaginations to soar as it does in
the best episodes of the shows mentioned here. Still,
we’d happily check out further episodes in this
series.
RECOMMENDATION: John Boorman’s
Excalibur and Monty
Python and the Holy Grail – talk about ideological
opposites! - are still the two definitive Arthurian
legend movies out there. But Merlin can be
pleasant escapist fare in the way that only television
can be. Harry Potter fans should check it out.
