Black Knight (US)

Martin Lawrence never made me laugh, so I really didn`t have any expectations from his recent movie. Well, I wasn`t wrong there. This movie sucks. Big time.
The script is dumber than dumb (not even slightly funny) and the acting is awful.
The video transfer is ok. There are no compression signs and the saturation is pretty nice. However, several scenes reveal some grain.
The DD 5.1 soundtrack is also ok. There are very few occasions where the surrounds are used.
The menus are animated with sound.
The extras include a commentary, a behind the scenes featurette (divided to several sections), 3 deleted scenes, 2 storyboards and some (not too funny) outtakes.
Bottom line - a bad comedy, poorly casted and just plain dumb. Avoid.

I was convinced this would be my cup-of-tea, but boy was I wrong!....

Fact 1:- I`m a fan of throwaway comedy
Fact 2:- Martin Lawrence is capable of being funny
Fact 3:- I like fish-out-of-water plotlines
Fact 4:- Gil Junger is capable of agreeable direction
Fact 5:- Tom Wilkinson is a respectable actor

So, given the above points (and the particularly forgiving attitude I adopted) why did I hate the film so much?!.

I won`t need to elaborate for those unfortunate enough to have seen it, but lets just say it ISN`T funny in the slightest and the `story`, script and tone all leave a lot to be desired. It`s like they had a basic premise organised (Martin Lawrence in an Arthurian setting) but never bothered to expand the idea any further. Don`t just assume I`m a cynical ass who doesn`t fall within the target audience either, as I can assure you that I do. If ever there was a film worthy of a trashing though, this is the one!....

You know those sorts of films that rely heavily on the main star to be entertaining? well imagine a film like that with a wholly unfunny leading man rambling in a consistently unfunny way for the whole duration. That`s basically what Black Knight is and I honestly can't imagine why anyone would have anything particularly positive to say about it (redeeming features are sparse to say the least!). If prodded with a stick, I suppose I could muster some praise for the sets/costumes and I think one or two of the supporting performances were bordering on passable, otherwise I`d be negative all the way. It`s illogical without being clever and it`s fantastical without being enjoyable, it`s like a complete entertainment vacuum!.

I did hope that this would be the film that finally got Lawrence on the right track, but I think it's turned out to be another nail in the coffin (I bet he`s counting off the days to the release of Bad Boys 2!). I actually think he showed a lot of promise in Nothing to lose and even Blue Streak had its moments (although it was too farcical overall). Big Momma`s House was very tacky though and suffered from the same sort of shortcomings this does (in terms of tone and quality). As inane as Momma`s House was though, at least the story was established in a satisfactory way- Black Knight is a complete insult to the audience because the plot doesn`t even make sense!. …BEWARE… THE NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS!…

SPOILER!..
Jamal`s ignorance of what`s actually happened is dragged out for FAR too long (beyond the point of tedium) and this set-up has no credibility in the first place (surely he knows what the area around his workplace normally looks like?!). The sit-com-esque confusion that leads him all the way into the castle is utterly absurd and I`ve seen more convincing misunderstandings in childrens programmes!…
SPOILER END…

As for the disc, yeah it has picture/sound/extras and all of that stuff, but you could write a book about all the problems the film itself has, so I`d rather ramble on about that a bit more instead! (Zvi`s review below mentions the A/V quality anyway, so you can read that if you must...)... The introductory scenes hint at sub-plots that never actually go anywhere and the whole story is lacking in common-sense (and the ending only creates further confusion). I suppose the middle two quarters are coherent enough on their own terms (albeit in an overly predictable way), but the opening/closing scenes are so ill-conceived that none of it adds up at all.

Basically though, Lawrence was clearly improvising (well, pratting about) for most of the film, so the characterisation is all over the place anyway. His performance is irritatingly self-aware aswell and amounts to no more than a collection of tired mannerisms and stereotypical phrasings. This wouldn`t be a cause for concern if it was still funny but, believe me, it`s anything but. I`d have been prepared to overlook all of the plot-line inadequacies if it was funny too (it`s a comedy after all), but I honestly didn`t laugh once.

You get a lot of talk of "Worst film EVER!" on internet sites and although I`m tempted to say something similar right here, I have to admit that the production values and the professional staging of a couple of stunts make it ineligible for that particular title. All things considered though, Black Knight is by far the worst comedy film I`ve ever bought.