The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)

 

            Bernard Cornwell is one of my favorite writers.  I have read all of his Sharpe series and have seen all of the movies.  My second favorite of his series is The Saxon Tales.  These novels follow a Dane named Uhtred (Alexander Draymon) who interacts with the Saxons of Britain.  He becomes intertwined with Alfred the Great’s attempts to create the foundation of a future England.  After Alfred’s death, Uhtred concentrates on regaining his rightful rule of Bebbenburg.  Netflix created a series based on the series which is known as The Last Kingdom.  It ran for five seasons.  It premiered on BBC, but the last three seasons were produced by Netflix. Thank you, Netflix.  If you are not familiar with the series, it is a combination of Viking/Saxon warfare, Wessex politics, and a biography of Uhtred.  The series is similar to the series Vikings.  Unlike many beloved series that ended too soon, The Last Kingdom got a movie sequel to close out the story.  Netflix needs to be praised for this.  “Seven Kings Must Die” is based on Cornwell’s final novel “War Lord”.

            In the last episode of the series, Uhtred has finally gained control of Babbenburg and his fighting days are apparently over.  King Edward is firmly placed on the throne of Wessex, mainly through the efforts of Uhtred.  He deserves to retire in peace.  However, since he is a Dane, dying in bed of old age doesn’t get you into Valhalla.  He still has some fight left in him and “Seven Kings Must Die” gives him a chance to go out fighting.

            At the beginning of the movie, King Edward dies.  He is succeeded by his son Aethelstan.  Uhtred had mentored the young Aethelstan (Harry Gilby), so his accession should not be a problem for Babbenburg.  Unfortunately, Aethelstan has fallen under the spell of his religious adviser Ingilmundr (Laurie Davidson).  The slimy Ingilmundr turns Aethelstan against Uhtred.  Meanwhile, the island has been invaded by a Norseman named Anlaf (Pella Strang).  He plans on uniting with disgruntled English kings to attack Wessex. 

            Uhtred gets back into the game after his best friend Finan’s (Mark Rowley) wife prophesizes that “seven kings must die” before England will be united.  Uhtred doesn’t believe the prediction, but he knows storm clouds are on the horizon.  He, Finan, and Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravicius) are off on one last adventure.  The movie follows two tracks.  Uhtred has to deal with Aethelstan and Ingilmundr.  And Anlaf works at uniting forces against Aethelstan.  Track one is resolved so the movie can move on to the climactic showdown between Anlaf and his crew of five kings against Aethelstan’s army, led by Uhtred.  The Battle of Brunanburh is epic, for a made-for-TV movie.

            You have to credit Netflix for not waiting years to make this movie.  It was actually planned before the series ended in 2022.  The movie brings back all the key figures from season 5.  The actors are not too old to resume their parts.  (Compare this to the prequel Sharpe movie which was made 9 years after the series ended.  Sean Bean is playing the young Sharpe!)  The cast is excellent and most get a chance to bring closure for their characters.  If you have watched the series (and I have twice), the movie has a fulfilling feel to it.  And an anxiety-enhancing vibe because you know characters you love may not survive.  To ease your worries, the movie does not take a scythe to Uhtred and friends.  Actually, this is one problem I have with the movie.  It pulls its punches as only one major positive character is eliminated.  I’ll let you guess who, but if you are a fan of the series, it will be a gut punch.

            The big problem is the movie tries to cover an entire season in two hours.  This creates a film that feels rushed.  Although the date is not specified, in reality Edward died in 924 and the

Battle of Brunanburh occurred 13 years later!  I know the movie is fictional, but to get to the final battle, it has to truncate events that lead to it.  This is exemplified by Aethelstan’s character development.  He goes from manipulated to tyrant to loyal partner of Uhtred too quickly.  That arc would have needed an entire season.  His actions are not realistic.  He substitutes the clearly malevolent Ingilmundr for the dependable Uhtred too quickly.  The screenwriter’s answer to how Ingilmundr could be his Svengali is to create a gay subplot.  I support gay rights, but does every series have to have a gay couple?  This is the Middle Ages!  It’s possible, but highly unlikely.  Speaking of character development, the movie introduces a badass Viking in Anlaf and after a pillaging scene, he never evolves into the hissable villain you expect.  Sad, because he looks the part.  He has a daughter who acts as a spy, but here is another underdeveloped character and her death barely registers.  The movie does do a good job with Ingilmundr.  You will definitely hate him.  Thank God most of the characters are already established.  This means that the movie will not be very satisfying if you haven’t seen the series.  Binge it and then watch the movie

            The movie climaxes with a grand battle.  The series had several of these and most were basically melees similar to in the movie “300”.  I commend director Edward Bazhlgette for extending the shoving and stabbing of two shield walls to a few minutes before the obligatory melee.  The choreography of the battle was clearly influenced by the godfather of clang movies, “Spartacus”.  This movie even has rolling logs (but not afire).  And the surprise tactic is the placing of caltrops (nasty little spikes) in front of Uhtred’s front line.  At the start of the battle, Anlaf’s archers rain arrows on Uhtred’s men, but this quickly ends for no apparent reason.  The combat is appropriately frenetic.  Uhtred’s tactic is to give ground. It defies belief that one man’s voice telling the men to drop back could have worked.  Plus, in any battle, it is very difficult to pull this off, even with a disciplined army.  Still, the battle is one of the best of the series.  And Uhtred gets stabbed more times than all previous combat combined.

            “Seven Kings Must Die” is not great, but it brings satisfactory closure to a great series.  I loved seeing characters that are beloved.  I just wish more of them had been killed.  I know that sounds bizarre, but there should have been more tears.  After all, they don’t need to live for another movie.  Are do they?  The movie ends ambiguously with Uhtred on the threshold of Valhalla. Don’t hold your breath for another sequel.  Just be thankful you didn’t have to hold your breath long for “Seven Kings…”

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  The series has used real historical figures and events, but Uhtred is a great creation.  Looking at the characters in this movie, Anlaf (also called Olaf) was an Irish-Viking leader who was King of Dublin.  He allied with Constantine II of Scotland.  They had the goal of conquering Northumbria.  They may have been motivated by Aethelstan’s two raids into Scotland.   Aethelstan did succeed his father Edward in 924.  His brother and claimant to the throne Aelfweard died 16 days after his father.  There is no evidence that Aethelstan murdered him.  Ingimundr is based on a Danish warlord.  When the Vikings lost Dublin, he and his followers settled in Mercia. There was no connection between him and Aethelstan, so there could not have been a homosexual relationship.  However, there have been historical whispers about Aethelstan’s sexuality.  He did not marry and had no children, an unusual decision for a medieval king.  But he was very religious and might have eschewed sex. 

            The movie does a great job bringing attention to one of the most important battles in British history.  In 937, Aethelstan faced off against a Norse/Celtic army led by Anlaf (Olaf Guthfrithsson, King of Dublin) and Constantine II, who married his daughter of Anlaf.  Aethelstan headed the Anglo-Saxon army.  The northerners made a pre-emptive foray into Northumbria and met Aethelstan’s army.  Both armies had about 10,000 men. Little is known about the battle, other than it was very bloody (but probably not the 90% casualties of the movie).  Apparently, Anlaf and Constantine dug a fortified trench and awaited attack.  There was no shield wall versus shield wall.  Instead, Athelstan made a frontal attack that breached the enemy position to win the battle after hours of fighting.  Obviously, caltrops were not used.  A caltrop was an anti-cavalry weapon.  And do I have to tell you Athelstan’s army did not use horse-pulled logs to knock down their foes?  But there was cavalry and this may have been the first use of cavalry in England.  There were five kings who died in the battle.  The result of the battle is what places it amongst the most significant in British history.  Aethelstan, who is considered one of the greatest English kings, was able to consolidate his rule over Wessex and Mercia and thus could be called the first King of England.

GRADE =  B-