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-

The War Below (2021)

 

            On June 7, 1917, the Western Front was rocked by one of the largest nonnuclear explosions in history.  This is the subject of the British film “The War Below”.  This WWI movie was directed and co-written by J.P. Watts.  It is based on the true story of the mining of Messines Ridge before the British army attacked.

            In 1915, William Hawkins (Sam Hazeldine) and his son enlist in the British army.  Although Hawkins has a bad heart, he wants to do his bit.  The duo are miners, but they think they are just going to be regular tommies.  Little do they realize the army has bigger things in mind.  Gen. Haig is dealing with the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme.  His sheepish solution to the wholescale slaughter of British lions is more aggression!  The maverick Lt. Col. John Norton-Griffiths, otherwise known as  Hellfire Jack (Tom Goodman-Hill),  has an idea.  Why not dig tunnels under Messines Ridge to blast an opening in the German lines which the soldiers will then waltz through and its on to Berlin? Haig is skeptical of anything involving more finesse than a frontal attack, but he gives Hellfire Jack a reluctant green light.  This despite the pooh-poohing and harrumphing of Col. Fielding.  Fielding enlisted so he could be a cinematic ass hole.  He has a cartoonish sergeant who is his lackey.

            The original idea was for the Hawkins and other miners to train regular soldiers to dig mines.  However, the miners convince Hellfire Jack that they can do it better than trainees.  Plus, it will make for a better movie.  When their demonstration mine goes boom real good, they are thanked and given tickets home.  Would you believe they refuse to go?  They have a job to finish.  And this is the big one. The one that will win the war.  They have to deal with problems like sleep deprivation, cave-ins, poisonous air, and German countermining.

            “The War Below” is a low budget affair.  Some effort went into a small section of trench, no man’s land and the tunnel.  The no man’s land set comes in handy for a rescue mission and a trip to suicide after a Dear John letter.  A lot of money was saved on the cast.  The only actor I recognized was Goodman-Hill and that’s from some BBC roles.  Half the cast doesn’t even have Wikipedia pages.  Sincerity can make up for lack of actin oomph, but you better get bang for your buck.  Unfortunately, “The War Below” is a fizzle.  It does not explode.  The movie lacks suspense.  The crises are handled easily with little suspense.  Unless you find them deciding whether to stay to finish the job to be suspenseful.  If you stick around for the booming finale, you will probably be underwhelmed.

            You will learn a little about tunneling in WWI.  They did bring canaries down to alert them to a change in the quality of their air.  They did use stethoscopes to listen for enemy countermining.  It was a nice touch to include sleep deprivation as a problem.  We don’t see this hardly ever in war movies.  The basics of the story are accurate, but much too simplistic.  There was a Hellfire Jack, but the general who was inspired by his idea was a Brigadier General George Fawke.  The tunneling was done by companies of miners from England, Canada, and Australia.  The six mines under Messines Ridge were not dug by five miners that were pulled from the ranks.  The mining units were called Manchester Moles or Claykickers (in honor of the silent clay removal method championed by Hellfire Jack).  Because it was a silent digging technique, it would not have been detectable by the Germans, but then we wouldn’t have had a cool fight below.  And as far as the Brits tapping into a German tunnel to finish their job, that is clearly farcical.  Spoiler alert:  the titanic explosion did not win the war.          

            The first question you should ask is “did we need another Messines Ridge mining movie”?  The answer is no, because “Below Hill 60” has already dug this ground.  And much better. Once again, I question why make a movie is made about a subject that has already been done well.  Can’t you find something that hasn’t been done before?

 

GRADE  =  C

 

The Auschwitz Report (2021)

 

            “The Auschwitz Report” is a Slovak production directed by Peter Bebjak.  It was Slovakia’s entry for the Academy Awards Best International Film, but was not chosen.  It is the true story of two Jewish men who escaped from the concentration camp with proof of what was going on there.  The movie leads off with “Those who can’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

            April 7, 1944 was Rudolf Vrba (Peter Ondrejicka) and Alfred Wetzler’s (Noel Czuczor) first day of their adventure.  They are depicted in hiding.  A flashback shows how they collected information to encourage the Allies to bomb the camp.  Vrba had a job keeping records, so he could accurately estimate the number of Jews who were being killed.  Just when you think you have seen every dastardly act by Nazis in the camps, this movie has a scene where a German officer uses his horse to stomp on the heads of Jews buried to their necks.  And that’s not the last of the heinous actions.  You’ll be rooting for a bombing raid.  Rudolf and Alfred have hidden themselves to wait for the right moment to get through the fence.  They had to hide for three days because that was how long the guards would search for escapees.  You’ll definitely wonder if you could have done what they did.  To get the other inmates to rat out the duo, they are forced to stand for long periods of time.  Some die.  Vrba and Wetzler are aided by Polish resistance and helpful civilians.  Eventually, they are able to pass their information, including a Zyclon B label, to the Red Cross.  Spoiler alert: there will be no bombing. 

            If you are not familiar with the Vrba-Wetzler Report, this movie is a must see for people who want to dig deep into the Holocaust.  In most of the other Holocaust movies, the Jews are victims who have no control of their fates.  Here we have two men who were determined to control their own destiny.  And the destiny of the other inmates at Auschwitz.  You also rarely see Holocaust movies where someone escapes.  The duo’s escape was incredible and their trek was blessed by luck and fearless peasants.  It’s sad to think that all this was for naught.  Well, mostly naught.  Clearly, the Nazi’s were evil for how they mistreated the Jews, but a lower level of evil can be assigned to the Allied leaders for doing nothing to alleviate the suffering.  And they could not claim they didn’t know what was taking place at camps like Auschwitz.  You’ll really hate the Nazi officers, but you’ll also be angry towards the Red Cross.  The movie leaves the impression that their efforts were fruitless.  In reality, a Swiss diplomat was able to distribute the report to the point where the Nazis stopped deporting Hungarian Jews, saving possible 200,000 lives.

            The movie doesn’t take much liberty with the story.  But it is not a documentary.  Vrba had been in the camp for two years before the escape.  They had a lot of help from the escape committee.  Ondrejicka and Czuczor do a fine job as Vrba and Wetzler.  The film has some standout cinematography.  For instance, there is a scene in which hand-held and POV views create appropriate disorientation.  There are some long takes.  It’s an entertaining movie that will have you on the edge of your seat at times.  Unlike most Holocaust movies, this one has a happy ending.  It should have been happier in its post script, but evil comes in many guises. 

GRADE =  B