Clearly, you need to be in your wee teens to enjoy this movie.
Ok, it's not the music or the historical accuracy I care about in this movie, and indeed, it claims no accuracy in either field. But that's rather the point, and an interesting idea, but sadly this is as original as it gets.
Every character fits neatly into the classic Hollywood stereotypes; the unorthodox, handsome, honest, jovial, happy-go-lucky hero (and his companions) on the one side (Heath Ledger), and the conservative, thoroughly evil, treacherous, conniving antagonist (Rufus Sewell), who is ever plotting the hero's downfall, on the other. It's the classic cliché - the good guy is all good, and fights honourably; the bad guy is all bad, and fights dirty.
And of course there has to be a woman between them, who naturally favours the good guy. This childish lovestory is completely uncalled for, and the moment our wannabe hero eyes Jocelyn (Shannon Sossamon), the rest of the movie becomes too predictable to bear. At this point, I started chewing on my ticket, as I sat there in the cinema(it seemed like the thing to do, under the circumstances).
The clichés just kept mounting, and it took every ounce of my willpower to stay the duration of this movie. There wasn't a single element of surprise in the entire film, and this doomed the film from the very beginning. It's the American dream, isn't it (AKA your run-of-the-mill fairytale)? Here's the peasant hero, who becomes a knight and gets the princess. Of course, since his being a knight is a lie, this will have to be revealed (and of course it's the evil adversary who busts him), but wait! Here's Prince Edward to the rescue, because the hero was nice to him earlier. The peasant becomes a bona fide knight, and can finish the movie.
This movie COULD have been made good, if only the clichés had been avoided. The worst clichés are:
I The love plot (it's identical with those in your average bed time story)
II The stereotypes (even worse here than in 'Gladiator')
III The father (can someone give me a good reason why HE should be dragged into this mess?)
But worst of all, the most unforgivable element in the entire film...
(SPOILER ALERT, I guess...) ...is when the hero, badly wounded, heroically jousts against his nemesis WITHOUT ARMOUR. This is the most nauseating, dishonourable and despicable thing I've ever seen. Was this scene supposed to arouse any other emotions than pure hatred?
Sure, there were laughs, several hilarious moments, but not nearly enough to save this turkey.
And I thought the lady blacksmith was far more attractive than that damnable princess anyway (if you have to have a love story, THAT's the way to go).
My rating: 1/10, because that's as low as the scale goes.