Black Knight (2001)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A loud-mouth urbanite (Martin Lawrence), who is a maintenance worker at a medieval theme park sees a shiny medallion in the park's mote, reaches for it, falls into the water, and is transported to 14th Century England where he must join the rebels and overthrow the corrupt king while getting the girl of his dreams.This is the premise for Black Knight, a comedy that is just as loud and annoying as its lead character. The film's flaws can be attributed to a remarkably cliché and tired script that somehow took a trio of writers to formulate, but a decent amount of the blame can be put on Martin Lawrence in addition. We've seen actors liven up stale material in the past, but here, Lawrence seems to quiver under the blatant asinine qualities of the film's script, resorting to almost infantile behavior - shouting, running around, and acting like a child. Consider the opening scene, which is a close-up of Lawrence's face as he obnoxiously brushes his teeth and flosses in the mirror, while dancing around his bathroom. I see this as only a desperate attempt at character development.However, Black Knight shoots for the stars, and while it falls vastly short of its goal, it managed to get me to laugh a few times. However, they were mostly towards the beginning, when Lawrence was first transported to the 14th Century. The idea of this loud-mouth buffoon adjusting to the life of centuries past sounds cute enough, and at first, Lawrence's outbursts and quirky comments are actually kind of funny. However, as the film goes on, Lawrence's face transcends to almost disbelief, as if he realized that this project is doomed financially and comically.The issue comes from the humor, which is entirely predicated off of the fish-out-of-water cliché of a character being taken out of his typical environment (in this case, the South Central hood) and placed somewhere entirely different either by choice or accident (14th Century England here). The film's formula goes as followed: cherrypick elements from the time period such as executions, the lack of plumbing, and knights and warriors riding horseback and throw Lawrence's sassy urban character into them and have him either shout random one-liners or bouts of disgust while taking part in them.The film mercilessly plods along at ninety-five minutes, exhausting every possible plot-device and event possible in the story. This may, however, be a good thing because it maybe means that I won't have to sit through another film quite like this for a very long time.Starring: Martin Lawrence, Marsha Thomason, Tom Wilkinson, and Kevin Conway. Directed by: Gil Junger.

The Black Knight (2001) 5 word summaryman accidentally travels into pastThe Black Knight, though funny at times, is more painful to watch than I originally remember. When I first saw it in theaters I was young and thought it was hilarious. After a recent viewing I had to wonder, what did I see in this? As I said it is funny at times. Some of the lines and actions are really funny. Martin Lawrence at times saves the film and at times ruins it. He knows what's funny but sometimes seems to try to hard or get to cocky and makes things that could have been funny not. One scene that I did enjoy is the scene with the Lawrence trying to get the band to play the Sly and the Family Stone song "dance to the music."Though it is sometimes funny, the key word is sometimes. More often your sitting bored than laughing. Even when it's not funny you can't watch it for a history lesson because it's ridiculous (which I don't fault it for, it's a comedy they can make stuff up if they want.) the acting is bad by almost everyone. Most of them can't pull of their lines or actions with a funny outcome. When a film is trying to be funny and its not, it gets really awkward and hard to watch, and that happened here.If you're a Martin Lawrence fan you might enjoy this film. Life, Blue Streak, Whats the Worst that Could Happen, etc, are all funnier and more entertaining, but if you like him enough this one might be alright. Younger viewers might enjoy it more as well, i know i liked it when i was 13. Other than that I would suggest finding a different film to watch if you want a good film watching experience. 5/10

The previous comments seem to expect Shakespearean quality out of this movie, perhaps because the title includes the word 'knight'. This movie is, as many others before it, a parody of films set in medieval England. Others of this kind include Robin Hood Men in Tights, Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, A Knight's Tale, A Kid in King Arthur's Court, and so on. So many movies have used medieval England as a basis for their humorous story lines that to comment that Black Knight's use of the period is an insult to English history is monstrously foolish. On the contrary, Black Knight is a true parody not only of real English history, but of many previously told stories about medieval England, such as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.The most glaring difference between those titles listed above and Black Knight is the type of comedy exhibited. The comedy in Black Knight comes mostly from its main character, played by Martin Lawrence, who this movie could be considered an exclusive vehicle for. It seems that, as in the movies of Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and the like, Martin Lawrence was given a script, but allowed to ad lib quite a bit. This adds his own particular style of comedy to the film. Therefore, if you don't like the comedy of Martin Lawrence, you may not like this movie. It looks like the idea was for everyone in the movie to play the part of the 'straight man' to Martin Lawrence, as very serious people dealing with a fool. But that is not to say that all of the jokes in the movie come from Martin Lawrence. For instance, Jeannette Weegar who plays King Leo's daughter has some funny parts, as does Helen Carey, who plays the queen.As for those incredibly nonsensical comments referring to a failure on the part of the NAACP to boycott this film, I have to say that the ignorance of those commentators is appalling. Not only do they exhibit a lack of understanding of what the NAACP actually does, but they clearly did not watch the whole film. Martin Lawrence plays a fool, granted, but he plays one with heart. He displays an understanding of what is right and wrong (his interaction with the thief), cleverness, courage under fire, and an openness to learn from his experiences. He later uses that knowledge in applicable circumstances and shows nobleness. His love interest, Victoria the chambermaid, played by Marsha Thomason, is a strong, fearless warrior, determined to fight the good fight, regardless of the lowness of her birth. She is smart, beautiful, and shrewd. When examined objectively, these characters would hardly be the cause of a boycott. And, contrary to what other commentators have said, Martin Lawrence and his love interest are not the only African Americans in the picture. That much can be seen from the character list. Jamal's (Martin Lawrence) African American friends and co-workers later benefit from his knowledge gained through experience, and show a willingness to change for the better.Addressing the production values, they were very good. In fact I'd say they were on par with Robin Hood Men in Tights, Princess Bride, or even Shakespeare in Love. Jamal's clothing was not as good as those of the other characters, which follows the story line that he was not from the area and was either wearing borrowed clothes or his clothes from the amusement park.Also, it must be mentioned that Vincent Regan plays a dashing villainous Percival, and Tom Wilkinson, who plays Sir Knolte of Marlborough, is very believable as Jamal's best medieval friend.All in all, this movie is not as bad as some say, but it is definitely no Shakespeare. Rent only if you want something really silly.

"Black Knight" can be chalked up as a small blip upon the radar screen that is Martin Lawrence's career. Alright, lets be honest, it is one of many small blips that in essence make up Martin Lawrence's career. Don't get me wrong, it's not like Martin hasn't done any good stuff e.g. Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, Big Mamma's House, and his sitcom. But primarily its been just one unsuccessful movie after another. "Black Knight" wasn't particularly funny and the plot not that particularly intriguing. I did watch the movie from beginning to end like a mindless drone, even though I could find nothing of value to legitimize my watching.