The Jonathan Rhys Meyer /Dominic Monaghan pair may remind you of Sean Connery and Michael Caine (the "head" is featured in both) in John Huston's masterful "the man who would be king"; this one does not compare favorably with it,but it does not mean it's a dud. The 1975 work was a masterpiece ,this one is an estimable adventure yarn .
The principal is more detailed than in the average adventure movie: he's a failure ,in everything he tries:at school,in the army , and in his sentimental life .When he sets foot on this island ,he 's ready to start all over again :and it's what he does : when he's asked to return to his native England to be knighted , so as to "his" kingdom will become a part of his queen 's empire on which the sun never sets, he soldiers on .
He wanted first to study the wildlife and the customs of the natives (and discovers that the English ones are simply more hypocrit as far as sex is concerned ,doesn't he get a girl pregnant when he was engaged to another one?) ; Elisabeth ,his ex-fiancée is a hateful silly goose,racist , snob ,whereas his new wife is wise, clever and tolerant.
But his earlier failures urge him to take a spectacular revenge on life ; the pictures of the jungle are dazzling and may have been inspired by those of "the lost city of Z" .
The final lines suggest the subject should have been given a miniseries treatment .
The principal is more detailed than in the average adventure movie: he's a failure ,in everything he tries:at school,in the army , and in his sentimental life .When he sets foot on this island ,he 's ready to start all over again :and it's what he does : when he's asked to return to his native England to be knighted , so as to "his" kingdom will become a part of his queen 's empire on which the sun never sets, he soldiers on .
He wanted first to study the wildlife and the customs of the natives (and discovers that the English ones are simply more hypocrit as far as sex is concerned ,doesn't he get a girl pregnant when he was engaged to another one?) ; Elisabeth ,his ex-fiancée is a hateful silly goose,racist , snob ,whereas his new wife is wise, clever and tolerant.
But his earlier failures urge him to take a spectacular revenge on life ; the pictures of the jungle are dazzling and may have been inspired by those of "the lost city of Z" .
The final lines suggest the subject should have been given a miniseries treatment .