Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This movie can be interpreted as the triumph of a righteous dream over many obstacles. Our Hero wants to join King Richard the Lionheart (hence the title) on crusade. His father wants him to remain at home. He is brought to a battle and realizes the horror of war, and winds up getting lost. No longer having his father to hold him back, he tries to find King Richard on his own and soon has a following of children, each with their own special talents. They triumph over various obstacles, most significantly a former crusader knight who has lost his faith and wants to capture the kids and sell them into slavery. There is a predictable showdown and feel-good reconciliation at the end.
The idea of a children's crusade is based on true history, but the real story wasn't quite as pleasant. There is a character of a young woman who wants to be a knight and wins a tournament. While there are examples of warrior women in history, this particular character seems based more on the modern Tatum O'Neal in "Bad News Bears" concept.
The costumes and armor, for the most part, only slightly resemble period patterns. The one-on-one fights are alright as such things go, but the battle scene seems oddly half-hearted. When we finally get to meet King Richard, for some reason we never get a good look at him. We hear his voice and watch the people watching him, we see him in a long shot, and one medium-profile, but why, if this is the guy we've been waiting for, don't we get a good payoff, like in "Robin Hood" or "Ivanhoe"?
These weaknesses kept the movie from really appealing to me much. The film maker's message that if you really believe in something and follow that belief it will all turn out right in the end does come through, but it does force an ending that seemes a little trite. I imagine younger and less demanding audiences will find it enjoyable enough and absorb that message.
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