Seven Kings Must Die is a great ending for a great show. It’s a breathless 2 hours with high tension, lots of twists, and heart-breaking and satisfying scenes. Review by Levystheguy
Director: Edward Bazalgette
Writers: Bernard Cornwell (novel), Martha Hillier
Stars: Alexander Dreymon, Elaine Cassidy, Mark Rowley, Arnas Fedaravicius, Ingrid García Jonsson
Running Time: 1h 51m
Genres: Action, Drama, History
Matthew Macfadyen, Ian Hart, and Rutger Hauer appeared in the first season of “Blade Runner” on the BBC before the third season shifted to Netflix. However, in later seasons and this new special, more roles have been given to youthful actors than veterans.
The 2015-2022 television series The Last Kingdom did an excellent job adapting Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories. Like the novels, the film manipulated historical facts, but the action and emotion made audiences enjoy it.
The story of Uhtred Ragnarsson, a fighter born in Saxony but reared in Denmark and alternated between being hostile to and assisting his Saxon superiors as he fought to reclaim his ancestral lands, was the perfect blend of gravity, humour, and brutality.
Even if you have yet to see a single episode of the show’s first five seasons of dramatized, well-researched British history, you’ll want to go back and start from the beginning because the story becomes more engaging as you progress. This is mainly due to the story’s meticulous depiction of a society composed of pagan Danes, Christian Saxons, and people who are a mixture of both, all struggling to coexist.
Seven Kings Must Die, directed by Ed Bazalgette, is set before England became a unified kingdom in the 10th century. It demonstrates how the recent death of King Edward and the ascension of his son Aethelstan (Harry Gilby) jeopardize the fragile peace between the country’s pagan and Christian nation-states.
Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg, portrayed by Alexander Dreymon, is a very honourable man who desires to end a conflict that he believes will last decades.
The series covered the first ten of Cornwell’s novels throughout five seasons. Three publications should have been discussed. Watch the Netflix film Seven Kings Must Die as a conclusion. A few years after his return to Bebbanburg, we meet Uhtred again.
At this time, Edward the Elder’s sons Aelfweard and Aethelstan are disputing who will become the next monarch, while the Danish invader Anlaf is forming perilous alliances in the north. We’re back in the thick of it with ungrateful Saxon monarchs, cunning agents, and more A-beginning names than anyone can recall.
Seven Kings Must Die Plot.
Alexander Dreymon portrays Uhtred, the primary character. Vikings reared him after being born a Saxon, and he believes in Norse spirits. Uhtred is the chief of a Northumbrian village. He no longer holds the monarch’s title and carries an amber-handle weapon. The sides of his hair are trimmed short, giving him the appearance of a bohemian from the 1990s.
When newly crowned King Aethelstan (Harry Gilby) is persuaded by his fanatical Christian advisor Ingilmundr (Laurie Davidson) to take control of all of Britain’s kingdoms, from Shetland and Orkney to Wessex, his relationship with the royal family of Wessex in the south is tested.
According to the title, there are eight monarchs, but the wife of Uhtred’s acquaintance, who has a history of making prophecies, predicts seven will perish.
The director, Edward Bazalgette, tells the story effectively by displaying location names at the beginning of each scene. This tells us where we are, the castle’s name in the 1100s, and what it is currently called. Those who enjoy nerdy attention to detail will enjoy this.
Fans of Larp and battle reenactors must view this narrative. But Bazalgette and the film do not make light of us and strive to reflect the era.
For instance, self-hating homosexual men fight for Christianity to purge themselves of the “sins” they believe they have committed. In the Middle Ages, women and enemies were treated with the same contempt.
The combat scenes aren’t as large as those in Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, but they’re still thrilling and well-made for a film with a significantly lower budget. The movie definitely cements a spot on the top movies that came out in April.
The events unfold more like a list than a narrative. It won’t be easy to keep track of all the characters, their relationships, and the plots if you haven’t seen the TV program based on Bernard Cornwell’s novels.
Uhtred’s sword is taken, his land and title are revoked, and the treacherous Danish monarch Anlaf wishes to use him. Ingilmundr, who is in love with Aethelstan and known as Svengali, desires to turn the young monarch against Uhtred.
The topic of Christian humiliation in the face of homophobia is devoid of anything noteworthy. The final battle in the film is no more thrilling than the others. The music of undulating voices is amusing and overused, and the visual effects are uninteresting and nauseating.
There are no consequences in a film that not only murders seven royals but also numerous brain cells.
Still, this scene’s resemblance to a technique used at the beginning of The Last Kingdom’s first season makes it almost miraculous. It may not have as thrilling dancing, but that is irrelevant as long as it recognizes the gravity of this conflict.
When two opposing forces collide, blood, urine, and vomit will be everywhere. Even though they are experienced combatants, the primary characters cannot escape the crushing meat grinder surrounding them.
It makes you feel imprisoned and awful, robbing you of any sense of triumph to demonstrate how terrible it is. Uhtred’s final remarks before the conflict are not complementary. Instead, he explains the stakes and assures them that he will be with them until the end.
There are even a few quips that end with laughter from end to end, such as the one about how all the men must smell awful. It is as depressing as it is gloomy, and nothing prevents it from telling the truth that everything Uhtred attempted to avoid cost them all dearly.