Black Knight (film)

Black Knight is a 2001 American fantasy adventure comedy film starring Martin Lawrence and directed by Gil Junger. In addition to Lawrence, Black Knight had a supporting cast of Marsha Thomason, Tom Wilkinson, Vincent Regan, and Kevin Conway.

In the film, Lawrence plays Jamal, a theme park employee who is transported through time to medieval England. The film was shot at various locations in North Carolina, mainly Wilmington and Carolina Beach.

The film was released in November 2001 and went on to gross $39,976,235 at the worldwide box office, a loss from its $50 million budget. Its critical reception was poor.

Plot
Jamal Walker (Martin Lawrence) is an everyday slacker with a job at a theme park called Medieval World, which is about to receive big competition from another theme park, Castle World. While cleaning a moat surrounding the park, he finds a medallion, and when he tries to retrieve it he gets sucked into the past. He awakes in 1328 in England, where he is first met by a drunkard named Knolte (Tom Wilkinson). He then searches for Castle World, but he finds a castle that he thinks is Castle World, so he decides to check it out. The tenants of the castle believe him to be a French Moor, from Normandy, because he tells them he is from Florence and Normandie, a famous intersection in South Central Los Angeles.

Jamal is soon taken in by the reigning king, King Leo (Kevin Conway). He is assumed to be a messenger from Normandy whom the king believes to be bringing news of an alliance between England and Normandy. Although at first Jamal thinks that all the people around him are just actors in a theme park he changes his mind when he witnesses a beheading. He gives his name as Jamal "Sky" Walker after his high school basketball nickname, and, after gaining trust from the king by accidentally preventing his assassination, Jamal is made a lord and head of security. While all of this is going on, Jamal learns from Victoria (Marsha Thomason), a chambermaid, about the ruthless way the king came to power by overthrowing the former queen. He also learns that Knolte was really knight of the former queen who was disgraced when she lost her throne. Through their help and his own realization of the situation, Jamal soon understands he must help overthrow King Leo and help restore the queen to her throne.

With some effort, Jamal manages to convince the decimated rebels and townsfolk to band together to overthrow the king. Using modern-day tactics used in American football and pro wrestling, he gives the peasants the means to fight the armed and armored king's guards. Out of gratitude for helping him find his honor again, Knolte teaches some basic sword-fighting maneuvers to Jamal, and also tells him that he has an idea that may give them an advantage in the upcoming battle.

The next day, Knolte and the rebels storm the castle, only to find themselves quickly surrounded by guards and Leo's bodyguard, Percival (Vincent Regan). The tide turns briefly when the legendary Black Knight charges in, breathing fire and scattering the guards, but the plan goes awry when he falls from his horse and is revealed to be Jamal in disguise. Using their newfound skills, the peasants succeed in overpowering the guards, but Knolte is severely wounded by a longbow shot from Percival, who takes Victoria hostage. King Leo is scared since his troops are being defeated, and asks Percival for safety. Percival, who already sees Leo as pathetic and weak as a leader, kills him and throws him in the moat. Charging to the rescue, Jamal surprises Percival with his fighting skills, rescuing Victoria. Percival is then shot dead by Knolte before he could administer a killing blow to Jamal.

After the Queen's reign is restored, Jamal is knighted by her. During the dubbing, he awakes back at Medieval World surrounded by his co-workers and a medical team, who saved him from drowning in the moat, implying that Jamal's entire adventure was a dream. After being saved Jamal's whole attitude changes, and he helps his boss to make Medieval World better so that Castle World will not run them out of business. Later on, Jamal takes a walk around the new Medieval World and meets a woman named Nicole (Thomason) who looks just like Victoria. They talk a little and he asks her out to lunch. Unfortunately, Jamal forgets to get Nicole's number, and when he tries to catch up to her, he accidentally falls back into the moat, waking up in the Colosseum of Ancient Rome, where he is about to be devoured by lions.

Cast

 * Martin Lawrence as Jamal Walker/"Skywalker"
 * Marsha Thomason as Victoria the Chambermaid/Nicole
 * Tom Wilkinson as Sir Knolte of Marlborough
 * Kevin Conway as King Leo
 * Vincent Regan as Percival
 * Daryl Mitchell as Steve
 * Michael Countryman as Phillip
 * Jeannette Weegar as Princess Regina
 * Erik Jensen as Derek
 * Dikran Tulaine as Dennis
 * Helen Carey as The Queen
 * Robert Alan Harris as King Leo's Squire

Development
The film was announced to release on November 21, 2001 by Fox.

Critical reaction
The film garnered mostly negative reviews, receiving a 13% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 97 reviews, with an average score of 3.41/10. The critical consensus states that the film "feels like a lazily constructed movie, filled with lame gags and constant mugging from Lawrence." The film has also drawn attention from scholars. Addressing it as one of the few contemporary films that cast African American characters in medieval settings, Laurie A. Finke and Martin B. Shichtman noted that the film provided commentary on early 21st-century race relations in the United States, noting that despite his triumphs in the medieval setting, by the end, Jamal "continues to live in white America, which requires hybridity, not dominance, from African American men. He may be a better man for his excellent medieval adventure, but he is still black, poor, underemployed, and living in the hood.”

Box office
The film opened at #4 at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend with $11,102,948. Black Knight ultimately grossed $40 million worldwide, failing to recoup its $50 million budget.

Motion Picture Sound Editors

 * Nominated for Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing - Music - Feature Film, Domestic and Foreign