‘Arthur the King’ Review: A Heartwarming if too Formulaic Tale of a Doggo Adventure

Dogs have always been one of cinema’s best friends and feel-good staples. Whether it’s through silly kids’ films like Air Bud or more serious fare like Iron Will, dogs have the ability to evoke visceral emotions on screen; here’s looking at you, John Wick. Arthur the King is another entry to the dog cinematic universe, this time with an unbelievable true story of elite professional athlete Mikael Lindlord and Arthur, the stray dog who changed his life forever. Talk about a film made for the doggaissance we’re currently living in. Director Simon Cellan Jones helms this sentimental, grounded film with a screenplay written by Michael Brandt based on the novel by Lindlord, Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home. 

Like all true stories, the film does take a few liberties with the characters, timeline, and location from the true events but keeps the heart of the story: friendship, loyalty, and finding love in an unexpected furry friend. Mark Wahlberg stars as Michael Light, a pro adventure racer looking for a victory after not only failing his last race but also going viral on Instagram for getting stuck in the mud with his team. A few years later, Light manages to get a sponsor and finds three teammates: Chik (Ali Suliman), who has won seven world championships but was dropped by his last team after a knee injury, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), daughter of a climbing legend who joins the team to please her father, and Leo (Simu Liu) a competitive racer who has history with Light, and the social media following he needs for sponsorship. Light and his team are heading to the Dominican Republic to compete in the grueling 435-mile endurance race. In the true story, Lindlord is Swedish, not American like Light, and his team competed in Ecuador, but it may have been changed in the film for practical reasons. These slight changes to the story are not too impactful, though, and understandable in that there had to be a big name like Wahlberg to bring this story to the big screen. 

Arthur the King opens with Light’s last race,  where we see him in overly competitive spirits and stopping at nothing to win, including leading his team astray and not being able to admit defeat and his poor choices. We cut to a few years later, when Light is married to his former teammate, Helen, and has a daughter, Ruby. Light is unhappy with his life, having to work for his father in real estate. At first glance, Wahlberg seemed like an odd choice to play a character that will need to have the audience believe a dog can change him – was he up for the challenge? Dare I say, yes, yes, he was. His usual brazen, confident self works well and somehow manages also to have an underlying vulnerability. Paralleling the true story, Light mentions several times that he’s not a dog person, just like Lindlord has mentioned in telling this story. Wahlberg fits that tough persona, but as the film unfolds, he lets the vulnerability and love of the dog come through. 

The story manages to inject thoughtful and poignant moments before ever hitting the Dominican Republic and the race between Light and his father (Paul Guilfoyle). There’s a moment when his father asks him why he needs to go out and race instead of settling down and taking care of his family. It’s not a question of ambition but more of, why can’t you just get in line and do what’s expected? The question posed is a universal one and is brought up several times throughout the movie, with a not-so-clear-cut answer. Can you go from being an elite athlete to changing diapers and selling real estate? Should you give up your dreams for a more practical path? And while Light’s character does not have a firm answer, he does strike a cutting line by saying you never taught me to settle, and this is why I’m like this. Guillfoyle’s reaction to this moment is a look of “you got me” and silence. It was a pivotal moment and sets the tone for the film – relationships are messy, even furry ones. That moment felt so real and relatable to many parent-child relationships. We are a product of our parents, and it was a simple yet deep moment that was not expected in this mostly inspirational and fluffy (pun intended) film. 

Light and his team embark on the race, with several obstacles sure to come – is Chik’s knee really okay for this race? Is Olivia hiding something about her father? Is Leo really going to fall in line with Light’s leadership after what happened at their last race? There’s enough tension and uncertainty in a setting already filled with so much – the Dominican Republic jungle and over 100 miles of rough terrain and challenges ahead of them. Cellan Jones has a thoughtful touch in his direction. There’s no overdone framing of shots or shaky camerawork, and the film is instead grounded with its locations and practicality in its more fear-inducing moments between the race, the team, and Arthur. There is a zipline scene in particular that feels simple yet real and practical, and the tension you feel for the team on whether they will get through it feels like a callback to the 80s/90s movies we don’t see anymore. It lingers on this moment for a good chunk and makes you sit in it, something that really feels poignant in a CGI-filled, short-attention-span world. It’s also a turning point for the team that becomes more bonded, as Liu, Suliman, Emmanuel, and Wahlberg finally feel like they are catching their stride, and you can’t help but root for them. 

If you’re wondering why Arthur (Ukai) the doggo himself has not been mentioned until now, it’s because, for a film touting itself as a dog movie, there is not a lot of Arthur in it, or at least, not initially. We see glimpses of Arthur in the streets of the Dominican Republic, seemingly his backstory, looking for food via trash cans, and scenes that allude to him being abused by said shop owners for getting food. The parallel jump cuts between Arthur and Light’s lives leading up to the race were welcome but then veer off in an unbalanced ratio, leaning more towards Light’s journey, leaving Arthur’s establishing story lacking and unfinished. 

Their bond begins when Light, seeing Arthur at a race pit stop with a gaping bleeding wound, gives him some meatballs. Arthur gobbles them up and the team is on their way. While they are ziplining through the jungle, trying to make up time and position themselves ahead of the pack, Arthur is cutting through the jungle, catching up with his meatball-giving friend. Arthur unofficially joins the race that catches the attention of the media, his wife and daughter back home and the other teams. This mimics the real-life story of Arthur, as race officials and spectators began to take notice of Arthur and documented the journey he had with him. 

Adding to the harsh terrain and enduring the intense race, there’s also the added element of tension between Light and Leo. Leo is the person who posted Light’s previous race failure and breakdown on Instagram, which has haunted Light and his race legacy. Their tension plays out throughout this race, and Arthur’s loyalty and perseverance are ultimately why they can look past their differences and finish the race and finally respect each other putting their past behind them. But something is missing in making Arthur and the team more bonded cinematically. Perhaps the story had to lean too much into the inspirational tropes of the formulaic genre that the emotional threads are not strongly tied. It almost feels too little, too late when Arthur becomes part of the team, and the latter half feels rushed and a bit on the cheesy side with the shots of Light’s wife back home viewing Arthur’s media attention on the computer. 

While there are plenty of heart-wrenching moments (the kayak scene in particular), it’s hard not to dismiss the big fluff of the story that hurts Arthur the King from achieving true legend status. Instead of holding back it relies on common tropes we’ve seen before to string a heartwarming tale (which it does), but it could’ve dug a bit deeper to establish the bond that Arthur made with this real-life team and Light who was most impacted by it. And while it’s understandable that there are limitations to what Ukai could do on film and in the harsh terrain (who wants to see a dog, even a trained one, suffer onscreen?), the story suffers because of it. 

There are also the formulaic moments from characters who had been built up as antagonistic, like Leo, who suddenly have to make a shift because of Arthur’s impact but in a too-convenient and cheesy way that Liu can’t save. The choice Leo makes at this moment is not itself unbelievable but it feels forced. The story and some character arcs lack connective tissue to form a more impactful and emotional punch. 

Will you laugh and cry, and if you’re a dog mom or dad, will you weep throughout your time thinking of your own pup at home? Yes, yes, and double yes. Arthur the King is a nice palate cleanser to the heavier fare, relentless superhero IP, and sequels out there.  Watch out, Messi, there’s a new dog in town; Ukai is ready for his Pawscar! 

Grade: B-

Lionsgate will release Arthur the King in theaters on March 15.

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Catherine Gonzales

Catherine graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelors in Radio-TV-Film in 2012. She resides in Austin, Texas and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved freelance critic. She is a member of the Hollywood Critics Association (HCA), The Association of Female Film Critics and CherryPicks.

When she’s not watching movies or television, she’s gardening, crafting and playing fetch with her dog, Rex.

You can follow Catherine on Twitter & Instagram @thingscatloves.

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