'Arthur the King' review: Pups and downs in Wahlberg dog tale
Story tends to feel like two movies that don't meet in the middle. The dog's cute, though.
A group of extreme adventurers makes friends with a sweet pup in "Arthur the King," a middling tale of endurance, resilience and one really good boy.
That good boy is Ukai, the Australian shepherd-Border collie-Bouvier mix who plays Arthur, a stray dog who joins up with Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) and his team of hardcore racers as they run, bike, climb and kayak across 435 miles of marked and unmarked pathways through the jungles of the Dominican Republic.
What does their trek have to do with a dog? Well, sometimes not a whole lot, and that's where the problems seep in. Director Simon Cellan Jones — he directed episodes of Wahlberg's "Ballers," as well as 2023's Wahlberg-starring "The Family Plan" — uses the dog to really tug at the audience's heartstrings in increasingly manipulative ways, filling in emotional holes that are otherwise overlooked in the script.
Light is a past-his-prime ex-adventure racer — that's the name given to the multifaceted team sport that unfolds over several days and includes aspects of running, riding and ripping through the water — who is trying to get a team together for a chance at the championship title he was never able to capture. The one aspect standing between him and victory has always been himself, but he feels he's got one more shot in him and goes about assembling a team.
They include Leo (Simu Liu), a flashy social media star with whom he's butted heads in the past; Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), a gritty climbing expert out to honor her father; and Chik (Ali Suliman), a former champ who's nursing a bad knee but swears he's good to go. He also has to secure sponsorship, but no one's jumping at the chance to partner with a bullheaded, potentially washed up lug who was never able to get the job done in the past.
But they make it to the starting line with their eyes on the prize, identifying short-cuts — they're legal — along the way. And at several checkpoints they notice the same dog, a down-on-his-luck mutt from the streets of Santo Domingo, who is following them in their footsteps. Could this kind-eyed canine be the inspiration they need to push themselves to the limit, and to victory?
Light feeds the dog meatballs from his stash and dubs him Arthur, as in King Arthur, as he becomes the team's mascot of sorts. But aspects of the race don't exactly favor those with four legs, and Light and his teammates have to choose between winning it all and doing right by their new friend, who saves them in more ways than one along their journey.
The script is based on "Arthur - The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home" by Mikael Lindnord, who is the real life inspiration for the Light character and whose tale is recounted here, save for a few time and geographic swaps.
Cellan Jones films at least one thrilling sequence, set on a zip line high above the jungle's tree line, but it's often like he's making two different movies that don't always meet in the middle. As the story goes on, he gets increasingly mushy about Arthur, milking the audience's sympathy for the dog for all it's worth, including one perilous shot that belongs in the Shameless Hall of Fame.
It shouldn't have to resort to so many tricks, and it's tough not to feel at least a little taken advantage of as a viewer. "Arthur the King" is a warmhearted feel-good tale which paints with broad strokes about the relationship between man and man's best friend. It's a sweet story but its intentions outweigh its execution, and it never quite earns its crown.
agraham@detroitnews.com
'Arthur the King'
GRADE: C+
Rated PG-13: for some strong language
Running time: 107 minutes
In theaters