‘Arthur the King’ review: Mark Wahlberg and a cute dog anchor an admirable tale of resilience and unlikely friendships

A scene from ‘Arthur The King’
| Photo Credit: AP

Watching a film without having a glimpse of its promotional material is not a luxury we get to relish in this profession. But sometimes, it happens and when the film offers something completely in contrast to what you imagine it to be, it leaves you feeling upbeat. Films involving animals, especially dogs, are often about finding oneself and in a way, Mark Wahlberg’s Arthur the King fits that bill but there’s more to it, making it a beautiful surprise.

Arthur the King’s boon and bane is its wafer-thin plot that works wonders until it starts getting predictable. After a rough season, Michael (Mark Wahlberg) turns into the Nick Fury of expedition racing and goes ‘Adventurers Assemble’ as he puts together a team with its own challenges for a new race. Along with him is social media junkie Leo (Simu Liu), Chik (Ali Suliman), who has got a bad knee and Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), whose father is fighting cancer. Parallely we are introduced to Arthur, a stray, injured dog making his way through the streets of the Dominican Republic. When Michael and his team befriend Arthur during the race, the cute pupper accompanies the team on a gruelling endurance race.

For a dog film, the first half barely shows us the cute little show-stealer whose real name is Ukai. Instead, we get to know more about Michael’s family, what the race means to him and how he’s ready to swallow his ego for his team to compete and win this game. The limited early scenes of the dog do not add much apart from stressing the fact that he’s all by himself. It’s when the two meet, after Michael feeds him a meatball only to be surprised to see him again a few hundred kilometres away, do we know that Arthur has followed them, and will be crucial to the story.

Mark Wahlberg in a scene from ‘Arthur The King’
| Photo Credit:
Carlos Rodriguez

The story feels more heart-warming knowing that the film is adapted from ‘Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home’, a memoir written by Mikael Lindnord whose tryst with a dog he found and named Arthur in Ecuador turned the athlete into an author. This true story undoubtedly tugs at your heartstrings, especially in stretches like the one where the team has to part ways with Arthur, momentarily, during a kayaking session. The warmth of the plot is also intense enough to make us overlook the technical prowess of the film; the makers do a fine job of capturing the journey of the team through the dense forests and narrow alleyways of the Dominican Republic and there’s also a fantastic shot involving a zip-line. The film also does a neat job of explaining the concept of adventure racing to those in the audience who are new to the sport by describing the happenings as commentary.

But once we settle within the story and the reunion happens, the novelty wears off given that we realise where the plot is heading towards. It’s the story of a gang of underdogs… with a dog, so you ought to know what’s going to transpire in the race and post that when Michael gets some free time to tend to Arthur. Nevertheless, the film makes up for it with the chemistry between its leading boys and the fact that Wahlberg lets his four-legged co-star take the spotlight. Overall, Arthur the King is an endearing tale of companionship and surmounting challenges that has what it takes to conquer your heart.

Arthur the King is currently running in theatres