Movie Review: 'Arthur the King' Starring Mark Wahlberg and Dog

Arthur the King (2024)

Directed by Simon Cellan Jones

Written by Michael Brandt

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Juliet Rylance

Release Date March 15th, 2024

Published March 15th, 2o24

There is nothing remotely surprising or unique about Arthur the King, aside from that strange title. Forgive me a moment of being pedantic, but, in context, I have no idea what led to this title or the name of this dog. In the scene where Mark Wahlberg, as Adventure Racer Michael Light gives the dog the name Arthur, The King, he says the dog is acting like a King because he wasn't begging for food, he was patiently waiting to be offered food? And this is, I guess, a reference to King Arthur? Was King Arthur known for patiently waiting to be offered food before he ate?

It feels like a reach and the movie gives us no context for why Michael Light made this logical leap to 'he's a King because he doesn't beg and waits patiently,' you know, like Kings do. I'm sure that the real life Michael Light had a more reasonable explanation than this in arriving at this moniker for his new dog friend. The movie just makes it feel awkward and bizarre because it's in a rush to keep this overly familiar, sports crossed with dog movie moving. Title aside, Arthur the King delivers exactly what is promised, a charismatic pooch, a rugged athletic hero, and an underdog story that lives up to the word, underdog, in more ways than one.

The story goes that Michael Light ruined his career as an adventure racer by being arrogant, selfish, and failing to listen to his team. An Instagram post from one of his team members, Leo (Simu Liu), showing the team trapped in the mud becomes Leo's legacy, a foolhardy competitor with more guts than brains. A couple of years down the road and Michael is failing in the real estate business owned by his father and is longing for one more chance, one more race, one last opportunity to change his legacy from sore loser to champion. With the blessing of his wife, and former teammate, Helena (Juliet Rylance), now the mother of his young daughter, Michael decides to take one last chance at glory.

Next comes the building the team montage as Michael must get together a ragtag crew of outcasts and newcomers to join him for this race. This includes an older navigator with a bad knee, Chik (Ali Suliman), stinging from being fired from his former team, and a first time racer and climbing expert, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who only agrees to race because of her legendary father and her desire to make him happy. She, unfortunately comes with the baggage of dialogue that saddles her with spouting needless factoids in place of being a person.

The final member of the team is mandated to Michael. If he wants to get sponsored for the race, he will need the social media following of his former teammate, Leo, whom Michael despises. For his part, Leo is no fan of Michael either, especially as a leader. But, he has a new outdoor fashion line to promote, so he's in. With only half of what they need to make a successful trip to the race in the Dominican Republic, they soldier on and become immediate underdogs against the richer and greatly more prepared teams.

All while we are watching Michael decide to race again, put his team together, and seek sponsorship, we get glimpses of a dog, already waiting in the Dominican Republic, living on the streets. We will come to know him as Arthur but when we meet him, he's shaggy and shy and desperately trying to survive a harsh world. He's also charismatic and adorable in the way all movie dogs are. It's not like the producers were going to choose a less than photogenic pooch to star in this story. And there are plenty more feral looking dogs running around to provide contrast to our hero dog.

No, Arthur's got that classic movie dog it-factor. He's precocious and curious and we are won over by his cuteness immediately. Your heart will be well melted even before he shares a meatball with Wahlberg's Michael. You will have fully fallen in love with Arthur well before he becomes the fifth member of a team of Adventure Racers and you will love him even more as his troubles begin to unfold and his wellbeing is threatened by the forced of nature and the forces of bureaucracy and paperwork.

Arthur is adorable and by extension, the movie has a likability factor that is undeniable. I may not have enjoyed the creaky sincerity and predictability of Arthur the King, but I would have to be some kind of anger driven sociopath not to feel something for this adorable dog. The movie is based on a true story, however loosely, and that adds only a further element of sympathy to what Arthur the adorable dog is overcoming. It's all very familiar and intended to pluck your heartstrings and yet, it still does it and you let it happen because who can resist an adorable dog in an underdog story. I can't, and I doubt you can resist it either.

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