The end of the year will be punctuated by three horn blasts in French cinemas. Four years later Kaamelott — First PartAlexandre Astier is back with a suite in two parts soberly named Kaamelott — Second part (part 1). The father of the humorous pastille did the hard part, he proved that his imagination had its place on the big screen. In 2021, KV1 brought together 2.6 million spectators and rose to fourth place at the French box office. Arthur Pendragon and his clique had no trouble competing with Peter Parker, James Bond and Paul Atreides.
An arrival on conquered territory for Arthur Pendragon? We would be tempted to believe it. But this second film still needs to transform the essay, to confirm the importance of Kaamelott for the French cinematographic landscape. Add to that the fact that this new part already promises to anchor itself even more on the fantasy side – abandoning its constant humor a little to tell the epic quest of the king to recover his power and find the Grail – and you have a rather unstable potion… as only Merlin the enchanter ultimately knows. After seeing 30 minutes of the film, we can already share with you a first feeling before a real criticism.
A legendary troupe
KV2 takes place six months after the events of the first film. Arthur Pendragon has become king again, much to his regret, and spends most of his time lugging around Carmelite Castle in his pajamas. His subjects are ready to fight and have high hopes for his return. After a decade of oppression, they hope that Arthur will do everything possible to save the kingdoms of Brittany and restore them to their former power. This obviously involves the creation of a new round table and the return to quests. But Arthur, true to himself, puts no good will into it.
The opening of the film is above all an opportunity for Alexandre Astier to lay the foundations of this new adventure and to root Arthur’s traumas and his deep fears in the minds of the spectators. Arthur is not resolved to kill Lancelot, nor is he resolved to carry the responsibility for all of Brittany on his shoulders.
If this passivity of the character as much as a dramatic change in tone were among the criticisms addressed to the last seasons of the series, it is clear that Astier has managed to find a balance. This was less the case in the first part, which often wasted time multiplying winks and fan-service to satisfy early fans. Here, these little easter eggs are less strongthe film seems to have finally figured out how to navigate all of its ambitions.
Rise to power
Speaking of ambitions, the first minutes of the film confirm an obvious ramp-up in production. While it is still too early to judge the visual copy of Kaamelott V2it is clear that Astier finally seems to want to take advantage of the big screen to make his world more tangible.
Openness reflects this desire for a richer, bigger world. An excess which will have to be confirmed as events progress and as fantasy takes up more and more space. If the battle of the first film had no blushingthe conclusion of the fight left a taste of too little that this sequel will have to fill. We can also mention the visual effects, and in particular those which concern the enormous colossus at the end of the first film. The ghost of Lancelot’s father is quite convincing, it remains to be seen how it will be exploited.
The meaning of the good word
But if Kaamelott is intended to be an epic fantasy saga, it is nonetheless a continuation of the first seasons of the comic series. Astier and its sense of the musicality of the dialogues are inseparable from the stamp and this suite loses none of its relevance. Tasty writing, close to that of the theater, accompanies the quests of our heroes. The replies flow, everyone gets in tune with an incisive although groggy Astier, KV2 has not forgotten its roots and, if the jokes are fewer, the dialogues continue to be at the epicenter of the process.
We are therefore looking forward to discovering what the rest of the film has in store, even though the quest has not yet been launched and for this first half hour it is mainly a matter of laying down the pawns before getting serious. Let us remember that this film is only the first part of a film designed in two chapters and that this format will leave Alexandre Astier the leisure to deepen one’s ideas as much as give them time to unfold. Be careful not to falling into the trap of the long introductiona problem from which the first film already suffered and which had left many spectators in the lurch.
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