What’s Wrong with Guy Ritchie?

Guy Ritchie is a director that makes mistakes and is disliked. He directed Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur, The Man from Uncle, and soon he will direct Aladdin. He is not that popular and few have heard of these movies but the ones who have, made comments about his style. The fans have said that the accuracy of the films are wrong and the order Guy Ritchie puts the scenes in are confusing. They have also said he chose bad actors, copied other movies, and too much CGI to make the story real. These are the reasons Guy Ritchie is a good director but not an amazing one. He is a good director but these few faults have everyone complaining for change.

The first problem with Guy Ritchie is his accuracy with the original stories. In Sherlock Holmes, he drinks liquids that would physically harm a human being. He drinks embalming fluid to help him focus but realistically that would harm you. In the movie, Sherlock drinks it and nothing bad happens to him. The scene is put into the movie as a joke. It is a funny scene when Watson finds out but also unrealistic consequences. Sherlock also survives stuff that he wouldn’t normally survive. In the sequel, Sherlock gets stabbed with a huge fish hook by Moriarty. Instead of going to hospital he dresses the wound and goes to the summit meeting. In the end Sherlock physically battles Moriarty, who is a match for him, on a balcony overlooking a waterfall. They end up going over the balcony into the waterfall. Sherlock is presumed dead and shows up at the very end, alive. Sherlock wouldn’t be able to survive a jump like that into a waterfall, with a severe injury and no help. The scene is physically impossible. Sherlock does scenes that can’t actually happen in life but he is also the wrong character. In the book, Sherlock is obsessed with cleanliness and the movie version is the exact opposite. Sherlock in the movie in unkept and messy in everything he does. Another difference between the book and movie is height. Sherlock is supposed to be over 6 feet tall and in the movie he is under that height by a more than a few inches. Watson and Sherlock’s funny bickering in the movie is also not in the book. Their relationship in the book is mostly friendly and rarely shows Watson becoming tired of Holmes. It makes for a funnier movie but accurately incorrect.

King Arthur is another movie where the accuracy is more off then on. Arthur is supposed to be younger when he arrives on the throne. In the movie he looks to be in his thirties. In the original story Arthur dies in the end, facing off Mortigen. The movie presents Mortigen being killed by Arthur’s father in the beginning of the movie. The characters are actually correct and real but from different times as Arthur. Vortigen, who is Arthur’s father’s brother, exists but not at the time that Arthur did. Arthur is a honorable knight who fights for others in the stories. He is the ultimate gentlemen. The movie shows Arthur as a rebel who doesn’t want to fight. He acts like a gang member and not a knight. The personality is not accurate. The movie has elephants as war animals which isn’t as unusual. The difference is the elephants were larger than buildings and being used to sit on and carry them everywhere. There are no huge elephants in life, they don’t exist. Another scene that doesn’t make sense is when they jump off a cliff into the water to get away. Anything higher than 20 feet results in extreme injuries and sometimes death. Arthur and his crew jump from a huge cliff way higher than 20 feet and are fine. No deaths but also no injuries. Arthur gets hurt worse in the Darklands and he fell from less then that.

These are just a few examples of the mistakes Guy Ritchie has made with the accuracy of his movies. Guy Ritchie tried to make it bigger and better but just made it not believable.

Guy Ritchie has made his movies confusing by skipping around the order of thing. The beginning of the movie shows Arthur’s childhood and background. Instead of words and stories, it’s flashes and music. There are no words, just actions and images. The first ten minutes are of Arthur growing up. You see young Arthur get picked up and taken care of. Then you see him get beat up and taken care of. The next scene is people giving him money that he keeps saving. As you keep watching, he becomes older and stronger. The scene is confusing and takes emotion out of the scene. It skips the emotional scenes and just keeps the action. The movie takes the heart out of Arthur. Another scene in the movie where it shows this method is the darklands. Arthur has to travel to the Darklands to learn more. The scene is confusing because two things are happening at once. The scene first shows two characters arguing about going to the darklands then the scene skips to them at the darklands. The whole scene of Arthur traveling the darklands goes back and forth through the conversion of deciding to go to the darklands. It speeds up the scene and also takes the emotion feelings out of it. These scenes are shortened to add more but it ruins the feeling of the story.

The Actor choice was another mistake for Guy Ritchie. Robert Downey Jr. was picked for Sherlock, even though he was the wrong body. Sherlock is described as super tall and extremely thin. Robert is short and stocky. The actor was physically not the right fit for Sherlock. The actor has always had a problem with drugs and has been fired from a job because of it. Guy Ritchie picked a guy they knew had problems with drugs and could ruin the movie and yet they still picked him. Guy Ritchie also picked Jude Law as Watson for the movie. Jude Law was also picked for King Arthur. Guy Ritchie didn’t pick Jude Law for his acting skills but because Guy is playing favorites. Jude Law is too skinny to play a king who eats a lot. Charlie Hunnam plays Arthur in the film even though he’s a nobody. He hasn’t been in anything and yet Guy Ritchie hired a beginner for a big movie. Guy hired a new actor as the main character for a movie. These hires were another reason Guy Ritchie is not popular.

Guy Ritchie claims he is unique and yet he just copies the best parts of other films. He copied Game of Thrones loads of times. The style and design of the clothes for Game of thrones was the same as King Arthur. King Arthur even stole some of the same characters. Arthur and his band of misfits are a cross between Oceans Twelve and Robin Hood. Arthur and his misfits band together in the woods because the king is out for his neck. Robin Hood bands in the woods because the king is out for his neck. Arthur and his crew are like Oceans Twelve with their different skills. Arthur is not a noble knight but out for his own gain. He plans how to rob the king of what he likes the most. Their plans and execution are alike to Ocean’s Twelve planning. Arthur is more like Robin then he is like the noble knight. Arthur is a rebel who likes to mess around and only looks out for himself. Guy Ritchie also copied Princess Bride with the crazy big animals in the darklands. The darklands is basically a big island full of giant sized animals. There’s giant rats that look like the Princess bride rats. Guy Ritchie takes ideas from other popular movies and adds them to his own. He copies others.

Guy Ritchie is a huge fan of CGI. Practically all of King Arthur is CGI. The elephants and magic in the beginning of the film were CGI. All of the darklands and the creatures inside of it were CGI. The magic of the sword Arthur pulls out is also CGI. The end fight scene is literally all CGI. Even the bad guy that Arthur is facing is CGI. The whole movie is basically CGI except for the actors.

Guy Ritchie has made some mistakes that people are not excited about but that doesn’t make him a bad director. He is a brilliant director and has his own style. Most people just don’t like his style and complain about what they can. He makes great movies that aren’t always accurate but what movies are accurate? The order of the scenes and actor choice are also just his style and personality. He copies the best part of other films to make his even better. Even though a lot of the movie is CGI, how would you make an animation into a live action film? He is a great director with his own style that is unique.

Both of these opinions are right. Guy Ritchie has made mistakes and tried his best. The people aren’t’ happy with his decisions but thats okay. Not everyone likes Guy Ritchie. I think we should look at both sides and debate whether or not his mistakes are a problem for you. Either way, his movies were entertaining.

Debruge, Peter. “Film Review: ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’.” Variety, Variety, 9 May 2017, variety.com/2017/film/reviews/king-arthur-legend-of-the-sword-review-guy-ritchie-1202420937/

Robinson, Tasha. “In King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, Fantasy History Meets Drunk History.” The Verge, The Verge, 13 May 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/5/13/15635052/king-arthur-legend-of-the-sword-review-guy-ritchie-charlie-hunnam.

Seitz, Matt Zoller. “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Movie Review (2017) | Roger Ebert.” RogerEbert.com, Brian Grazer, 12 May 2017, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/king-arthur-legend-of-the-sword-2017.

staff!, Chosen by RT, et al. “King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword.” Safe Haven (2013) — Rotten Tomatoes, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/king_arthur_legend_of_the_sword/.

“User Reviews.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt1972591/reviews.