Black Knight (2001)

A dispiriting trend from the late '90s has seen countless films chart the interplay of a sassy fast-talker and his polar opposites, and Black Knight is about as good, as bad, and certainly as obvious as these movies get. Those who saw the trailer probably even guessed the inevitable title before it hit the screen at the trailer's end. Eras and cultures have clashed so often on film that the lines practically write themselves, and what screenwriter Darryl Quarles adds to this one is Martin Lawrence's specific speech flourishes and trademark put-downs, which have traditionally brought in audiences. Still, the 33 million dollars it did make was pretty short of a king's ransom, suggesting that casting Lawrence is not by itself enough to guarantee a hit. Setting aside knee-jerk critical snobbishness, Black Knight accomplishes its goals in the most basic sense, in all of the most basic ways. In fact, it's so single-minded that it mostly dispenses with the usual opening scenes in modern times before Lawrence plunges into a theme park moat, which zaps him from South Central Los Angeles to 1326 England. Viewers won't care so much for an explanation of that, or why the screenplay never comments on his apparent time travel. If anything, they'll scratch their heads more about why the great Tom Wilkinson signed on to the project. But this film was not made for nit-pickers, and Lawrence's core audience should be happy enough. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide