I must admit, I do love a good Disney movie and this was a decent enough Disney movie. However, I am also a big fan of Meg Cabot's book and I don't agree with Disney changing what would have been a perfectly good script. In the book, everything lines up with the Arthurian legend; Will is King Arthur, Marco is Mordred etc. In the film, however, Allie is King Arthur (which is meant to be a "surprise plot twist" but actually doesn't make any sense), Marco is only pretending to be bad (because after all folks it is a kids movie) and Will character isn't part of the legend at all. It would appear that Disney were trying to give the movie a feminist slant, going for the 'girls can do everything boys can do" attitude (evident when the teacher, Mr Moore who is Mordred in the movie, says "King Arthur can't be a girl"). However, by doing this the story, especially the love triangle between Lance (Lancelot), Jennifer (Guinevere) and Will makes absolutely NO SENSE. I don't think that Disney realised that the original plot in the book does actually give great credence to Ellie, not Allie. Ellie is the Lady of the Lake, the women that gives King Arthur Excalibur and who protects him. Arthur would be nothing without the Lady of the Lake and so the plot as is was pretty feminist already. In my opinion, Disney's changes were silly, poorly thought out and entirely unnecessary. In saying that I did enjoy the first hour of the film and found the character of Miles (Merlin) to be a great addition. Overall, I think the film is good but with such significant changes made to the plot and the ending, I do not think Disney should of marketed this as a adaptation of the book. It would have been better as a stand alone TV movie.
Review of Avalon High
Avalon High
(2010 TV Movie)
Good as a TV movie - not as a adaptation of the book
26 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers