Reviewed by Jon Barton

After all the hype, after all the waiting, the wondering whether it'd actually get a release, Tom Saville's 4 year baby has finally been unleashed, in al its HM glory. Being a hugely versatile director and voice actor, Knights is in complete contrast to the gritty sci-fi masterpiece that was SSA, blending his own brand of British humour with smart HMC, complex animations and some fairly intellectual observations on the genres involved.

Its a strange concept going from something so full scale and intriguing to something entirely different. But despite this Knights remains a very thorough example of substance, and on the surface is bloody entertaining and watchable to boot.

Where Knights tends to fall flat are its weaker chapters. Unfortunately these are heightened by the sheer fantastical nature of some of the sequences that are bad contrasts to the lazier ones, which is a shame as you'd be forgiven for thinking that the events of the movie are actually very linear. After so much of setting up the characters and the motivation we get a blank screen explaining away events that no doubt would have had great potential on the big screen. They even fend off a dragon, but ironically this is something we don't actually see. However, Knights is exploitive in that it tends to rip out the genres it deals with and immediately makes them amusing. The buddy comedy, the slapstick humour and the one-liners are all products of a joke Tom has with the audience. Most of the occurrences of the movie sum up ludicrous concepts of a coming of age story. A character unsure of his prowess at last finds an opportunity of adventure, thus taking off on a journey of self discovery. In reality Shrek and Toy Story do this to similar effect, and we see the maturity of the characters by the end. Knights is equally hilarious in that Tom deliberately avoids this cliché, and the climax of the movie revolves around the notion that the characters haven't changed at all.

The argument for some of the lost humour I imagine is that Tom was more preoccupied with emphasising this hidden joke, and well as heightening character humour. Not since Sgt. Steve have I found the characters so lovable in their own right, producing quirky well observed jokes and one-liners. In some places Knights shows signs of laziness, such as some elements of the scenery and the ludicrously well animated action juxtaposed with the moments that seem like little more than narrative gap fillers. But with something this quality on our hands and in my eyes, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't pure entertainment at its best. Knights knows exactly how it wants to entertain its audience, and wasting as little time as possible it does just that. And who can say the sight of good HMCS, well observed humour and speedy narrative is ever a bad thing. 4 years eh? Hell, it was worth the wait.

Consistently re-watchable, funny and witty, Knights delivers to its full potential. At times you may be baffled at awkwardness, but to be honest by the time I got my thirtieth laugh out loud moment I couldn't care less. Knights is fantastic. A fantastic mind-blowing movie. From a fantastic mind-blowing director. Enjoy. And enjoy again.

10/10