Justin and the Knights of Valour
Justin and the Knights of Valour (Spanish: Justin y la espada del valor) is a 2013 English-language Spanish 3D computer animated fantasy[2] film whose working title was Goleor: The Scales and the Sword. It is the story of a boy named Justin, who wants to become a knight like his grandfather Sir Roland. It was produced, created, developed and animated by Kandor Graphics, the second of their two animated films (the first was the 2008 film, The Missing Lynx). It was produced by Antonio Banderas, Marcelino Almansa, Kerry Fulton and Ralph Kamp. It was written by Matthew Jacobs and Manuel Sicilia with music by Ilan Eshkeri.[1] It was edited by Claudio Hernández and directed by Manuel Sicilia. Sony Pictures Entertainment distributed it in Spain, and Entertainment One in the United Kingdom.
| Justin and the Knights of Valour | |
|---|---|
 Spanish theatrical release poster | |
| Spanish | Justin y la espada del valor |
| Directed by | Manuel Sicilia |
| Produced by | Marcelino Almansa Antonio Banderas Kerry Fulton Ralph Kamp Kandor Graphics |
| Written by | Matthew Jacobs Manuel Sicilia |
| Story by | Manuel Sicilia |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Freddie Highmore James Cosmo |
| Music by | Ilan Eshkeri[1] |
| Cinematography | Javier Fernández |
| Edited by | Claudio Hernández |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Entertainment One Films (United Kingdom) Sony Pictures Releasing de España (Spain) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes[2] |
| Country | Spain United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The film premiered on 13 September 2013[2] and was released theatrically in September 2013 in Spain and the United Kingdom. Justin and the Knights of Valour was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Paramount Home Media Distribution in 2014.
Plot
Justin (Freddie Highmore) lives in the kingdom of Gabylonia, where lawyers control everything and knights have been ousted. His dream is to be one of the Knights of Valour, like his grandfather, Sir Roland. But his father Reginald (Alfred Molina), a widower and the chief counsel to the Queen (Olivia Williams), wants his son to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer. After an argument with his father, Justin seeks comfort from his grandmother (Julie Walters), a friend of the Queen, who encourages him to follow his dreams. Justin notices that his grandfather's sword is missing and decides to find it as his quest. His grandmother gives him a key which originally belonged to his grandfather and tells him to go to an abbey where three wise monks would train him. Before Justin leaves, he visits his crush Lara (Tamsin Egerton), who is a spoiled brat and the daughter of the kingdom's greatest businessman. He says farewell to her, though she is not really listening and rather uncaringly gives him a sock as a token.
Justin embarks on his quest to become a knight. Along the way he meets a beautiful, feisty girl named Talia (Saoirse Ronan), a weary barmaid who works at the Broken Eagle Inn, and a quirky wizard called Melquiades (David Walliams). Meanwhile, Justin's grandmother visits the Queen, who tells her that she regrets her decision of ousting the knights. A thief overhears their conversation and disguises himself as a knight, naming himself Sir Clorex (Antonio Banderas). He becomes popular with the townsfolk and is used to attract customers at the Broken Eagle Inn, but Talia sees that he is a phony.
Justin finds the abbey and trains with the monks, Braulio (Barry Humphries), an inventor who suffers from fits when stressed, Legantir (Charles Dance), a wizard and head of the abbey and Blucher (James Cosmo), a knight and an old friend of Sir Roland. They train him using the ways of the Knights of Valour. The monks then receive news that a banished former knight, Sir Heraclio (Mark Strong) and his second-in-command Sota (Rupert Everett), have returned from exile and have started rounding up an army (broken out of prison by Sota and his halfwit brothers Champ & Copas) to seek retribution on the Queen & Reginald for outlawing knights. The monks later reveal to Justin the Hall of Heroes, where all the statues of the finest knights were kept. Justin finds his grandfather's statue and notices that his grandfather's sword is not in the chest below it, and Sir Heraclio's statue has been removed. Blucher then tells Justin what really happened to his grandfather, who defended his son & the Queen and was killed by Heraclio with his own sword. Justin realizes that his grandfather's sword is with Heraclio. The monks attempt to challenge Justin by battling a dragon, which turns out to be a crocodile with mechanical wings and fire. Justin ends up near-fatally injured but is saved by Legantir and Blucher using a healing spell. The monks decide to end the training. Before he leaves, Blucher gives Justin his sword and tells him that he will need it.
On his way back home, Justin saves Talia when she gets intimidated by thugs. Talia helps Justin defeat the thugs, resulting in her getting fired, though she happily quits first. Justin is amazed that Talia is a proficient fighter, which she says is from having five older brothers. She is disheartened when she learns that Justin has feelings for Lara. Meanwhile, Justin's grandmother tells her son Reginald to understand Justin's dream of becoming a knight, just like his father understood his dream to become a Lawyer. She persuades Reginald to bond with his son at Lara's party, an event that Justin wouldn't miss.
Justin attends Lara's party with Talia as his date. He is shocked when he finds out that Lara has fallen in love with Sir Clorex. Sota and his brothers invade the party in order to kidnap Lara. Justin attempts to save Lara, but Sota drugs him. Clorex enters the scene. Sota and his brothers think that he is a knight and flee. Lara mocks Justin about his desire to become a knight, and Reginald attempts to bond with his son, but Justin sadly tells him that he will go to Law School. Sir Clorex and Lara share a seemingly romantic moment together, until Sir Clorex "kidnaps" Lara and rides off with her.
On his way to Law School, Justin bumps into Talia who tells him that Lara has been captured. Justin is her only hope, as the townsfolk become infuriated with the lawyers. After some encouragement and persuasion, Reginald finally accepts his son's desire to become a knight and allows Justin to stand up against Heraclio. Justin, Talia and Melquiades go to Heraclio's hideout, where they find Sir Clorex, being questioned by Heraclio about his knighthood, and Lara being help captive. Justin and Talia break into the room and briefly fight. Sir Clorex then grabs Lara and runs off with her. Justin and Talia defeat Sota and his brothers, before coming face to face with Heraclio's army. Talia confronts Sir Clorex and engages in a fist fight with him. She eventually corners him and finishes him off by kicking soot all over him, telling Sir Clorex that it's not armour that makes a knight; it's the man inside. Talia then rescues Lara and they both fight off the army and help Blucher while Justin and Heraclio are fighting for a battle. Blucher arrives with Gustav to aid Justin and defeat Heraclio. Gustav scares the army away, while Heraclio and Blucher engage in a duel which ends with Blucher being stabbed. Justin then duels with Heraclio. The two get stuck on a watermill above a waterfall where they fight over Sir Roland's sword. Heraclio slips and falls to his death while Justin retrieves the sword. Blucher is on the brink of death while Talia, Lara and Justin desperate to heal him and Justin and Melquiades use the same healing leaves from before on Blucher, proving Justin has become a true knight.
The Queen then gives Justin the title of Sir Justin and praises him for his bravery. She decides to re-establish the knights by signing a new contract. Reginald is hesitant at first, as he fears that his son would follow the same fate as his father, but signs the contract as it would make his son happy. While it seemed as though Justin still has feelings for Lara, he returns the sock she had given him and then turns her down much to her disappointment and surprise, as she was starting to like him. He then approaches Talia and tells her that he wants her to continue accompanying him on quests, as he has realized that she is the girl of his dreams. Talia happily accepts and kisses him, becoming his girlfriend much to Lara's further dismay. At the abbey, the monks have finished creating a statue of Justin in the Hall of Knights. A wall is then torn down revealing another hall for future knights.
The credits reveal that what shown after the events of the film such as Lara getting her hair done, Justin and Talia resting in the hill with Gustav, enjoying their time together as a couple.
Cast
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- Freddie Highmore as Justin, a teenage boy who dreams of becoming a knight like his grandfather before him. Justin soon sets out on a quest to achieve his dream. He is shy, lacks confidence, has a slight build, and is clumsy. However, he's also brave, determined, true of heart, smart, and rather handsome.
- Saoirse Ronan as Talia, a teenage girl who is a former barmaid that comes from a large family. Tired of her old job and seeking the thrill of an adventure, Talia soon joins Justin, eventually falling deeply in love with him. She is beautiful for her age with long, brown hair, is skilled at fighting, quick-witted, loves adventure, and cares for others greatly.
- James Cosmo as Blucher, one of the monks, a former knight and Sir Roland's best friend.
- Charles Dance as Legantir, the head monk.
- Tamsin Egerton as Lara, Justin's former crush and the daughter of the kingdom's pioneer economic. She has blonde hair, has many dresses and makeup, and is rather selfish and insensitive to others feelings.
- Antonio Banderas as Sir Clorex, an armour polisher who poses as a vain knight.
- Rupert Everett as Sota, a skilled and brave swordsman who serves Heraclio as his right-hand man.
- Barry Humphries as Braulio, a monk and inventor.
- Alfred Molina as Reginald, Justin's father. He is the chief lawyer of the kingdom and vehemently against knights. He wishes for his son to become a lawyer like him.
- Mark Strong as Heraclio, a former knight who betrayed his kingdom and murdered Sir Roland.
- David Walliams as Melquiades / Karolius, a quirky wizard with a bizarre split personality that accompanies Justin and Talia on their travels.
- Julie Walters as Grandma Lilly, Justin's grandmother and Reginald's mother.
- Olivia Williams as the Queen of Gabylonia, the governor of the kingdom. Following her husband's murder, she outlawed all knights, hoping to prevent any future conflict, but now realizing her actions have left her kingdom and people with none to defend them.
- Richard O'Brien as Innkeeper.
Production
Development
On September 21, 2012, it was announced that Manuel Sicilia was set to direct and write the film with Matthew Jacobs. Production, development and filming began on August 28, 2013. The film was originally going to be titled Goleor: The Scales and the Sword.
Music
Ilan Eshkeri scored the music for the film and on its soundtrack. The soundtrack also contains "Kung Fu" performed by Ash, "Be Myself" performed by Aiden Grimshaw on his album Misty Eye, "It's a Party" performed by The Subways on the album Money and Celebrity and "Heroes" performed by Rebecca Ferguson & The Metropolitan Orchestra.
Animation and special effects
The movie was done in 3D computer animation and the 3D animation special effects for the film were done by Post23.
Casting
In September 2011, it was announced that Freddie Highmore would play the lead role in the film, while Saoirse Ronan and Antonio Banderas were in early talks to join the cast. On June 3, 2013, James Cosmo, Charles Dance, Tamsin Egerton, Rupert Everett, Barry Humphries, Alfred Molina and Mark Strong were also in final talks to join the film, David Walliams was added to the cast, playing Melquiades also known as Karolius, a wizard and on June 17, 2013, Julie Walters and Olivia Williams joined the cast of the film, playing Grandma Lilly and the Queen.
On September 9, 2011, Freddie Highmore, Saoirse Ronan, Julie Walters, Alfred Molina, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, and Banderas all join the voice cast.
This reunites cast members of European films such as Saoirse Ronan (Talia) and Mark Strong (Heraclio) also starred in Arrietty since this is their second collaboration as well as Dame Julie Walters (Gran) and Saoirse Ronan (Talia) appear in Brooklyn, Mark Strong and Saoirse Ronan third collaboration since they both appear in The Way Back and Arrietty. Freddie Highmore (Justin) and Alfred Molina (Reginald) appear in Close to the Enemy, Antonio Banderas (Sir Clorex) and Rupert Everett (Sota) appear in the Shrek series which they play Puss in Boots and Prince Charming respectively, James Cosmo (Blucher) and Charles Dance (Legantir) both appear in Game of Thrones respectively, Tamsin Egerton (Lara) and Rupert Everett (Sota) appear in St Trinian's respectively, James Cosmo, Rupert Everett (Sota) and David Walliams (Melquiades) appear in The Chronicles of Narnia, Olivia Williams (Queen) and Saoirse Ronan (Talia) appear in Hanna and also Rupert Everett, Mark Strong and David Walliams appear in Stardust.
Distribution
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Entertainment One distributed the film in 2,160 screens in the United Kingdom and Spain.
Home media
Justin and the Knights of Valour was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Paramount Home Media Distribution in 2014.
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 13% approval rating for the film with an average rating of 3.93/10 based on 15 reviews.[3] Criticism was focused on the animation, which Andrew Osmond of Empire described as "dreadful [and] sub-par". Other criticism was levied at the script. Jayne Nelson of SFX Magazine noted, "The action is clunky, the jokes fall flat time and again, and the script tries so hard to get off the ground that you can almost feel the wind hitting you in the kisser from its frantic wing-flaps."
Soundtrack
Soundtrack list
| Justin and the Knights of Valour | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album / Film score by | ||||
| Released | 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2013 | |||
| Genre | Movie Soundtrack, Film Score | |||
| Length | 5:32 | |||
| Label | Sony Classical Records | |||
| Producer | Stephen McLaughlin | |||
| Ilan Eshkeri film scores chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Justin and the Knights of Valour: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
| ||||
Music for Justin and the Knights of Valour was composed by Ilan Eshkeri. James Flannigan, Anders Grahn, Jarrad Rogers, Jack McManus, Billy Morgan, Joshua Morgan, Charlotte Cooper with Aiden Grimshaw and Tim Wheeler were the film's songwriters.
Songs
| Title | Performer |
|---|---|
| "Kung Fu" | Ash |
| "Be Myself" | Aiden Grimshaw on his album Misty Eye |
| "It's a Party" | The Subways on the album Money and Celebrity |
| "Heroes" | Rebecca Ferguson & The Metropolitan Orchestra |
| "Kung Fu (Medieval Mix)" | Broken Eagle Band |
| "At the Dance" | Broken Eagle Band |
Music
| Title | Composer |
|---|---|
| "Justin" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "The Quest Begins" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Lara & Justin" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Sota's Prison Break" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Talia & Melquiades" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Justin's Journey" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "The Kinight's Game" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Training Begins and Heraclio's Army" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Sir Clorex" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Training Ends" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "The Hall of Heroes" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Heraclio's Army Trains" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Gustav (Enter the Dragon)" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Lara's Party" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Lara & Clorex" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Sat Nav" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "The Battle" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Justin Vs Heraclio" | Ilan Eshkeri |
| "Justin Knighted" | Ilan Eshkeri |
"Heroes"
| "Heroes" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Rebecca Ferguson & The Metropolitan Orchestra | |
| from the album Justin and the Knights of Valour soundtrack | |
| Released | 2013 |
| Recorded | 2013 |
| Label | Sony Classical Records |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) | |
"Heroes" is a song performed by Rebecca Ferguson & The Metropolitan Orchestra from the Justin and the Knights of Valour soundtrack album which was released on September 3, 2013 by Sony Classical Records.
The song is written and produced by Anders Grahn and James Flannigan
Sequel
A sequel is announced but is unknown, all of the cast reprise their roles from the first one such as Freddie Highmore, Saoirse Ronan, Alfred Molina, James Cosmo and Julie Walters.
The sequel will be made sometime. Antonio spoke to Dakota that he would reprise his role in the future. He said that "If there was the possibility to do another movie about Justin, and he continues to be a character in that, he could be a little bit better. He probably has learnt something from this movie,"
References
- "Ilan Eshkeri to Score 'Justin and the Knights of Valour'". Film Music Reporter. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- "JUSTIN AND THE KNIGHTS OF VALOUR (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- "Justin and the Knights of Valour". Retrieved 22 May 2020.