Mads Mikkelsen: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

2. Tristan - King Arthur (2004)

Perhaps next time someone offers him the chance to star in something historical (well at least not modern world history), he might look back at his CV and notice that there's a running theme to his work on that front. And then he should steer well clear.

While there was something to be said for Antoine Fuqua's attempt to reinvent Arthurian legend based on "new research", the result simply wasn't as interesting or as well executed as the old lies. The action scenes are poorly conceived and choreographed, the characters grim and unlikeable and the whole affair is confusingly both sombre and ridiculous. Knowing where you are with it is a complex task that's really not worth the "reward".

Mikkelsen plays Tristan, one of Arthur's remaining knights who is pushed perilously backwards by more interesting characters and then dies without so much as a passing thought. He's just sort of there, never actually inspiring enough sympathy to make any of his actions matter in a film that is as relentlessly beige as it was ill-considered.