‘The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die’ Review: Uhtred, Son of Uhtred, Rides One Last Time

When The Last Kingdom debuted on BBC Two, it came as a surprise. At that point in time, the History Channel’s show “Vikings” was riding high in popularity, and with good reason. Vikings had a charismatic set of lead actors, good production values, delivered action, and a glimpse into Viking culture. So, The Last Kingdom was seen only as a pretender riding a trend. Now many years later, and after Netflix took over the show’s production from the BBC, The Last Kingdom stands high as the better of the two shows and the one capable of saying goodbye with a bang.

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die is a feature-length film that serves as a sequel to The Last Kingdom TV series and as the story’s concluding chapter. The film is directed by Edward Bazalgette, who has directed many TV shows in the English entertainment industry and also several episodes of The Last Kingdom. The film stars Alexander Dreymon, Harry Gilby, Mark Rowley, Arnas Federavicius, Can Clerkin, James Northcote, and Elaine Cassidy. The film was shot in Budapest from January to March 2022.

The Last Kingdom always fought an uphill battle when it came to developing a fan base. It debuted on a TV network that didn’t really see the show’s potential, but thankfully, and for the bad rap it gets nowadays, Netflix brought the show back exclusively to their streaming service after the first two seasons. The result was a show that always remained consistent regarding delivering high-quality entertainment. Even to the very end, The Last Kingdom stands as that rare gem of a show that knew how to tell a story and tell it well it did.

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die presents itself as a film, and it is. It runs for two hours and tells a fantastic story in that length of time. Throughout its run, The Last Kingdom delivered episodes packed with action, character development, humor, and so much more. The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die doesn’t stray from delivering all that the show’s audience is used to getting. In two hours, the movie manages to tell an epic story of betrayal, love, and war in ways that even films with higher budgets are not able to do.

The film feels very much like part of the show. The visuals, the actors, the writing, and the production values are all there, if even a little better. It is clear that the team working on the film knows that this is a goodbye for the story and the characters, and they need to do it justice. They succeed by giving us a special episode that concludes the show in epic fashion, finally delivering on promises made by certain characters as early as in Season 1. To see some of those elements finally receive a conclusion is immensely satisfying.

The same goes for the characters. Alexander Dreymon has been Uhtred of Bebbanburg for almost an entire decade. Throughout those years, the actor was able to create a character that feels mythic in its creation and how it moves through the setting of the story. Many of the characters presented in the show are real or thought to be real, thanks to the chronicles from those times. Uhtred, on the other hand, is completely fictional, so he is a free agent among characters bound by history. He is a modern-age myth of the medieval age.

Dreymon does a fantastic job when it comes to concluding the character that has defined his career for many years. The actor goes through the entire spectrum of emotions in this film, and the result is incredible. Maybe award shows will never recognize his amazing work as Uhtred, but those of us who have accompanied him through many of Uhtred’s tribulations know that Dreymon is an excellent actor, and we thank him for it.

The same goes for the rest of the cast. It is also great to be able to say goodbye to Finan and Sihtric. The pair and Uhtred have become fan favorites, and here they deliver a final hurrah that feels very well-earned. Harry Gilby also takes on a very hard version of his role as Aethelstan, and on him rests most of the conflict in this last chapter of The Last Kingdom. The actor takes the task and executes it perfectly. It might be a thankless role because of what the character does, but this closing chapter wouldn’t be the same without him.

Elaine Cassidy takes over the role of Eadgifu from Sonya Cassidy this time and does a fantastic job. However, this role remains one that we would have loved to see more of from both actresses. There is just not enough time to develop the character as presented in the movie. Her new condition is explored somewhat, and some ties to Uhtred are even introduced, but it feels half-baked, not because the quality of the writing falters, but because we just need several more hours with her.

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die is definitely a film made for fans of the show. To go and watch it without having seen the rest of the story through the show is madness. So, this film might not reach the highest positions in the rating charts, but it certainly will please the fans and serve as a way to recommend the show to those who will discover it now that it is complete. As a stand-alone movie, the film doesn’t even try, but we couldn’t ask for more as the closing chapter of a bigger tale.

SCORE: 9/10