Opening Friday: Medieval muggers, Michael Myers

Above: Ridley Scott's medieval epic "The Last Duel" opens on Friday. (Photo/Walt Disney Studios)

The problem with movies based on historical events is that all you have to do is check the internet and, voila, you know what happened.

Removes a bit of the suspense, doesn’t it?

Take one of the movies that is opening on Friday. “The Last Duel” is based on real events that took place in the year 1386. It’s also pretty clear how the duel played out.

Bummer. Thanks Wikipedia.

Directed by Ridley Scott, and based on a 2004 book by Eric Jager, the movie stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck – with Damon and Driver as the two duellists. The screenplay was adapted by Damon, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener.

I’d run down the plot, but all you really need to know is that it involves accusations of rape and two French noblemen who end up settling things by agreeing to duel to the death.

Here are some critical comments:

Owen Gleiberman, Variety: “Despite a brief action interlude here or there, ‘The Last Duel’ turns out to be a lavishly convoluted and, at times, rather interesting medieval soap opera.”

 Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: “Scott manages to fill in the finer brushstrokes of all those characters and still fit the kind of bravura action set pieces he's known for; the fight scenes are breathlessly, bone-crunchingly brutal.”

Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail: “It is as ambitious and memorable and impressively messy a storytelling experiment as major-studio films come these days.”

The only other mainstream opening has a kind of history all its own:

“Halloween Kills”: In the 13th film in the series, Jamie Lee Curtis and friends return for another attempt at finally putting Michael Myers out of his misery.

The reviews are, overall, less complimentary than the producers would have hoped:

Brian Truitt, USA Today: “As gruesomely brutal as a night spent with Michael Myers should be, although the horror sequel loses some of its skull-crushing effectiveness juggling rampant carnage and social commentary.”

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: “This latest installment is like a latex ghoul mask so stretched and shapeless it no longer fits.”

Jonathan Romney, The Guardian: “Forty years after John Carpenter made the defining slasher movie, director David Gordon Green has made a creditable stab, as it were, at reanimating the title.”

And that’s all, for the moment. I’ll update as the week progresses.