“A land is only as good as its leaders.” This is hardly the motto of most kids’ movies nowadays, but The Kid Who Would Be King – writer-director Joe Cornish’s sophomore film (after 2011’s Attack the Block) – breaks the mold in so many exciting ways.

Last weekend, I was invited to an advance screening of the film, and on top of the movie itself, a bit of the ol’ red carpet was also rolled out for those of us in attendance. The kids got to experience sleight-of-hand magic and learn some basic swordfighting techniques. And the adults (and kids, who really ran the show) got to sit down with Cornish and actors Sir Patrick Stewart, Louis Ashebourne Serkis, and Rhianna Dorris.

Yeah, it was pretty awesome.

Despite the title (and its obvious play on Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King), The Kid Who Would Be King is a “reimagining” of The Once and Future King. It’s the King Arthur/Sword in the Stone story set in modern-day London with modern-day stakes.

Twelve-year-old Alex Elliott and his best friend are freshmen in high school and getting bullied by the self-proclaimed “king” of the school. A sequence of events leads Alex to an abandoned construction site, where he finds a sword embedded in a broken piece of foundation. (Yep, it’s THAT sword in the stone. Excalibur.) He pulls it out – and just like that – he awakens the enchantress Morgana and summons Merlin to his aid.

This is not the benevolent Morgan le Fay that kids might know from the Magic Tree House books. Far from it. This is 100% pure evil, vindictive Morgana who wants to steal Excalibur and take over the world. So with the help of Merlin, his best friend Bedders, and two enemies-turned-knights (the two bullies from school, conveniently named Lance and Kaye), Alex goes on a quest to find his long-lost father, whom he is convinced will provide answers and help.

I’m going to be honest here. When I first saw the trailer, I wasn’t particularly excited. I’ve become far too jaded about films that attempt to capitalize on our nostalgia and seek to re-create the Spielbergian joy of 80s kid adventure films.

HOWEVER. The Kid Who Would Be King actually delivers. This isn’t paint-by-numbers wistfulness for 1980s innocence. Hardly. Cornish doesn’t slavishly follow the tropes of what he thinks made those films so beloved; he charts a new course and makes the film feel fresh.

The Kid Who Would Be King, I imagine, is what The Goonies would feel like if it were made in 2019 with a bigger budget and more realistic special effects.

At its heart, the movie is a wish-fulfillment film about (nerdy, bullied) kids going on an epic quest and saving the world. But it also avoids the easy trap of simply telling a story where Alex is the “chosen one” suddenly imbued with magical powers. Granted, there’s some of that, but truthfully that’s not an incredibly helpful message for a modern young audience. And this is where the film breaks the mold.

The movie doesn’t scream “BE A HERO!” but rather shows kids that they all can – and should – simply be good people. Alex and his “knights of the round table” must follow the Chivalric Code and learn to be honest, loyal, kind, forgiving, and loving.

Their power comes not from being arbitrarily “chosen” but from being decent people who know how to live and work together with people they might not like or get along with. And it’s that decency that helps them heal the rifts (both literal and figurative) that are tearing the world apart. This is revolutionary in 2019, I know.

The film (and writer/director Joe Cornish) has a lot to say here about where we are and the current state of things. Superficially, there’s the obvious “don’t be a bully” message (which is incredibly important, don’t get me wrong), but the underlying message of the film is one about the power of positive leadership and what happens in the vacuum created when our leaders fail.

Adults will connect the dots and recognize the pretty blatant commentary on current events such as Brexit and the Trump administration. But even more apparent is the film’s core belief that the future belongs to kids. The best thing we – as adults – can all do (and will eventually need to do) is get out of their way and let them change the world . . . or save it, as the case may be.

The most surprising part of The Kid Who Would Be King? The cast. The film largely stars a cast of young actors you might not have seen before. Louis Ashbourne Serkis (son of Gollum himself, Andy Serkis) was perhaps the biggest surprise of the movie for me. He’s remarkably good in the leading role and totally believable as the titular kid, Alex. But he’s not alone. His “round table” is . . . ahem . . . rounded out with Tom Taylor (Lance), Rhianna Dorris (Kaye), and newcomer Dean Chaumoo (Bedders).

It’s Angus Imrie, though, who chews through the scenery and steals the show. He excels as Young Merlin and is able to provide both the comedy relief and the believability that he’s a wise old soul (in a backwards-aging Merlin) and a younger/older version of Sir Patrick Stewart. It feels like Imrie treated the role as an audition for Doctor Who, and I’d say he knocked it out of the park. Don’t be surprised if he gets the gig in 10-20 years.

The two most recognizable faces are Sir Patrick Stewart as older Merlin, who appears in that form whenever the plot requires some gravitas or serious exposition that only Stewart can provide, and Rebecca Ferguson as the villain Morgana. Neither has much screen time (Ferguson, especially, who spends most of the movie buried under make-up or as a CGI monster), but the young cast is more than able to carry the film.

Sir Patrick Stewart claims, a bit tongue-in-cheek I’m sure, that he was attracted to the role of Merlin because two of his closest friends found great success playing wizards (Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Michael Gambon as Dumbledore), and it looked like too much fun to pass up.

Kids were encouraged to ask questions at the press conference following the screening, and Stewart shared an intensely personal story in response to one girl’s question about bullying.

The Kid Who Would Be King opens everywhere (here in the United States) on January 25, 2019. It’s a surprisingly fun adventure that recalls the spirit of the films that formed so much of my own childhood yet is squarely made for my kids – with a message meant to provide hope and heal the wounds that increasingly divide us.

An epic quest. A thrilling adventure. A fresh and exciting cast. A message of positivity and hope. It’s precisely what we need in 2019.