Outlaw King
(2018)Chris Pine reunites with his Hell or High Water director for this historical action drama where he plays Scottish warrior king Robert the Bruce.... More
"Forced into exile by the English after being crowned King of Scotland, legendary warrior Robert the Bruce fights to reclaim the throne." (Toronto International Film Festival)Hide
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Directed by David Mackenzie ('Perfect Sense', 'Hell or High Water', 'Starred Up')
Starring Chris Pine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Tony Curran, Billy Howle, Callan Mulvey, Steven Cree
Written by Mark Bomback, Bathsheba Doran, David Harrower, James MacInnes, David Mackenzie
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Outlaw King
The Press Reviews
I don't expect Outlaw King to be 100% or even 50% historically accurate. But I do expect it to be interesting, and time and again the movie opts for the simplistic rather than the complex. Full Review
Pine is fully committed to Robert's mission, but the film has a hard time making him a compelling character, even with a wife and daughter on hand to make him relatable. And it takes forever for his military campaign to get rolling. Full Review
The movie is a juicy slab of cinematic red meat, a symphony of mud, blood and viscera set to a soundtrack of thundering hoofbeats and howls of vengeance. Full Review
The picture takes a while to hit its stride. But once it does, there is much to enjoy in this big, brawling ruck of an action movie. Full Review
Whatever its value as rabble-rousing historical reenactment, "Outlaw King" never quite compares to the many films it's so keen to imitate, and in some cases outright quote. Full Review
BY Daniel Rutledge Flicks Writer
A dumb, bloody, sort-of sequel to Braveheart, this take on Robert the Bruce's battle for Scottish independence is entertaining but fairly empty. If you're after a mentally unchallenging swords-and-shields action flick, this will scratch the itch, but the source material and filmmaker could have delivered so much more.... More
The sober, calculated class director David Mackenzie showcased in Starred Up and Hell or High Water is sadly missing. In its place is an unabashed attempt at a rousing crowd-pleaser, its dramatic oomph and meaningfulness scaled back as a result, despite the powerful true story on which it's based.
Thankfully, Mackenzie's skill at directing action and ability to seamlessly blend reality with special effects is not also lost. He shows off with a few complicated long-takes and fills the battle scenes with graphic violence and a stylistic flair that's consistently enjoyable. Some of the brutality is confronting, especially a disembowelment scene that makes for very grisly viewing.
As in Braveheart, the English are portrayed as evil, sadistic despots while the Scots are chivalrous, ethical freedom fighters. Chris Pine's Bruce and his buddies fatally stab and hack apart about three Englishmen per second, just as Mel Gibson's Wallace and his buddies did before them. It's pretty sweet for popcorn fodder. But that sort of overly simplistic treatment doesn't marry well with a film attempting any level of historical accuracy. It feels outdated.
Sure, faithful adherence to the complex actual events Outlaw King is based on would have made for a boring movie and there's documentaries and books for that, anyway. But the filmmakers have pushed it too far in the other direction. It's good fun—however, I wish they had a little more faith in the audience's intelligence.
But hey, you do get to see Chris Pine's dick.Hide
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