Outlaw King

The Outlaw King is a film about Robert The Bruce that picks up where Brave heart left off. The cinematography, costumes and f/x are all excellent. The acting is also up to par as well. The battle scenes are also quite good and get brutal at times. The Outlaw King is a good film and has a lot going for it. However, Chris Pine is not Mel Gibson and the storytelling is not as engaging or as smooth. While I thought the performances here are adequate, there is nothing electric that goes above and beyond that. The Outlaw King is certainly a quality production and good for an evenings entertainment.

As a Scot I can say that I found this film superb, great acting, scenery as expected stunning and the filmography amazing. Even the accent of Chris Pine was spot on and the storyline fantastic. The negative Joe's will do their usual and look for the faults as they do in every film rather than having watched someone they like but still feel the need to pick a fault, so ignore these as the film is brilliant in every way (and no I don't work on it, or was an extra)

The older generation of Scottish nobles tired of war and surrendered to the English King Edward, but the younger generation only surrendered reluctantly. After his father's death, Robert the Bruce (with a reasonable claim to the Scottish throne) led a rebellion, with multiple victories and losses, in battles small and big.

There are too many minor Scottish leaders who joined the cause, only to be slaughtered in the battles. (I can't call them cannon fodder - cannons had yet to be invented.)

The film is spectacular on the big screen, especially the large-battle scenes. I saw it in a 2000-seat theatre at the Toronto International Film Festival. I'm not sure it will translate well to TV, unless you have something like a 70-inch beast.

Much criticism of this film points at the 'cramming' of a good chunk of 3 years in The Wars of Scottish Independence, into a film less than 2 hours long. The film starts off in 1304 with the siege of Stirling Castle, which features the spectacular tracking shots that help define the exquisite use of cinematography throughout the films duration. Is it crammed? To an extent yes, but it is a film, and a historical one that requires prior knowledge; as a result, viewers are either gripped, in the story or emotionally tied to the characters, or not. The film does take certain liberties with historical accuracy, namely certain events either merged together or moved around on the timeline - all in aid of dramatic effect. Nonetheless this does not shadow the realism that does exist, especially in terms of the savagery of warfare and intrigue. As well as the superb set pieces and costume designs that accompany the productions heavy attention to detail.

Although it is understandable how many get lost within the story, it skips much character building and connections between each fighting scene, in sacrifice for fitting in several important confrontations, especially the end pitched Battle of Loudoun Hill - in which Bruce achieves his astonishing victory. In this case, perhaps a mini-series or a two-parter would have quelled these disappointments. But perhaps not have matched the explosive, intense, almost breath-taking at times, nature of this film.

Overall Outlaw King is a fine addition to the family of historical films, and perhaps one the best medieval ones yet. It should be taken for what it is, not what it could have been; a quick, brief search on Wikipedia would work a treat for anyone looking to get a better estimation of this film. 9/10.

This was a legitimately moving and entertaining movie. The acting is absolutely fantastic, the cinematography is impeccable and the practical effects are undeniably realistic.