Review Outlaw King (2018)

[Katie-Ellen]

Title: Outlaw King (2018)

Tagline: Based on the untold true story

Genre: Drama, War, Action, History

Director: David Mackenzie

Cast: Chris Pine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Tony Curran, Billy Howle, Callan Mulvey, Steven Cree, Daniel Campbell, Niall Greig Fulton, Stephen Dillane, James Cosmo, Duncan Lacroix, Alastair Mackenzie, Sam Spruell, Ron Donachie, Jonny Phillips, Jamie Sives, Lorne MacFadyen, Gavin Mitchell, Tam Dean Burn, Vicki Liddelle, Margaret Fraser, Stephen McCole, Clive Russell

Release: 2018-09-06

Runtime: 137

Plot: Forced into exile by the English after being crowned King of Scotland, legendary warrior Robert the Bruce fights to reclaim the throne.



The Bruce. It's not released yet, but it's on my to-watch list.

I'm a bit iffy about the trailer though. For all the violence, the writing is somewhat tame and facile.

 

[Amber]

Huh. Why can't I like this post?

The movie looks like something I might enjoy.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I shall deffo give it a go. It is one hell of a true story. Many Scots still do not love The Bruce, still say he was a traitor, swearing loyalty to Edward at one point. But timing is everything, he had English lands at that point, and lands meant money to fight, so what else was he to do. A traitor twice over and a natural born king...they can never be saints.
Wallace was also a hero but he massacred a few villages himself, and lost.

And I have to see 'Peterloo'

 

[Amber]

I shall deffo give it a go. It is one hell of a true story. Many Scots still do not love The Bruce, still say he was a traitor, swearing loyalty to Edward at one point. But timing is everything, he had English lands at that point, and lands meant money to fight, so what else was he to do. A traitor twice over and a natural born king...they can never be saints.
Wallace was also a hero but he massacred a few villages himself, and lost.

And I have to see 'Peterloo'

Peterloo?

Huh. It turns out it's a real thing and a real word.

Peterloo

I watched most of The Happy Prince last night. It's slow but it's supposed to be. This is what I call Bonnet Drama season. I like to watch the different version of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, and Portrait of a Lady ... not necessarily in that order.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Ohhhh The Happy Prince. It was a storybook I read when I was small. Still have it somewhere. It's too sad for anything. The Swallow. The little match girl and the little sick boy, crying for an orange. All too true. Howlllllllllll.

It is indeed Bonnet Drama season

 

[AgentPete]

Ahem... A client of mine was Story Editor on this

 

[Deleted member 604]

@Katie-Ellen Hazeldine, I'm still pondering if to give this a watch or not. I've just finished watching the first season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Bloody loved it. Well cast and well written.
@AgentPete, Ahem...LOL
Do you know who's working on the so-called Witcher Series on Netflix. They've cast Henry Cavill as the main character Geralt. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have taken from the books and how they will bring it to to our screens. Very interesting but I do hope they do it justice, otherwise they will have one very disappointed fan here.

 

[AgentPete]

Not saying anything... but here's an interesting article on how this was salvaged by cutting 23 minutes:

How David Mackenzie Salvaged ‘Outlaw King’ After the Netflix Oscar Hopeful Crashed and Burned

 

[Katie-Ellen]

It is one hell of a story. I shall definitely watch it, and see how I feel about the writing then. I really, really want to like it. This film is definitely due.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Pretty good. I liked it but I didn't quite love it. The true story is pretty well known. Historically pretty accurate except

Where was Bannockburn? OMG

Where the nadir in the cave and the mythic spider scene. He was literally all alone. A king on the run, hiding in a cave totally on his bill. Mythic moment.

They said Your Grace, didn't say Your Majesty till Henry V11.

Good casting I thought. Chris Pine was well cast. Edward was tough all right, but not scary enough. He was outright scary. Edward 11's haircut was not right for the period. He'd got an Agincourt pudding bowl, or else the Norman's wore their hair a bit like that in 1066 but either way....

Fantastic true story, and scenery...some places I know. I think I saw Conwy Castle in there somewhere.

They hung Isobel of Fife in a cage, at Berwick, for crowning Robert at Scone. as the Earls of Fife had always done, and then she disappeared from history. So chances are it killed her. But no cage for his queen, she was imprisoned in a convent.

 

[Susan]

I thought it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really get me in the guts. The main issue was that Bruce had no real charisma, though this was probably due to the writers rather than the actor. They made him into Mr Nice Guy rather than a king who’d stop at nothing to get his throne.

The English were pantomime villains, especially the future Edward II (William Hamleigh levels of evil but less fun). The scenes kept showing the English doing something unpleasant (like Edward I slapping knights in a humiliating knighthood ceremony), then crossing over to show Bruce and the lads being all down-to-earth and jokey during his coronation after-party. I felt a tad manipulated as a viewer. Could have been a bit more credible, while still retaining viewer indignation.

Might have been better as a miniseries, giving the characters room to develop.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

it didn’t really get me in the guts.

Me neither, and it was quite spectacular, but it is such a truly terrifying story. I should have been more terrified. And the deaths of his brothers....oh no. I should have cried myself sick. What must that hideous war wolf machine have done to the folk on the receiving end? We never heard so much as a squeak.

Edward 11 gave me the giggles. I was rooting for Bruce to finish him off at Loudon though we all knew of course, that he wouldn't. Booooo.

 

[Susan]

Me neither, and it was quite spectacular, but it is such a truly terrifying story. I should have been more terrified. And the deaths of his brothers....oh no. I should have cried myself sick. What must that hideous war wolf machine have done to the folk on the receiving end? We never heard so much as a squeak.

Definitely. A miniseries could have given space to flesh out the characters and helped us to care for them. Plus the many battle scenes might have had more impact. But it was a pretty good film.