Outlaw King (2018)- BFI London Film Festival 2018

Review

121min

Genre:     Fact-based, Drama, War

Director:  David Mackenzie

Cast:       Chris Pine, Florence Pugh, Stephen Dillane…and more

Writers:   David Mackenzie, Bathsheba Doran, James MacInnes… and more

-Synopsis-

Reeling from personal tragedy and the oppression of 14th century English occupation, nobleman Robert the Bruce seizes his destiny as king of the Scots and begins a daring guerilla campaign to take his country back . . . one castle at a time—in this biographical drama about the real ‘Braveheart’, from the director of ‘Young Adam’ and ‘Hallam Foe’.

Long has the subject of historical accuracy been a topic of conversation surrounding the film industry, made all the more complicated by films which take plenty of ‘artistic license’ and then become classics, irking historians but capturing the imagination of audiences—with Mel Gibson’s 1995 Oscar-winning freedom-fighting epic ‘Braveheart’ being perhaps the clearest example. Now Scottish director David Mackenzie partners with Netflix to shine a less theatrical but more sober light on the 14th century Scottish struggle for independence, reuniting with the American star of his memorable 2016 crime drama ‘Hell or High Water’ to tell the tale of the Scot who would be king.

Chris Pine stars as Scottish Earl Robert Bruce, still smarting from bending the knee to King Edward I of England (Stephen Dillane) after defeat in the first rebellion at the turn of the century, newlywed to his second wife  Elizabeth de Burgh (Florence Pugh) and poised to inherit his father’s lordly responsibilities. But when former Scottish Guardian and fellow rebel William Wallace is murdered, and Robert feels the boot of the English crown on the throats of his people at the start of the 1300s, The Bruce seizes his claim to the throne of Scotland and struggles to unify his people against the English king and his petulant heir the Prince of Wales (Billy Howle)—dealing them the first major blow in a long campaign for Scottish Independence.

‘Outlaw King’ marks a milestone for Netflix as a major motion picture studio, their first big period piece and epic historical drama, with the streaming giants putting down a marker for the scale and budget of film they’re capable of producing, but bringing with it all the associated obstacles and expectations.

Yet Mackenzie’s cinematic vision of a medieval Britain can’t escape the long shadow cast by ‘Braveheart’, and it will inevitably be measured against Mel Gibson’s beloved epic—a film with which it shares much in terms of narrative, something in its style, but little when it comes to slickness and emotional impact. But it’s unfair to judge the film solely against the bar set by its predecessor, and ‘Outlaw King’ has plenty to offer of its own accord.

More of a sombre character piece than many a historical epic, ‘Outlaw King’ is nevertheless driven by its share of spectacle, mostly made up of the skirmishes which define the start of the Bruce’s insurgent campaign, but leading up to some major battle sequences too, which may not quite boast the scale of ‘Braveheart’ or comparable films, but still manage to match the grittiness and frenzied brutality. The film is meticulously and authentically crafted in terms of production and costume designs, and shot with a dusky beauty by veteran cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker, Captain Phillips)—elegantly capturing the rugged and lush vistas of the Scottish highlands and lowlands . . . and the fierce battles which scarred them.

Supported by a cast of entirely British talent—with rising star Florence Pugh as Robert’s wife and veteran actor Tony Curran as his right-hand-man shining the brightest—Chris Pine has the daunting task of bringing a more holistic and faithful version of the Scottish legend to the screen. But the Hollywood star and only American in the pack leads the line admirably, showing us a nuanced take on a medieval knight who faces the sober reality of his burdens with stoicism, and most importantly handles the accent with more sureness than we expected.

Yet despite looking and sounding the part, and making sure that part rings true, ‘Outlaw King’ just can’t be separated from the Mel Gibson epic which so inspired it, and from which it takes so much—and it’s there where the film proves slightly lacking. For something that is essentially a well-performed character piece, it has a limited emotional impact. For all the merits of his performance, Chris Pine is nowhere near as charismatic as Mel Gibson was as Wallace, and isn’t given the room to be either, while the supporting cast is solid and commendable but doesn’t produce the level of memorable and colourful characters we were spoilt with from ‘Braveheart’—not to mention another of its key characters, the iconic score from the late James Horner.

The story and general narrative also does its part in dulling the emotional impact, proving slightly scattershot and as all over the place as the actual events were, then concluding in an epic battle but not rounding it off with an emotional crescendo or gut-punching the audience, limited by the fact that the film itself only portrays the start of Robert’s long struggle for independence. And all these limitations go to prove something Hollywood has long known—that strict historical accuracy rarely goes hand-in-hand with powerful and memorable filmmaking.

Perhaps it was wishful to expect ‘Outlaw King’ to fully escape the ghost of Wallace past, but David Mackenzie’s more sombre, less theatrical Hollywood history lesson has more than enough to make it an engrossing and educational portrait of a bold medieval freedom fighter and Scottish legend, and the figure who was truly dubbed the ‘Braveheart’.

The Bottom Line…

Whilst it may be burdened by the legacy of ‘Braveheart’, unable to escape it completely, ‘Outlaw King’ has enough hidden under its kilt to make for an expertly crafted and compelling cinematic history lesson . . . leaving perhaps enough space for a full curriculum, and marking a new direction for Netflix the major motion picture studio.

‘Outlaw King’ is out on Netflix on the 9th of November.

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