Outlaw King

David Mackenzie is awesome and after Hell or High Water he serves up the best historical film of the decade with the excellent Chris Pine improving film by film. Absolutely everything works here, the accurate history, the spectacular production design, the impressive costumes and sets (gorgeous castles), the naked queen is not missing, the impressive milking of emotions throughout the film, and most importantly, the spectacular battles where blood and bodies are certainly not spared. The scene with the horses is an absolute highlight of the genre and will probably make horse lovers cry. High praise also goes to Douglas, who steals most of the scenes for himself and is horrifically brutal in them. A wonderful and near-perfect film and experience, where my only regret is that I couldn't see it on the big screen. One of the best films of the year. After a second viewing the enthusiasm has waned slightly, but still good. 80% (11/12/2018)

I've been missing this genre quite a bit, so I ended up enjoying the historical drama Outlaw King quite a bit (despite a few things that weren't quite right). Chris Pine could have been maybe a bit more... active, on the other hand his lack of emotion here is pretty much compensated by Aaron Taylor-Johnson's surprisingly interesting character and a very good Florence Pugh. However, nobody will probably watch it for them anyway, so more importantly, David Mackenzie has done a great job of creating the atmosphere of that nasty medieval era you really don't want to live in. It's muddy, it's cold, it's raining all the time, everybody's dirty and you die on the fly. It also plays on reality (or near-reality), so the battles are appropriately gritty but not overly explicit, and I never felt like the violence was an end in itself. Moreover, the final clash between the two armies is a real treat and it's a shame we can't enjoy it in the cinema. Unfortunately, however, the result shows that a lot of editing had to be done, and perhaps the entire middle third or the "Robin Hood" passage would have deserved a little more space. Overall, it's a good historical drama that's fun to watch, and there have been remarkably few of those in recent years. So for me, I'm satisfied. (11/15/2018)

Everyone whose mouth waters over Game of Thrones should have a look at the final bloodbath in the marshes to see how it’s done properly. Pine is excellent with effortless acting and the romantic storyline with Florence Pough works well. A brutally realistic view of Scottish history in which every shot of London opens with William Wallace’s rotting head impaled on a stake. Fantastic camerawork and nice Scottish songs. P.S: Probably the first role in which I thought Aaron Taylor-Johnson was any good. DOUGLAAAS!!!! (04/26/2019)

100 minutes of alternating epic, bloody and generously designed scenes and dialogues, which are simply a bit of cheesy historical TV series. Mackenzie aspires to the dark medieval carnation, which he thrives on in luxury crowd scenes and some quadratures of Scots, but other times he uses superficial adornments and Gaelic kitsch. Nevertheless, I like Pine a lot. He's not an exaggerated macho caricature, but rather a guy who has been going after what he wants in a calm and steadfastness manner for some time. It may seem strange to some people that this is the leader people follow - I understand them. I would follow him, too. Btw, Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems to have a taste for raw beef for the first time in his career. (11/10/2018)

Outlaw King offers nice set decorations and a praiseworthy introduction to a historical personality who was remarkable for his achievements (though overshadowed by his political predecessor, William Wallace), yet remains less well-known in the world of film. Containing all necessary mainstream attributes, it is satisfactory as a genre movie, but what prevented me from fully enjoying it was its predictability and lack of narrative originality, particularly without any personal contribution from the director. What I mean are scenes and moments that would distinguish this movie from a large number of similar films. I would appreciate such moments even more than the carnage of war. And something better than the very average soundtrack wouldn’t hurt anything. (11/17/2018)