Outlaw King

When Mel Gibson made Braveheart twenty-five years ago I remembered thinking that Robert Bruce, who had a minor role in that film, had the more interesting story, and finally it has been told in a solid if dull film from Netflix, Outlaw King.

This film sort of picks up where Braveheart left off, with Wallace defeated and in hiding. The Scottish nobles, including Robert (Chris Pine) have accepted defeat and declare loyalty to the English king, but when Wallace is brutally executed and England's Edward I is still collecting outrageous taxes and drafting Scottish men into his army, Robert decides to go back on his oath and fight back.

Outlaw King does a good job of showing medieval military life (there is a great scene with a catapult) and is especially good with battle scenes. The climax is the Battle of Loudon Hill, and it may be CGI, but looks very real, with thousands of participants.

But some of the best parts are left out. Robert is shown murdering a rival for the throne, John Comyn, inside a church. But the story is better, as it is said that he wounded him very badly, went outside and said he had doubt he had murdered him. One of his men said something like, I'll remove the doubt, and went inside and finished him off.

And though Outlaw King a few times uses a spider-web metaphor, the film leaves out when he is exiled on the Irish island of Rathlin, and is inspired by watching a spider rebuild his web. He decides to keep fighting and builds his army. The film also ends before his decisive victory at Bannockburn, which is considered his and Scotland's greatest victory against the English.

Pine plays Robert as something of a saint. He has an arranged marriage to Elizabeth de Burgh (Florence Pugh) but is completely kind to her, not even forcing himself on her on their wedding night. We are led to believe the marriage isn't consummated until much later, when she decides the time is right. He was about seven-hundred years ahead of his time on women. Aside from the nasty Comyn business, he is also completely fair with everyone. Robert Bruce is one of Scotland's greatest heroes, but he must have had some bad days.

As with Braveheart, the film has fun with the future Edward II, who is shown as a petulant man-child. Stephen Dillane makes a terrific Edward I, who was known as Hammer of the Scots, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is terrific as James Douglas, a man hell-bent on getting his land and good name back from the English.

As someone who is pretty knowledgeable about this time period, I found Outlaw King to be dutiful. Someone who has no particular interest may like it more, as it is a crowd-pleasing drama which hits all the right dramatic notes.