Kill the King

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By Tom Pacak

“Outlaw King” looks like one of those films that would be good. It’s got a talented cast, talented director (David Mackenzie), and the cinematography is amazing. I’m trying to figure out where this movie fell flat. The story of Robert the Bruce (Chris Pine) launching a guerrilla war on the English army is definitely an interesting story to make a good movie (especially with all the talent involved). David Mackenzie and Chris Pine both teamed up for one of the best crime movies of the 2010s (Hell or High Water) so I was excited to see where this film would take me as a filmgoer. The film has an overwhelming budget of $120 million, so you know Netflix was trying to strike gold. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t evens strike silver.

The film is set in 1304 AD and covers the life of Robert the Bruce. Robert the Bruce was the ambitious 14th-century king of Scots who waged a war against the English army. At first, the Scots and English have a pretty civil relationship. Then, Edward II, Prince of Wales (Billy Howle) comes along acting like a king Joffrey wannabe trying to start trouble with the Scots. Edward II is obliviously represented as a “daddy’s boy” like figure in the film. He’s entitled and doesn’t appreciate what his father (Edward I) has done for him. Even when his dad dies before a key battle, he ignores his dad wishes and buries him in Scotland. The conflict between Edward and Bruce is what starts this brutal battle. “Outlaw King” opens up with Bruce and Edward in a mock swordfight, which foreshadows the countless battles the two armies get in throughout the film.

Bruce and his army are constantly surprised attacked against the English army. A lot of these battle sequences are pretty well executed but it's not enough to redeem the film’s short fallings. Bruce’s wife Elizabeth de Burgh (Florence Pugh) and daughter are wasted here due to the film only stressing on Bruce’s battle scenes. I would have liked this film a lot better if it would have shown the struggle of a warrior being away from his family during the war.  Instead, his wife and daughter are shown in quick clips trying to hide and escape the English army.

During Bruce’s battle, he finds some allies James Douglas, Lord of Douglas (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Angus Macdonald (Tony Curran) who help him try to defeat the English army. This battle for the throne is one that requires a lot of sacrifices. Bruce has to sacrifice his family’s safety and a lot of his men sacrifice their lives to win. After losing his brother and having his wife and daughter taken prisoner by the enemy, a stranger tells Bruce “You wanted to be King, well this the price you pay,” Bruce learns that if he wants to be the best, he’ll have to sacrifice things that he loves. This is the key takeaway that director David Mackenzie wants us to walk away with after watching “Outlaw King.” It’s a story of making those big sacrifices, even if it hurts the people you love.

The theme of making sacrifices to achieve something bigger is still one that holds up today. Here, that theme doesn’t really work well with the execution of “Outlaw King.” The cast and crew try their best with the source material given here but its not enough. David Mackenzie definitely directs the hell out of the fight scenes and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd catches the beauty of 14th century history. As a viewer, I wanted to see more of Bruce’s ambitions and the sacrifices he made to beat the English. “Outlaw King” is a story that’s been told before and will be told again. Let’s hope that next time it has a little more depth to it.

Note: Now Streaming on Netflix


Rating: 2 Stars out of 4 Stars

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