Robert the Bruce is the spiritual sequel to Braveheart as Angus Macfadyen reprises the role of the self proclaimed King of Scots after the fall of William Wallace. Nobleman, Robert has now turned outlaw and attempts to gain Scotland its Independence from England.
A visually stunning film shot in mostly natural light, Robert the Bruce does not have the production cost and value that Braveheart did, but is a far more gritty take on the continued struggle between the Scots and English as we come upon the 700th anniversary of what Robert and Wallace both did for their native Scotland.
I love the narration aspect of the film and historical context, especially with only last year, Scotland wanted to separate from the United Kingdom in a far more peaceful manner.
Macfadyen is fantastic yet again in the role and doesn’t miss a beat from where he left off a quarter of a century ago. The cast that includes Anna Hutchiso, Zach McGowan, Gabriel Bateman, Talitha Eliana Bateman and Diamaid Murtagh help us see how unpolished a war like this would have been nearly three quarters of a millennia ago.
Although it ran about 15 minutes longer than I would have preferred (2 hours and 4 minutes to be precise), Robert the Bruce still is a wonderful film and realistically, while we are all under self-distancing, house arrest, physical distancing, quarantine, or whatever else you want to call it, those 15 minutes shouldn’t matter during our current state of affairs.
I will continue to gush over how gorgeous the landscaping is and what an amazing touch natural lighting can do to a movie with such historical significance and for that we must thank director Richard Gray for his efforts. Along with Macfadyen, who co-write Robert the Bruce, his writing partner on this project, Eric Belgau give enough historical truth to a dramatized retelling of someone so important to the Scots that any poetic licensing taken to enhance the story can be easily overlooked.
Robert the Bruce hits VOD on Friday, April 24, 202o.
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Overall Score
Summary
Robert the Bruce is an absolutely gorgeous film that is the spiritual sequel to Braveheart with a far more gritty and unpolished tone, just like a real war.
