Robert the Bruce

Robert the Bruce is gorgeously filmed by cinematographer John Garrett, making the most of every exquisitely lit crag of the Scottish countryside.

Robert the Bruce is too long by at least a half-hour for the surprisingly slight tale it has to tell.

McGowan knows how to invest ire with intelligence, and he has mastered the art of making riding a horse look like a form of strutting. When he’s onscreen, the film vibrates. When you’re watching MacFadyen’s Robert, it swells with nobility and deflates at the same time.

There’s a pleasing humility and introspection to this Bruce — a ruler no longer sure if his patriotic purpose is worth the carnage. His joints may be stiffer than his resolve; but, in placing the warrior temporarily aside, Macfadyen and his director have helped us more clearly to see the man.

For an uncertainly paced and fabricated historical side quest, much of Robert The Bruce is painlessly watchable.

There are rousing landscape shots, a fair amount of bone-crunching, and a dash of brooding patriotism – and a welcome attempt to look at history from the view of ordinary folk – but the storytelling is downbeat and basic.

Suffers mightily from its limited budget and narrative scope.

Robert the Bruce is the spiritual successor to Braveheart. For those who don't know that basically means it is a sequel without being called a sequel. Before seeing this movie know this it is not Braveheart. There are no big battles, or big speeches, or even gratuitous torture scenes. This is a movie that is about... a whole lot of nothing. Robert the Bruce is so boring with nothing going on in it if you go take a dump during it you won't miss a single important event. I cannot stress enough how boring this film is. The characters are all wooden and bland. The main plot isn't one of revenge, discovery, or rebellion. It is about Robert the Bruce finding himself again to get him back in the fight. That itself could be an interesting movie, or better yet a first act. That is what this movie is a 2 hour first act. Unfortunately with this being close enough to Braveheart it makes that entire two hours wish you were watching Braveheart instead. If you want to watch a movie about Robert the Bruce I suggest watching Netflix's Outlaw King. It is such a better movie then this and if you have Netflix it is with your subscription. I cannot recommend this to literally anyone. It is a hard pass for me.