I feel like I must say at the outset that I did not want to watch this movie. It is not my kind of movie and if it weren’t for Joel wanting to see it I would never have subjected myself to it. However, I must begrudgingly admit it was pretty good for what it is. And what it is, is a very violent movie.
The movie covers a period in history when Scotland and England were fighting each other. This actually takes place right after the events of Braveheart, it could almost be a sequel. William Wallace has just been killed by England, so Robert Bruce (played by Chris Pine) works to unite the clans of Scotland to fight back against the occupying English army. As you can imagine, it is bloody, gory, and straight up hard to watch if you don’t like that sort of thing.
In between the many, many fight sequences were some more enjoyable (for me) scenes. I enjoyed the love story between Robert and his new wife, and there were a few gratuitous scenes when you get to see a lot of Chris Pine (including his “pine tree” as Joel kept calling it!). The acting was good and it was interesting to learn about some more of the history between England and Scotland - in December we will be spending time in Scotland and then we’ll be in England till March!
If you like historical movies you will likely enjoy this one, but if you don’t enjoy a lot of fighting and violence just be aware this movie has it in spades. I spent a lot of time avoiding looking at the screen but I still got the gist of the story, and that part I did enjoy.