Directed by Scott Mackenzie

Starring Chris Pine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Florence Pugh

A wee bit of Scottish history overlapping with William Wallace so we can expect plenty of comparisons to Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. And while this does not have the same epic quality that Braveheart had, it’s not terrible. The gorgeous cinematography alone will have you planning a trip to the Scottish highlands. It’s too bad it’s going straight to Netflix because this and some very intense and exceptionally crafted battle scenes would be better appreciated on a big theatre screen.

The performances are great, particularly Stephen Dillane, Billy Howle and Aaron Taylor- Johnson. And yes, Chris Pine was good as Robert the Bruce and pulled off a fairly decent Scottish brogue, but I would have preferred a Scottish actor to play the part. Not sure this film needed a big name to get viewers. But maybe he was hired because he was willing to go full frontal. Yes, that’s right, Chris Pine in the buff. The audience actually gasped. It was quite surprising. There was not Q&A so we weren’t able to ask about it or if all the men went commando, as the Scotts did. I found myself obsessing about how this will differentiate Chris Pine from all the other Hollywood Chris’s. The doors that will open to him. I mean someone needs to take over where Ralph Fiennes left off. He’s now the more worldly Chris who bares all for his art, as opposed to the Captain Kirk Chris. If Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth show us their man parts, we’ll be back at square one. But alas, I digress…

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is very entertaining in this. Give this man a lead role not directed by his wife.

The only thing that I found troublesome with the film was the many dramatic pauses that landed on Chris Pine’s face, and there were too many of these. Chris Pine is a handsome dude and all, but I think the film would could have been spared the excessive melodrama.

In a nutshell, not bad, fine for Netflix.