Outlaw King

"A dumb, bloody, sort-of sequel to Braveheart, this take on Robert the Bruce's battle for Scottish independence is entertaining but fairly empty. If you're after a mentally unchallenging swords-and-shields action flick, this will scratch the itch, but the source material and filmmaker could have delivered so much more."

"Whatever its value as rabble-rousing historical reenactment, "Outlaw King" never quite compares to the many films it's so keen to imitate, and in some cases outright quote."

"The picture takes a while to hit its stride. But once it does, there is much to enjoy in this big, brawling ruck of an action movie."

"The movie is a juicy slab of cinematic red meat, a symphony of mud, blood and viscera set to a soundtrack of thundering hoofbeats and howls of vengeance."

"Pine is fully committed to Robert's mission, but the film has a hard time making him a compelling character, even with a wife and daughter on hand to make him relatable. And it takes forever for his military campaign to get rolling."

"I don't expect Outlaw King to be 100% or even 50% historically accurate. But I do expect it to be interesting, and time and again the movie opts for the simplistic rather than the complex."