Robert the Bruce movie review (2020)

Angus Macfadyen may have identified with that spider, too, as he refused to give up on the idea of a movie about Robert the Bruce, the character he played in the Oscar-winning "Braveheart." He returns again in "Robert the Bruce," which he co-produced and co-wrote, as well as playing the title role. A quarter-century later, (and nearly that much older than the historical figure he plays), this movie is partly a sequel to "Braveheart" and partly an answer to it. In Mel Gibson's version of the fight for Scottish independence, Robert the Bruce is an appeaser, betraying Gibson's William Wallace by fighting alongside the English, but then, after Wallace is tortured and killed in 1305, calling on his memory to inspire the Scots to join him in fighting for independence. This version does not cover any of those incidents, but presents Robert the Bruce as an honorable, heroic man, acting solely on behalf of the independence of the people of Scotland. 

"Robert the Bruce" is gorgeously filmed by cinematographer John Garrett, making the most of every exquisitely lit crag of the Scottish countryside. Like NC Wyeth's classic Scottish Chiefs illustrations of Robert the Bruce, there is an almost tactile weight and thickness in every frame, the deep, deep snow, the huge swaths of fur covering the broad shoulders of the men who ride their horses with grandeur of purpose, the heavy cruciform-hilted swords swung by heavy arms. Equally thick are the Scottish burr accents that make some of the dialogue near-unintelligible to the untrained ear.

This movie begins in 1306, shortly after the end of "Braveheart." Robert the Bruce is about to meet with John Comyn (Jared Harris, playing a Scot but with an English accent to indicate his allegiance), who has been designated his co-Guardian. The meeting is at Greyfriars Church, neutral holy ground for an unarmed "parley." Robert has signed over his lands to Comyn in exchange for his promise to support Robert as sole ruler of Scotland. "We must change the legacy left behind by William Wallace," Comyn says. But he is clear he does not trust Robert. "Do not play the saint, not you." He jeers that the one thing Robert wants most he cannot have, to be as brave and as loved as Wallace.

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