As I went into director Paul Greengrass’ new Middle Ages-set feature, I had high hopes that the film would have a certain excitement to it, seeing as Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy and Captain Phillips) is no stranger to action and intensity. I wanted very much to be thrilled for a few hours, and happily I can say that The Uprising accomplished this through fight choreography and the performances by Andrew Garfield (tick, tick…Boom!), Jamie Bell (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool), and a talented ensemble that help sell the setting and conflict of the story. Sadly, while the actors and production design pay fine homage to the subject, narratively the story moves mechanically, wearing out its message to the viewer with highly predictable execution.
The Uprising has a promising premise: Garfield plays Ploughman (a spot-on name, since his character is a farmer), who has lost his entire family to plague and is one of the many working-class members of the kingdom to be fed up with the monarch’s taxes and cruel treatments. Inevitably, the people rise up against the newly crowned King Richard II (Woody Norman, The Electric State), who is subtly guided and compelled by his council, a band of deceitful old men with their own agenda. Allied with outcast priest John Ball (Bell) and soldier-turned-revolutionary Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis, The Shadow of Violence), Ploughman leads a thousands-strong band of citizens to the gates of London to petition the king and force change upon the kingdom.
Between the direction of talent and technical elements, Greengrass convinces the viewer that we are transported into 1300 A.D., which heightens the interest of the film. Unfortunately, all the well-considered aesthetics in the world do not counter the very generic plotline. From start to finish, I found the story predictable, following an all-too-familiar Robin Hood adventure that has been done dozens of times in the past. An on-the-nose message to the audience quickly becomes redundant, and a seemingly thrown-together finale leaves the film on a jaded note.
While I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a vivid period piece delineating the England of the time, I had higher hopes that The Uprising would find a more creative way to tell the tale of King Richard II and the rebellious working class that defied him. What I found instead was a by-the-numbers warfare-driven story, still widely entertaining in its own right, but lacking any wit or provocative way to deliver character development, story arcs, and surprising moments. Greengrass spends so much time homing in on the message we are meant to receive from the screenplay that it leaves little room for investing the audience in the process. While satisfying in fits and starts, The Uprising falls short of delivering a fresh take on a tragic showdown in the Middle Ages.
Adam Vaughn
Adam Vaughn is a graduate of the Film & Moving Image program at Stevenson University, with a focus in Cinematography and Production. He also has a minor in Theater and Media Performance. Adam works as a freelance photographer and videographer, focusing his craft on creating compelling photographic and cinematic imagery. Adam is excited to join the Film Festival Today team and explore the world of cinema and visual arts.