Just about everyone has a favorite fictional character, but the thing about many of them is that they are based on real people in one way or another. For instance, Popeye was based on a real sailor named Frank “Rocky” Fiegel and “Dracula” was based off of the man known as “Vlad the Impaler”. Even characters like Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Indiana Jones got their original inspirations off real people, but with The Uprising, this is done in a bit of a different way.
Paul Greengrass (United 93 and Captain Phillips) directs this film with a cast that includes Andrew Garfield, Woody Norman, Cosmo Jarvis, Jamie Bell, Katherine Waterston, Sky Yang and Thomasin McKenzie. Based on the actual events of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 in England, “Ploughman” (Garfield) is a farmer who has lost his wife and children to The Plague and is part of the society that is in financial ruin while the advisors to King Richard II (Norman) convince him to tax the people at an even higher rate. Having taken enough, Ploughman leads a march on London to voice their grievances to the king to get their lives back.
At just over two hours, I thought the script was well done, but there ARE a few scenes that could have been cut out for pacing purposes. There is an impressive cast list here with Garfield, Jarvis and Bell doing well, but my shout out has to go to Norman, who plays the role of a quiet and timid boy king well but evolves as the story unfolds.
Visually, The Uprising really gets it right; the set designs and cinematography was time-period correct and made me feel like I was right there in the middle of the action. From daytime marching to nighttime scenes only lit by candles, it all just comes together really nicely. The story itself is not very elaborate, nor does it try to make the time look overly heroic or glamorous; it shows it as we know it to be from historical texts from that time.
The third act alone of this film has some great twists and turns that reminded me of a game of living chess. All in all, I did like The Uprising but did not love it. It probably won’t make any year end list, and even with it being a little too long, it has its qualities, so I will recommend seeing it at the theaters with the early bird matinee price.