The Uprising review

THE UPRISING: 

PAUL GREENGRASS CRAFTS A DECENT HISTORICAL EPIC! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

FOCUS FEATURES

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising

 

            Director Paul Greengrass (Bourne franchise, Captain Phillips, News of the World) brings the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England to the screen in the historical epic, The Uprising. I thought the movie looked good when I saw the poster and trailer, though I barely thought about it leading up to the film’s release. 

            I love Andrew Garfield and think Paul Greengrass is a super-talented director when he’s in his zone and has put out some amazing work (Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum, Captain Phillips, News of the World, etc.), but I wasn’t exactly hyped for this movie, and I can’t explain why. Maybe The Odyssey, ey which, granted, was a fantasy epic, overshadowed it for me and set a new standard for how I look at epic films, or the fact I barely saw any advertising for it until somewhat recently might have been the culprit; hard to say. 

            Well, I’m here now talking about The Uprising and…it’s okay. There are some great aspects about the movie, especially with the production design and performances, but I mostly found it to be a pretty generic epic. 

            The film is set in 1381 England in the wake of the Black Death and follows an unnamed Ploughman (Andrew Garfield-The Social Network, The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, Tick… Tick… Boom!) who lost his wife and two children to the plague, leading a rebellion against the tyranny of young King Richard II (Woody Norman-The Current War, Troy: Fall of a City, The Last Voyage of the Demeter) after taxes have been raised so high that the people can no longer survive. Essentially a dramatized version of the true events that inspired the legend of Robin Hood, as the Ploughman forms an army to face the King’s might in a fight for justice. 

            The film also stars Jamie Bell (King Kong (2005), Jumper, Rocketman) as John Ball, Stephen Dillane (Spy Game, King Arthur (2004), Darkest Hour) as Simon Sudbury, Tom Hollander (Gosford Park, Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3) as Sir Robert Hales, Cosmo Jarvis (Lady Macbeth, Calm with Horses, Warfare) as Wat Tyler, Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, Last Night in Soho, Fackham Hall) as Alyce, Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting 1 and 2, The Escapist, Dark Shadows) as William Walworth, Katherine Waterston (Michael Clayton, Robot & Frank, Fantastic Beasts trilogy) as Joan of Kent, Stanley Townsend (The Nativity Story, Florence Foster Jenkins, Jay Kelly) as Robert Bealknap, and Simon Kunz (The Parent Trap (1998), The Foreigner, F1) as Sir John Newton. 

            Overall, The Uprising doesn’t really do anything new with the historical epic genre and hits just about every beat you’d expect, but it’s still a well-crafted movie with solid performances by its cast. Andrew Garfield knocks it out of the park and is the emotional anchor of the film; even when the movie surrounding him isn’t great, Garfield acts his ass off and gets you invested in his characters and dilemmas. The same applies to the Ploughman. 

            I haven’t seen much of Woody Norman, but I found his take on King Richard II to be very fascinating as essentially a 14-year-old king trying to prove himself to his council. They don’t make him a one-note villain who’s evil just for the sake of being evil; you understand his motives and the fact that he’s basically being manipulated by the people around him. 

            The movie looks great in terms of the cinematography and production design, definitely worth seeing in theaters on the spectacle alone with tons of castle shots and long battle sequences. It ain’t giving The Odyssey a run for its money, but Paul Greengrass knew how to make the film look and feel as epic as he could. 

            Like I said, what brings the film down for me is how indifferent and standard the plot is; it’s very derivative of other historical epics and doesn’t offer much new or address its themes in an enlightening way. Granted, despite the movie taking place during the 14^th Century, there is a lot of relevance to the whole “No Kings” movement, especially with modern politics,s and this is an important topic to explore in media, but you’re not really gaining any new knowledge from this film. 

            This technically isn’t a Robin Hood movie, but it is the story that inspired the Robin Hood legend, nd and honestly, this is the better Robin Hood movie to come out in 2026 unintentionally. Even with an actor as amazing as Hugh Jackman, The Death of Robin Hood was such a slog to get through and didn’t live up to its true potential; all this wasn’t a slog, and I was invested in the characters enough. 

            Not sure what else to say about it. The Uprising is a perfectly fine historical epic with a lot of spectacle and strong performances, but it lacks insight and just does the kind of movie you’d expect it to be. If you don’t care about that and just want to see some grand, grisly battles with political commentary you already know, but it's still relevant, you might like this movie.