Medieval will play like a history lesson for younger audiences. Not medieval history, but rather Hollywood history. I’m not sure if the movie is historically accurate, but the way it’s crafted and constructed will make people think of all the epic films that have been churned out over the last quarter century or so. Still, that’s not entirely bad.
Ben Foster stars as Jan Zizka, a Czech mercenary who goes into battle with a powerful nobleman named Rosenberg (Til Schweiger). Jan wants revenge after Rosenberg killed his entire family and for seizing the lands. Plus, the Czech King Wenceslas IV is also the Roman Emperor and Rosenberg has plans to take over the thrones.
Jan’s plan is to kidnap Rosenberg’s fiancee Katherine (Sophie Lowe) in order to make Rosenberg and his forces come after him.
Soon enough, Katherine begins to take a liking to Jan despite being kidnapped and she aids Jan and his men. They get some good moments when the two are able to talk about his past.
Jan discovers that Rosenberg is planning to dethrone Wenscealas, but that comes at a cost to Jan. He can either give up his quest against Rosenberg or continue on with his war.
The battle scenes are pretty standard fare with a lot of swordplay, bows and arrows and the occasional doses of blood and gore, but there are other moments that make the screen vibrate with some intense images.
Medieval doesn’t shy away from the brutality during the battle scenes and they often prove to be a welcoming distraction whenever the film goes into political intrigue. Any scenes involving politics do take a turn into derivative territory, but others make political incoherence really entertaining.
Foster is both sufficient and stoic enough as the hero, but he’s not on par with Mel Gibson or Russell Crowe. He lacks the intensity and the largeness necessary, but he compensates with a lot of pathos.
Fans of Game of Thrones or even Ridley Scott may appreciate the epic nature and it certainly does work at having a grand scale.
I don’t think this is a bad film, but I don’t think it compares to the audacity or insanity that was The Northman. Rather, this film wants to go through the motions, but I give it credit because the motions work.
Grade: B
(Rated R for strong and grisly violent content throughout, and some nudity.)
