I’m such a superfan of Paul Greengrass. I love the Jason Bourne films, so when I heard about The Uprising, I was immediately interested in what he was going to do with this story. Then you add Andrew Garfield, who I’m also a huge fan of, and yeah… I was excited for this one.
I got to see an early screener last night, and The Uprising is a really interesting historical film.
The story takes place in 1831, post-plague, with King Richard II in power alongside his oligarchs and the people supporting him. They impose these completely unreasonable taxes on the commoners, and eventually, the people have had enough. They rise up, march toward London, and fight to right what they see as a massive injustice in the name of freedom.
There’s a lot happening here, and I thought the story worked. According to my sister, who actually knows this historical stuff because I definitely don’t, a lot of what we’re seeing is pretty historically accurate. From what she tells me, the film stays fairly close to the actual events until the ending.
And then there’s the ending. I had already heard some buzz about it online, so I was curious to see what all the conversation was about. I’m not going to spoil anything, but when the credits rolled, I was sitting there thinking, I’m not really sure how I feel about that. I’m still processing it, honestly.
Everything leading up to that point worked pretty well for me. The writing is strong, the action is good, and the gritty look of the film really fits the story. The costume design is also phenomenal. The whole thing has this dirty, lived-in quality that makes sense for the period and the world these characters are living in.
And Andrew Garfield is really, really good. For me, his performance stood above everyone else in the film. I already like him as an actor, but seeing him in this role and in this type of story made me appreciate him even more. He completely pulled me into his character.
The cinematography is another thing worth mentioning because there is a lot of fast camera movement throughout this movie. If you like that style, you’re going to have a great time. It can sometimes be a little much for me, but here, it actually worked because of what was happening on screen. You’re running. You’re walking. You’re fighting. You’re moving through all of this chaos, and the camera is right there with you.
At times, the movie moves incredibly fast, and that helped keep me engaged.
I also really liked that there wasn’t this huge buildup before we get into the story. Scene one, you’re dropped into it. The uprising is happening, and we’re off.
There’s no twenty-minute history lesson or a ton of exposition explaining every single thing before the story can begin. The film assumes you’ll understand the historical circumstances as it unfolds. I certainly didn’t know all of the history going in, but I never felt completely lost.
And honestly, I appreciate that.
Overall, The Uprising is a solid film. It’s gritty, it’s entertaining, the action works, the story is interesting, and Andrew Garfield is a major standout. Is it perfect? No. That ending is still sitting in the back of my mind, and I’m not sure I’ve completely landed on how I feel about it yet.
Still, I found this to be a really entertaining and fascinating historical film, and if you’re a Paul Greengrass or Andrew Garfield fan, there’s plenty here to enjoy.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
