[usr 3]
Mary Stuart’s attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.
I have never really been impressed with period pieces based overseas unless it’s “Braveheart” and the like. The presence of the star names of Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie gave me a little bit of incentive to be excited for “Mary Queen of Scots.” Fortunately for me, I was pleasantly surprised by this film but it didn’t turn me into a fan of the genre.
Ronan and Robbie give great performances as Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth respectively. As Queen Elizabeth has troubles in birthing an heir and refuses to marry, Queen Mary tries through many ways to try to become the next heir to England. Ronan’s Queen Mary is a very childish character who is still young which causes many problems for her. This feeds into the best part of the movie which is the story and its pace for the most part. From the second act to the end, Queen Mary is constantly fighting to keep her kingdom of Scotland intact. From dealing with her new husband’s devious ways and various rebellions from within her own subjects, to the church and those sent from Queen Elizabeth to try to stop Queen Mary’s impending rule over England. The movie keeps you on your toes for there is always a new challenge Queen Mary is dealing with. The first act is a bit sluggish but the rest of the movie picks up the pace.
A big problem I had was with was technical aspects. The look of the film was not cinematic and some of the action set pieces were bland. There many scenes where the action ratchets up but the choreography of these scenes fell very short. The cinematography itself is very vanilla and nothing to write home about. I did like the score which featured many references to the music of the time but never overtook the scene and is a great companion in the background. Also, while the pace of the picture is always advancing, it moves a little too fast. There are many things thrown at the audience but there are a lot of instances where these moments aren’t fleshed out so they don’t feel as meaningful. It happens so many times you get that feeling the movie was ending but it had another story to tell. This film could have been split into two just so you could genuinely feel the weight of these issues.
While I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this movie, I can say I was mildly amused by it. Performances from Ronan and Robbie and a very fast-paced story, holds you through the runtime. The film almost looks and feels like a soap opera and a little too much going on does hold the film back for me but I do recommend it otherwise.
In theaters Friday, December 14th
