PLOT: The story of fifteenth-century Czech icon and warlord Jan Zizka, who defeated armies of the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire.
REVIEW: In today’s day and age of high fantasy, it’s rare that a film set in grounded medieval times can still bring the same level of excitement. The pacing is often very slow, and the action scenes are few and far between. Thankfully, Medieval decides it will go completely against that and provide a heavy-hitting action film. But is that enough to make up for its faults?
There are a lot of things that I really enjoyed about Medieval. Ben Foster is always great to see as he’s one of the better actors out there and so often overlooked. His character of Jan Zizka isn’t someone I was aware of before, but now am intrigued to seek out. The story is simple enough, Katherine (Sophie Lowe) is kidnapped by Jan, and her future husband Rosenberg wants her back. Jan is an absolute badass, and Rosenberg is a sniveling bastard. It’s a wonderful dynamic. But it’s not so much the story but the journey getting there.
The cast is absolutely phenomenal and left me stunned with each new reveal. This is the who’s who of underappreciated talent from Matthew Goode to Karel Roden, and I was just grinning from ear to ear. These guys know how to chew the scenery, and it’s glorious. They aren’t playing layered baddies, and that’s most of the fun. They want you to hate them, and it’s just so damn easy. And can we just stop for a moment to appreciate the fact that Til Schweiger is finally getting his spotlight? The man has been delivering great performances for years and get’s to play bad guy number one.
Unfortunately, some of the story beats are pretty generic and fail to pack a punch. While it featured several twists I wasn’t expecting, it feels like a story we’ve seen a thousand times before. And Michael Caine is definitely doing the bare minimum. Thankfully the action scenes are so violent and hard-hitting that it helps to invigorate some of the slower moments of the first half. The battles here are an absolute gut punch. From Jan and his mace to so many impalings that I lost count, we’re treated to some truly grisly carnage.
But it’s not all just blood and dirt, Medieval consists of some stunning visuals. I always love the gritty aesthetic of this time period, and they pull it off wonderfully. But they also do a great job of utilizing fire for light. I’m genuinely blown away by the fact that this film’s budget was a mere $29 Million. Every aspect of this film is high production value and manages to do so much with so little. Never once does it feel like they’re having to sacrifice scale or tell a smaller story. In fact, a CGI Lion in this is extremely impressive, especially once it gets into the action. Writer and Director Peter Jákl really impressed with his understanding of the scope.
I had a good time with Medieval and truly hope it can find its audience. While its story is very “been there, done that,” the fact that it’s based on a real person helps alleviate some of that. The wonderful performances and level of production really make for a satisfying experience. Plus, who doesn’t love some good old-fashioned sword dismemberments?
Medieval releases IN THEATERS ON SEPTEMBER 9th, 2022.