The Uprising First Reviews: Andrew Garfield Elevates a Gritty but Uneven Epic
Critics say director Paul Greengrass' style isn't always a great fit and some of his choices are questionable, but the action is immersive, the pacing is brisk, and the acting is spot on.
Andrew Garfield stars in The Uprising, a medieval action movie opening this weekend, and the reviews are now online and quite mixed. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips) and based on both history and legend, the epic period piece depicts the origins of a hero during the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England. Reactions are divided on whether the style fits the material or if its premise is especially relevant today, while an effort to align the story with a famous fictional hero seems mostly agreed upon as misguided.
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Here’s what critics are saying about The Uprising:
Is it worth seeing if you like this genre?
The Uprising is a terrific example of the historical epic… stirring, tragic, and ultimately riveting.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
[It’s] a watchable historical epic animated by the sort of contemporary spirit one rarely finds in this genre.
– Lacy Baugher, RogerEbert.com
It’s a fairly decently crafted historical drama.
– Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
Overall, The Uprising is a well-made historical drama with pertinent themes.
– Meredith Loftus, Collider
This muddy historical drama, which should’ve been right up my alley considering my personal taste for historical medieval dramas, doesn’t quite rise to the occasion.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
The Uprising has moments of genuine power, but an unnecessary attempt to rewrite the Robin Hood story keeps it from being the historical drama it could have been.
– Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
It is a disjointed slog through the mud with the emotional depth of a History Channel rerun.
– Owen Myers, Guardian
How does it compare to Paul Greengrass’ other movies?
It’s one of Greengrass’ most audacious films.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
Bringing a keen sense of action and drama here, as he has in his slew of prior docudramas, The Uprising is a plea for justice for the impoverished.
– Claire Di Maio, But Why Tho?
Greengrass loses the focus of his recent work like The Lost Bus and News Of The World, and certainly loses the effectiveness of the latter’s timely parallels.
– Jacob Oller, AV Club
It may be the biggest mismatch in his filmography so far.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Does his style work for this movie?
Greengrass acquaints himself well with the period setting… His shaky-camera action impulses are reserved for real moments of chaos, underscoring the stakes and tension of the story.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
Some have never liked it, and won’t like it here, either.
– Michael Phillips, Variety
His signature handheld style is a trick that has gone stale: the only uprising I felt during the seasick fight scenes was my breakfast threatening to return on me.
– Owen Myers, Guardian
This modern sensibility, which draws attention to the camera’s presence through zooms and handheld motion, feels incongruous with the medieval setting.
– Marshall Shaffer, Slant Magazine
Every instance of abrupt digital zoom-ins and manufactured chaos is completely at odds with an historical period piece.
– Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
How are the visuals?
Pal Ulvik Rokseth’s gritty cinematography, featuring the sort of muted color palette endemic to historical dramas of this type, fully immerses you in the action.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
The production values, as you might expect, are top drawer with special shoutouts to cinematographer Pal Ulvik Rokseth.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Greengrass’s camerawork can occasionally swoon, with stunning aerial shots of a flotilla on the Thames.
– Owen Myers, Guardian
The Uprising’s visuals are awash in grays and browns that lend it a grim (if not outright funereal) pall. Vibrant it most certainly is not.
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Many swooping aerial shots look like they were shot practically with a drone, created by visual effects, or a combination of both. Either way, they’re distracting because they stand out against the shooting style the rest of the movie uses: rocky, dirty, and unpolished.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Cinematographer Pål Ulvik Rokseth… opts to shoot walk-and-talk moments almost entirely from the back of his cast’s heads.
– Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
What about the pacing?
Greengrass establishes the cruelty of this world immediately, creating a forceful sense of momentum (Something he’s always been proficient at).
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Greengrass knows… how to keep this pace roaring, and that makes this film a blast to watch.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Greengrass barely lets the audience pause for breath, let alone trust them to join those dots.
– Owen Myers, Guardian
How is the action?
The action is well constructed.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
There’s plenty of [violence] — brutal, unflinching, and central to its argument that freedom is never simply handed down by those in power.
– Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
There is one wickedly gruesome moment in the third act that feels genuinely envelope-pushing.
– Owen Myers, Guardian
The film’s consistently coherent action sequences can be thrilling, especially when tensions between the rebels and the royals break out into armed conflict.
– Marshall Shaffer, Slant Magazine
[It has] impressively staged battle scenes… The shaky, handheld camera works well for the action scenes.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
When battles happen, and we get to see Greengrass shoot action again in the way he did with movies like Jason Bourne, it really elevates The Uprising.
– Rachel Leishman, CBR
The action (what little there is) is never in focus.
– Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
And the screenplay?
Skipping the first act altogether [is] as baffling a screenwriting faux pas as I’ve ever seen… The journey that Paul Greengrass’ half-baked script takes its sorry excuse for “characters” on is even more concerning.
– Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
[It’s] a screenplay that rarely lets its characters or provocative ideas rise to the surface.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Does the story still resonate today?
Even though this is set 600 years ago, it feels remarkably relevant for today’s divided world.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
The Uprising speaks to a raw rage that feels especially timely.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
The parallels to today’s world are clearly on display, but the script stops just short of hitting audiences over the head too hard.
– Christian Zilko, IndieWire
The film has plenty of anger but lacks the clarity to turn that rage into something truly powerful and meaningful for today.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Is the message of the film clear enough?
It’s a bleak, cynical thesis, and an effective one.
– Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
It’s keyed into modern politics without losing sight of the era and its influences.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
The movie tries to tell the audience that violence is not the answer, but it also seems to suggest that it works. Ok, then at what cost? The answer is as rough and messy as some of the battle scenes in this movie.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
There’s some vague lip service paid to removing the “poison of wealth” from ruling elites and the Black Death coming as “punishment for the crimes of the rich,” but anyone looking for some substantial ideology — or even a pretense of one — is bound to be disappointed.
– Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
If you’re specifically seeing the film because of its “rah-rah eat the rich” rhetoric, rest assured you’ll never have to go without for more than five minutes or so.
– Christian Zilko, IndieWire
Are we given enough reason to care about the main characters?
In this movie, you really find yourself rooting for these people.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
The film is smart enough not to let its heroes off the hook for what the revolution becomes in their hands.
– Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
We never fully get to know these characters beyond what the plot needs them to do.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
How is Andrew Garfield’s performance?
Terrific… played with a soulful sadness and fierce fury.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
It helps that Garfield makes for an appealing everyman.
– Lacy Baugher, RogerEbert.com
Andrew Garfield gives the Ploughman enough humanity to make his journey worth following.
– Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
Garfield’s naturally empathetic screen presence makes it easy to see why others would follow him and why we still side with him.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
The movie itself might not be great, but you know that Garfield is going to give his all to the story and make it work, and that’s exactly what he does with the Ploughman.
– Rachel Leishman, CBR
A one-note performance that’s in line with the rest of the repetitive proceedings.
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
What about the supporting cast?
Jamie Bell, Cosmo Jarvis, and especially Thomasin McKenzie do great work fleshing out the rest of the rebellion.
– Brandon Zachary, Screen Rant
Jamie Bell and Cosmo Jarvis [are] both great and, unlike Garfield, both look like they actually could be from the late Middle Ages.
– Owen Myers, Guardian
The performances are first-rate across the board, with Bell and Jarvis outstanding as the lead conspirators… But it’s [Woody] Norman who steals the movie.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Norman is a particular standout.
– Claire Di Maio, But Why Tho?
The entire cast is well chosen, with nice turns also from Katherine Waterston as the somewhat sympathetic Countess, Jonny Lee Miller as Mayor Walworth, and Sky Yang as Scribe, among others.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
It’s Katherine Waterston, as the wary Countess with a majorly disappointing son, whose penetrating gaze and ambiguous emotional currents show us glimmers of The Uprising that might have been.
– Michael Phillips, Variety
Does the ending tease make sense?
There are worse ideas than turning your film into an origin story for one of literature’s great populist superheroes.
– Christian Zilko, IndieWire
Viewing it as the first chapter of the Robin Hood myth… makes it come off even worse.
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
It’s a baffling swerve by Greengrass, grafting familiar mythology onto a story that had already built its own identity, and one that cheapens everything preceding it.
– Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
This conclusion feels more designed to placate a contemporary audience than to honor its protagonist.
– Marshall Shaffer, Slant Magazine
The Uprising is in theaters on September 10, 2026. Buy tickets on Fandango.
