William Tell (dir. Nick Hamm)

by | Jan 19, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 133 mins

UK Distributor: Altitude Films

UK Release Date: 17 January 2025

WHO’S IN WILLIAM TELL?

Claes Bang, Connor Swindells, Golshifteh Farahani, Jonah Hauer-King, Ellie Bamber, Rafe Spall, Emily Beecham, Jonathan Pryce, Ben Kingsley, Amar Chadha-Patel, Sam Keeley, Jake Dunn, Tobias Jowett, Solly McLeod

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Nick Hamm (director, writer), Marie-Christine Jaeger-Firmenich and Piers Tempest (producers), Steven Price (composer), Jamie Ramsay (cinematographer), Yan Miles (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

The story of William Tell (Bang), the huntsman who led a resistance against the Austrian Empire…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON WILLIAM TELL?

Like many other folk legends such as Robin Hood, King Arthur and John Henry, there’s little to no evidence that William Tell actually existed. The Swiss hero, best known for his stunt involving a crossbow and an apple on top of his son’s head – not to mention for being the inspiration for Gioachino Rossini’s triumphant piece of music that formed the famous theme to The Lone Ranger – is largely seen as a representation of European defiance and rebellion during Austria’s reign across the continent. Of course, his likely non-existence is less important than what he stands for, and even to this day he is regarded as a firm reminder of what regular people can do in the face of tyranny.

Tell is long overdue a new film to commemorate his legendary status, especially one of a larger scale after the likes of Robin Hood and King Arthur have been granted their own major blockbusters in recent years, and writer-director Nick Hamm is up for the task with a movie that gives the viewer a fun enough time while playing around, sometimes a bit too much, with the lore itself.

The film takes place in 1300s Switzerland, which is under heavy rule by Austrian tyrants like King Albert (Ben Kingsley), who you can immediately tell is evil because he always wears an eye patch, and who regularly dispatches his equally vile Gessler (Connor Swindells) to put the Swiss in their place. Elsewhere, our titular hero (Claes Bang) is a farmer and huntsman living a quiet but pleasant life with his family in the Swiss mountains, only occasionally experiencing PTSD from his time serving in the Crusades but otherwise staying far away from the fight that’s much closer to home. However, after nobly volunteering to help young Swiss man Baumgarten (Sam Keeley) escape Austrian forces, after he killed their nasty tax collector for the rape and murder of his wife, William Tell eventually becomes a central figure in the growing Swiss rebellion and soon leads a daring crusade of his own to bring down Gessler and his ruthless force, all with his trusty crossbow in hand.

William Tell is one of those films that, for at least the first half, you could almost mistake it for being a mere pilot episode for a much larger historical series trying to reap in the Game of Thrones audience. That’s because the film initially spends its time setting up numerous other characters and subplots that seem destined to be resolved in future episodes, to where you almost forget that William Tell himself is the lead. For instance, there’s a forbidden romance between an Austrian princess (Ellie Bamber) and a Swiss nobleman (Jonah Hauer-King), then we have a look at the troubled relationship between said nobleman and his powerful uncle (played by Jonathan Pryce for all of two scenes), as well as the inclusion of Tell’s supportive friends (Rafe Spall and Emily Beecham), his wife Suna (Golshifteh Farahani) and adoptive son Walter (Tobias Jowett), and all the rotten stuff happening in Kingsley’s court.

At first, it’s all pretty overwhelming to take in, as Hamm’s script treads dangerously close to packing his film with too much exposition and setup without much in terms of standalone payoff, albeit not quite to the extent of Kevin Costner’s failed mega-saga Horizon last year. However, once the film reaches the moment that everyone knows about William Tell – hint: it’s that apple and crossbow combo – it finally finds its stride as Hamm leans into the spectacle of it all, delivering old-fashioned swashbuckling action this side of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the kind that allows itself to have fun without once becoming aware of its own silliness. Such sequences are well-executed by the director, who employs some admirable fight choreography and watchable camera tricks to many of the film’s big battles, while Steven Price’s score amplifies the epic nature of what’s unfolding (sadly, though, there’s no room for the William Tell Overture anywhere on the soundtrack).

Most of all, you’re invested because you do grow to like and enjoy many of these characters. The setup during that first half, as episodic as much of it feels, does fairly well in giving you a good enough idea of what certain people are all about, to where you are able to root for them in any and all battles, as well as empathise with them when they face hardships and even close loss. On the opposite end, you have villains who are so over-the-top evil – again, Ben Kingsley wears a menacing eyepatch the whole time – that not only do you eagerly want to see their downfall, but you’re more impatient for that than you are for the heroes’ inevitable triumph. Connor Swindells, in particular, is having a great time relishing in his character’s irredeemable nature, in a similar fashion to how memorably evil Alan Rickman was as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But whether we’re spending time with the heroes or the villains, it’s still engaging for the writing makes it easy to love or hate the right people, while you do feel the stakes as the good guys, including William Tell himself, risk everything for noble causes.

There’s no doubt that Hamm and crew are aiming for a franchise here – the film even ends by sequel-baiting with a potential larger threat – and if that indeed comes to pass, it’s easy to see the potential. Like the classic action-adventure films of times past, particularly those based on other folk legends, William Tell delivers enough crowd-pleasing entertainment as it delivers a fresh new take on a fairly well-known story, and in a time when such films are depressingly rare, it could well provide the wake-up call that mid-budget Hollywood desperately needs.

SO, TO SUM UP…

William Tell is an old-fashioned and fun retelling of the folk legend that features some strong swashbuckling action and good character investment, but finds its groove after a decisively episodic first half that spends time on too many characters and subplots.

Three out of five stars

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