The Highwayman (II) (2022) User Reviews

Almost bad enough to be good

[hulakan · 2/10 · 10 May 2022]

The fun starts in the opening scene. The Highwayman hero, brandishing a flintlock pistol, stands in the road as a coach approaches. As the coach comes into view, the highwayman fires his pistol into the air (a warning shot, no doubt) then he points the pistol at the coach and demands, "Your money or your life!" He has already spent his load! 18th century flintlocks were not repeating firearms. What kind of highwayman threatens a victim with an empty gun? THIS kind of nonsensically written, low-budget, poorly acted highwayman is the kind of hero that almost entertains in this shoddy piece of almost funny escapism.

The film makers try hard but just do not achieve Ed Wood standards of humor. The sets are a bit too tidy, and the actors lack that sense of devotion to the material despite the odds that could have made this a true gem, like say, Beretta's Island. Rather, it just muddles along, content with its own mediocrity, failing to rise to the genuine entertainment of a truly bad movie.

Mundane and rather pointless...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 9 May 2022]

Right, well as I stumbled upon this 2022 adventure movie from writer and director Steve Lawson, I was immediately reminiscing having sat and watched the 1979 series "Dick Turpin" when I was a child, and remembering it fondly, of course I opted to sit down and watch "The Highwayman".

Well, I just never did get into the atmosphere of this 2022 movie from Steve Lawson. There was just something fundamental missing from the movie. It was a combination of a lack atmosphere and props that just never brought about the right feel of the era, and a good dose of the storyline being rather mundane and the characters equally mundane. So it was not a great movie experience to watch "The Highwayman".

The storyline told in "The Highwayman", as written by Steve Lawson, just never caught on with me. It was too simplistic and lacking ingredients that would sweep me off of my feet and take me out on the rugged roads of old Britain. So it was a bland narrative that didn't have much of any force or momentum to carry it.

I am sure that the casting choices for "The Highwayman" were adequate, but the actors and actresses had so little material to work with, that they were struggling to keep afloat. A shame really, because I doubt that the actors and actresses here were inadequate. They just simply didn't have the tools available for a monumental performance.

For a historical adventure then "The Highwayman" was very flaccid. It is not a movie that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on. Some of us did, so you don't have to.

My rating of "The Highwayman" lands on a three out of ten stars. Sadly, the movie's cover/poster was actually the best thing about the entire experience.

Dull and painful to watch

[miss_toucan · 3/10 · 26 July 2022]

I'm not sure what age group this was made for, but I think maybe it's more for 14 year old girls rather than adults.

The story is kind of pointless. The actions of the characters (especially Elizabeth) are just annoying, and the acting is pretty poor.

You have an obnoxious female character, a pretty useless highwayman, and a villain who is kind of over the top evil. It was predictable and nothing new. The whole thing didn't work for me.

I watched it as it was rated over 7, but IMDB is just so full of fake reviews and ratings these days that the rating doesn't really mean much anymore.

This is definitely not a 9 or 10 star movie, unless you are buddies with he director or one of the main actors.

I wouldn't bother with this one.

Avoid

[stevelivesey67 · 2/10 · 10 May 2022]

Normally I would give a film like this a 1, but because this is such a low budget affair, I gave it one extra 1.

Poorly acted written and directed, I cannot find much to recommend it to to the discerning viewer.

A highwayman, not the highwayman.

[flickeringstate · 4/10 · 10 May 2022]

I like this genre of movie, tight action, swashbuckling high links, horse chases, heroic endeavours... Oh wait, there is none of that in this movie. Okay, what you do get is a lame horse, so to speak. I'm not sure if it is the cast or the bad writing, but this movie doesn't feel authentic. The story is so so, if not a little predictable and has a villain that seems to be from another movie altogether.

Sure, I understand low budget constraints so 5/5 for that, but 4/10 is my score.

One thing I noted was the British actors playing the roles in a British story, glad it was not completely ruined by, shall we say, other actors from across the pond. 😃

Conclusion: Not bad and not good; mediocre.

It's not loaded

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 2 June 2022]

The film takes place circa 1735-1737 based on the actual life of Dick Turpin. During the film he relates a brief autobiography which we never see. We are treated to a fictional account of his encounter with a young lady (Mollie Hindle) who is set to marry a different scoundrel.

A film of his real life would have been nice instead of a Monty Python style gentleman bandit. I was half expecting him to rob folks of lupines. Slightly on the entertaining side.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

The Highwayman

[CinemaSerf · 4/10 · 9 August 2023]

Anyone remember "Carry On Dick" (1974)? Well it's probably got more going for it than this lacklustre drivel. It's Morgan Rees-Davies who takes up the mantle of England's legendary highwayman who finds himself in hot water after he inadvertently kidnaps the daughter of the Earl of Pembroke (Steven Dolton). Now we're not quite sure who has got the worst of this captivity, for "Elizabeth" (Mollie Hindle) is no shrinking violet. Indeed she rather relishes the freedom and excitement of a life devoid of corsets and curtsies. Meantime, her duplicitous fiancé "Winthroppe" (Tom Hendryk) is out to fleece her rather penniless and clueless father so he can take over their house under which might be some lucrative mines, and, well... Most of the swash and buckle here is left to the Aiden Turner-esque Ciaron Davies in the role of "O'Reilly" and to be fair to him, his is really the only thing remotely close to engaging here. It might have looked good on paper after a few yards of ale, but on screen this is a poorly conceived concept that doesn't really deliver on any level. The acting skills are basic, delivering some dialogue that rather optimistically tries it's hand at the odd bit of black humour before an ending that would have made Sid James look like an Oscar winner. Good story, strong theme and plenty of opportunity - instead we get a weak and listless drama that struggles to make it to ninety minutes.

Just awful

[qhyids · 1/10 · 14 May 2023]

It's cartoonish. If they were going for a parody of the era, they missed the mark by making it AmDram. It feels as though the writing was taken from the pantomime. There's a skirmish between two of the characters and it looks like they're dancing and that's not an exaggeration. The schemes that are supposed to show the ruthlessness of the head-villain are so ludicrous as to be unfathomably bad. Not to spoil anything, but don't watch this, there's a strange scene after strange scene. It very much feels like they intentionally made a terrible film because making it better would have looked like they were trying to make a good film but failed: this way they look like they were trying to make a bad film and in that they have succeeded. It gets worse as it goes on.

Odd's nails, sir!

[parry_na · 7/10 · 22 April 2023]

Writer and director Steve Lawson produces a rare light-hearted film from his growing stable. Known for slim-budget, mainly studio-bound, dialogue-heavy productions, there is more location work and physical stuff going on here. As with most of his output, I found this very enjoyable.

Morgan Rees-Davies plays Turpin, here revealed as a scoundrel and trouble-maker, and not a very successful highwayman. The books about him, he admits happily, are heavily exaggerated. The hapless Elizabeth (Mollie Hindle) finds this out to her cost, her initial dislike of him inevitably melting as the film goes on.

This is a nicely paced adventure, not quite the bawdy romp it might have been, although lines like "I'm looking for Dick," and "Yes, I'll bet you are," ensure we're never encouraged to take things too seriously. My score is 7 out of 10.