Legendary Swiss folk hero and overture inspiration William Tell receives a competent but relatively uninvolving screen adaptation, courtesy of writer/director Nick Hamm. While the end result may appeal to viewers seeking a straight-forward historical action film, there are sadly much better thrills to be had elsewhere.

Weary Swiss farmer and crusade veteran William Tell (Claes Bang) is unwillingly drawn into a rebellion against the Austrian Habsburg occupation. When his own wife and son are threatened, William must also engage in a personal battle against the cruel Austrian bailiff Albrecht Gessler (Connor Swindells).

A big problem is audience familiarity, or rather the comparative lack of it. Adaptations of English folk hero Robin Hood succeed in part because most of us are familiar with the character, the key common story beats of the legend, and at least four of five of the supporting characters. The most that the average person in the English-speaking world would know of Tell is that one time he shot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow. They would not even know the context of why he did it, or where he allegedly did it. Many potential viewers would know of and recognise Rossini’s “William Tell Overture”. Those of a certain generation would more likely connect it with the Lone Ranger.

Either Nick Hamm does not realise how obscure Tell is, beyond the name, or he simply did not believe it mattered all that much. So confident is he of the film’s apparently inevitable success that he includes a sequel-baiting epilogue at its end. If that sequel gets made I will eat a proverbial hat.

There is an unflattering industry term for films like these: europuddings. They are films staged and funded by alliances of European production companies, distributors, and subsidising governments. They might still be good films, but typically they’re not. A multi-accented cast typically perform the films in English, with one eye on the American market, and productions get staged wherever there is the best tax break or business deal. In this case, Switzerland’s finest is played by a Danish actor on location in northern Italy, directed by a Northern Irish filmmaker, with Swiss and English producers. The supporting cast comes from England, France, and Ireland. Another giveaway sign is noted actors in key supporting roles who never leave the one location, so as to add star power via a minimum of effort on behalf of said star. In this case audiences can look forward to Sir Ben Kingsley as King Albert of Austria and Sir Jonathan Pryce as an elderly noble named Attinghausen.

Claes Bang is a great actor, and he adds a solid level of gravitas to the title role. There are also strong, committed performances by Golshifteh Farahani as his Palestinian wife Suna – a nice piece of diverse casting – as well as Amar Chadha-Patel, Jonah Hauer-King, Ellie Bamber, and others. The weaknesses are generally in the characters, as opposed to the actors playing them.

The film itself? It regularly reminds one of other, much better, historical action films. A bit of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves here. A touch of Braveheart there. There is nothing here that feels particular bad, but neither are their any moments in which Hamm finds his own approach or style. Any viewer with a dogged love for anything with a few sword fights and a period setting will find things watchable, certainly, but the weak storytelling and lengthy running time (133 minutes) will find it increasingly difficult to maintain any enthusiasm.