With today’s geo-political climate, releasing a big budget epic about the Crusades seems like a most misguided endeavor, regardless of the intentions. No amount of revisionist moralizing can lessen the damage wrought by the Crusades, and an accurate portrayal would surely alienate a good chunk of the movie going audience, but never let it be said that Hollywood has ever backed down in the face of accuracy.
Overall Kingdom of Heaven suffers from some of the same problems that the recent Troy and Alexander carried. Namely, it’s a whole lot of spectacle wrapped around a bare-bones plot and rice-paper thin characters. Fans of large scale epics will surely find something to enjoy here, but don’t expect the film’s impact to last much longer than the drive home.
Kingdom of Heaven
3 Stars
With today’s geo-political climate, releasing a big budget epic about the Crusades seems like a most misguided endeavor, regardless of the intentions. No amount of revisionist moralizing can lessen the damage wrought by the Crusades, and an accurate portrayal would surely alienate a good chunk of the movie going audience, but never let it be said that Hollywood has ever backed down in the face of accuracy.
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| Orlando gets his sword on…again |
Ridley Scott seems to exist in a ethereal world of gorgeous scenery and visuals, but he seems to have lost touch with the more cohesive elements of storytelling. With Kingdom of Heaven, Scott trades the togas for chain mail, but otherwise misses the same marks as Gladiator. This time around the brutish stoicism of Russell Crowe has been replaced by the fragile reserve of Orlando Bloom, but otherwise Kingdom of Heaven is yet another variation on the story of a damaged man who finds a purpose greater than himself in the battle for an empire.
Bloom plays Ibelin, a widowed blacksmith who leaves France for the Holy Lands at the request of his father (Liam Neeson), a baron who holds both land and the respect of the king of Jerusalem. Ibelin agrees to take his father’s title and responsibilities in order to find forgiveness for himself and his departed wife, but is soon caught between the political maneuverings of the war mongering Guy de Lusignan (Martin Csokas) and peacekeeper Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), as well as the romantic intentions of Guy’s wife Sibylla (Eva Green), who is the sister of King Baldwin (Edward Norton), the ruler of Jerusalem and architect of it’s uneasy peace. Soon enough the machinations of Guy and his knight Reynald (Brendan Gleeson playing the exact same role he did in Troy), spark a war between the Christians and the Muslims leaving Iblein to defend the city of Jerusalem from the Muslim Army.
Like most of Ridley Scott’s films, Kingdom of Heaven is an action packed epic that tells the tale of one man’s search for redemption. In this case, however, Scott lays too much plot on the shoulders of Bloom’s Ibelin; so much that one could surmise that Kingdom of Heaven was an almost Christ-like allegory at its core. An unlearned laborer rises up to defeat an army all for the sake of peace? Subtlety is not one of Scott’s most recognized traits. Indeed, once the spectacle of the action and set design is over, it’s nearly impossible to look back on Ibelin without asking “Where did he learn all this stuff about fighting and strategy? And how does a man who can kill a priest in cold blood come to preach about peace and understanding?”
The logic holes of Kingdom of Heaven are both massive and frequent which, depending on your ability to forgive or forget, will either make or break your viewing experience. I’m not capable of setting aside things like the complete absence of Jews in Jerusalem, or some of the ridiculous choices the characters make, but I will admit that the film is simply gorgeous to look at, and its action sequences are effective and powerful, even with Scott’s trademark jump cuts and staccato editing. Sadly, The Two Towers and Return of the King may have unfairly set the bar for large scale battle scenes, but Kingdom of Heaven does a great job putting you in the middle of every swing, shot, and loosed arrow.
Bloom is well on his way to typecast-dom, but for all intents and purposes, he handles himself well. His looks give him a slight disadvantage, as ‘tough’ is not an adjective that springs to mind, but he has the damaged hero look down pat. Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson both deliver their trademark solid performances, and both actors disappear from the screen far too soon. As stated before Brendan Gleeson is in comfortable territory as the immoral crusader, but it’s a rut he doesn’t deserve to be in. David Thewlis and Martin Csokas both do fine work with what little their given to do, but Edward Norton delivers one of the best performances as the leper king Baldwin. Completely unrecognizable in both features and voice, his portrayal lends Kingdom of Heaven perhaps a little more weight than it deserves. As Bloom’s love interest, Eva Green is for the most part simply there to drive the plot along, as her character’s motivations and actions are only partially explained and her revelation is given little to no weight whatsoever. It’s strange that Ridley Scott, a man who’s no stranger to strong female roles, has seemingly marginalized the feminine aspects of his films in the last few years, but he seems to go in cycles.
Overall Kingdom of Heaven suffers from some of the same problems that the recent Troy and Alexander carried. Namely, it’s a whole lot of spectacle wrapped around a bare-bones plot and rice-paper thin characters. Fans of large scale epics will surely find something to enjoy here, but don’t expect the film’s impact to last much longer than the drive home.