While I enjoyed this film, and was entertained by it, I have to admit that I was generally disappointed. Orlando Bloom, surrounded by a very impressive cast, stars in this political interpretation of the taking of Jerusalem by Saladin (wonderfully portrayed by Ghassan Massoud). The supporting cast is tremendous. I've already mention Massoud, but I feel that I should also give kudos to Jeremy Irons, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Marton Csokas and Alexander Siddig for their laudable efforts.
Ridley Scott is a master movie maker and almost always excels in direction and cinematography. However, I got the sense that a great deal must have been cut out of the original script - material which might have helped with continuity - perhaps a few years worth of military and hand-to-hand fighting experience on the part of the lead. Also, the slowing and speeding of film in battle scenes has really become a cliché, and no longer has the impact it had in Braveheart, Black Hawk Down, etc. It's time to develop new techniques or go back to the classical methods. Though I am sure some will disagree, as there are certainly some continuity and plot problems in this film (how does Blooms character become a master tactician while floating on a piece of wreckage en route to Jerusalem?, for example), I felt that this had all of the makings of a great film - a compelling subject, a great director, an excellent cast, and a good script.
Unfortunately - and I say this with some trepidation because I really like the guy - Orlando Bloom just wasn't the right guy for this role. Perhaps he is simply too young and inexperienced, but I felt that his performance was often two-dimensional and just a little derivative of Viggo Mortenson's Aragorn. Scenes that called for emotion were met with Shakespearean vocalization, but little to no facial expression, and very little body language, and though it was not really the centerpiece of the drama, his relationship with the superb Eva Green was, in fact, more compelling than either the central plot or the heroics and antiheroics of medieval warfare going on around him.
This film is worth seeing, if nothing else for the intelligent and understated political messages woven into it. But I think it could have been a much better film than it was.
Ridley Scott is a master movie maker and almost always excels in direction and cinematography. However, I got the sense that a great deal must have been cut out of the original script - material which might have helped with continuity - perhaps a few years worth of military and hand-to-hand fighting experience on the part of the lead. Also, the slowing and speeding of film in battle scenes has really become a cliché, and no longer has the impact it had in Braveheart, Black Hawk Down, etc. It's time to develop new techniques or go back to the classical methods. Though I am sure some will disagree, as there are certainly some continuity and plot problems in this film (how does Blooms character become a master tactician while floating on a piece of wreckage en route to Jerusalem?, for example), I felt that this had all of the makings of a great film - a compelling subject, a great director, an excellent cast, and a good script.
Unfortunately - and I say this with some trepidation because I really like the guy - Orlando Bloom just wasn't the right guy for this role. Perhaps he is simply too young and inexperienced, but I felt that his performance was often two-dimensional and just a little derivative of Viggo Mortenson's Aragorn. Scenes that called for emotion were met with Shakespearean vocalization, but little to no facial expression, and very little body language, and though it was not really the centerpiece of the drama, his relationship with the superb Eva Green was, in fact, more compelling than either the central plot or the heroics and antiheroics of medieval warfare going on around him.
This film is worth seeing, if nothing else for the intelligent and understated political messages woven into it. But I think it could have been a much better film than it was.