Kingdom of Heaven Movie Review:


Ridley Scott reassembles virtually the entire Gladiator crew for another swords-and-sandals epic, this time set during the Crusades in 1184. It's a gorgeous-looking film, expertly orchestrated and extremely watchable. But it's also both uninvolving and exhausting.

After committing a crime in the throes of grief over his dead wife, French blacksmith Bailian (Bloom) discovers he's the son of a celebrated knight (Neeson). In search of redemption, he sets off for Jerusalem, where he becomes engulfed in local politics that pit Christian against Arab (where are the Jews?). The struggle is between the voices of reason (Irons' world-weary Tiberias and Norton channelling Marlon Brando as the masked, leprous King Baldwin) and the warmongers (Csokas and Gleeson). Bailian's extremely strong integrity is put to the test, especially when he falls for the woman (Green) in the middle.

There are a couple of fundamental flaws here. First is Monahan's script, which leans toward thrusting expressions of machismo and corny emotion rather than any real character development. Like both Troy and Alexander, this leaves the film without a firm foundation; it's impossible to engage emotionally on any level. It's like watching a museum history film, although the plot is a bit suspect, since it's clearly been written to appeal to 21st century movie audiences, complete with heavy-handed moralising and obvious parallels to Bush-era politics.

The other problem is unoriginality. Scott's direction is of course strikingly visual, with first-rate effects and iconic, magnetic actors. But the battle imagery and story structure are so reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings (with Bloom now in the Aragorn role, complete with scruffy stubble) that we keep waiting for elfs or ents to come to the rescue. And it's choppily edited, with characters randomly appearing and disappearing. Fortunately, the cast is strong. Bloom doesn't yet have the range to make something out of nothing (see Irons for that), but he holds the film's centre with sheer brawny physicality and lots of stern scowls. No one else gets much to work with, but together they add up to a watchable ensemble. It's just a pity we never feel anything for them.



Rich Cline

1158, Godfrey of Ibelin (Neeson) returns home from the Crusades to seek his son, Balian (Bloom). On finding him, he takes Balian under his wing and travels back to Jerusalem but when he is fatally wounded in battle, his title and responsibility pass to his son. It is now up to Balian to protect the people of the Holy City, as he is sworn to be a knight.

Director Ridley Scott returns to the genre that gave him Oscar success but can his new historical drama be as good as ‘Gladiator’?

After the huge success of his last historical epic and the unprecedented critical and financial failure of ones that followed like ‘Troy’ and ‘Alexander’, it was up to Ridley Scott to reinvigorate the genre and with ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ he almost succeeds.

The subject matter and the historical backdrop are instantly interesting and made for great source material. The epic battles and power mongering of the Crusades easily makes epic cinema and Scott takes this and runs with it with his usual visual flair and gift for grandeur. The look of the film is quite simply stunning and one of the most realistic looking films ever created for the genre. With ‘Troy’, ‘Alexander’ and even ‘The Lord of the Rings’ there was a computer animated look to the battle sequences. While most of these still looked good, especially ‘The Lord of the Rings’, nothing comes close to this film for pure realism. The siege of Jerusalem is quite simply stunning. Ridley Scott and his creative team take you into the heart of the battle, as if you were one of the knights or soldiers involved but then he will pan out to reveal the full extent of the confrontation and never at any point do you think ‘this is the computer generated bit then’. It is this realism that makes ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ a visual spectacle and a treat to watch.

The visuals of the piece do not hide the film’s major shortcoming however, the final cut. At 145 minutes, the film is a decent length but you can’t help feel it should be longer. You would think that you are watching the TV edit of the movie, as the storyline doesn’t feel as complete as it should have been. The film raises too many questions that are not answered or suitably resolved. Why did Balian instantly become close to his father? How did he learn to fight so well in such a short time? How did he become such a good military tactician? All these questions and more are not answered and you feel that they could be on the cutting room floor waiting for their inclusion on the director’s cut DVD. They should have been included in the theatrical release however as it would have made for a more complete story.

The performances from the cast do try and make up for the shortcomings and plot holes in the story however. While some may argue that Orlando Bloom is too much of a pretty boy for a role like this, he does rise to challenge of such a commanding leading role. A slightly older and bigger actor would have given the part more screen presence but the character and the film is more about the ideal of a knight than the man in the armour. Orlando Bloom grows into the role as the film progresses, mirroring his experience in battle and his observations of what is going on around him, and it proves that he might actually have what it takes to be a leading man.

Orlando is supported by some of the best in the business. Jeremy Irons and David Thewlis are exceptional as Tiberias, the leader of the King’s knights and Hospitaler, Godfrey’s priest and advisor to Balian. Marton Csokas plays the power hungry, warmonger Guy de Lusignan with great skill because you instantly hate him. The same can be said about Brendan Gleeson as Reynald, the Templar Knight with a thirst for war. Ghassan Massoud is excellent as the Muslim King Saladin, portraying with an heir of dignity. The beautiful Eva Green is exceptional as Princess Sibylla, even though her part could do with more screen time. Liam Neeson makes his presence known in a relatively small role. It is Edward Norton almost steals show however as the leprosy riddled King Baldwin. He has more screen presence behind a mask than most actors could ever dream of.

‘Kingdom of Heaven’ might not be in the same league as ‘Gladiator’ but it is still one of the best historical dramas since the Oscar winner. A visual treat with an interesting story, this is a film that is still riveting even though you will be thinking that this should be a lot longer.

Jamie Kelwick

There are so many different ways that an epic film on the story of the Crusades could go. But as a historical event, they weren’t really that interesting at their core. So why not focus on the people who lived and shed blood for them.

“Kingdom of Heaven” stars Orlando Bloom as Balian, a blacksmith, who has just suffered a crippling loss and in turn lost his faith. Balian has lost everything and it isn’t until his long-lost father (Liam Neeson) arrives that Balian begins to see a new purpose in life. Balian’s father is a Crusader and has become a legend among his followers.

After his father’s persistence and stories of a world of peace, Balian sets out for the Jerusalem or the Kingdom of Heaven. Can Balian regain his faith? Will he become a legend like his father? What lies in wait for Balian in Jerusalem?

The film begins by chronicling the back story of the film’s central hero and does a good job of planting the audience in the time period. But after the film arrives in the Holy Land there seems to be a decision to pull back from the characters and focus more on events. This I believe is a fatal flaw in this film’s overall impact.

You really can feel the influence of Ridley Scott and how he tried so hard to engulf the audience in the time period like he did in “Gladiator”. Scott does all he can to present another glorious epic. His spectacular battle sequences and elaborate sword fights are thrilling and captivating but the story woven through isn’t strong enough to support the film’s length.

Bloom’s performance as Balian is interesting but not captivating or memorable. As the film progresses we get to know Balian quite well until he arrives in Jerusalem then it is almost like he is a different person. This transition of the character is very off putting. We needed to witness his evolution more.

I liked Eva Green, from Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers”, as the princess but found it hard to really adore her because she has so little of an impact as a character. She comes off as this dopey trophy for Balian but you just know there is more to her. Who is this woman, really?

After more than 2 hours of screen time I found myself having more questions than what had been answered. I will be curious to see the director’s cut of this film and listen to the commentary on the DVD. Maybe then my questions will be answered.

I really wanted so much more from this film. I do have to proclaim that as it stands now it’s still better than the “terrible trio” from last year. The “terrible trio” of course being “Troy”, “King Arthur” and “Alexander”.

What has happened to the modern Hollywood epic? Maybe it would just be best if these kinds of films migrated to HBO mini-series. If the trilogy of “The Lord of the Rings” proved that if you build it right the audience will come.

So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

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