Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Movie Review:

1805 and the war between England and France had spilled out into the seas. Captain Jack Aubrey (Crowe) and the crew of the HMS Surprise have orders to pursue the French ship Acheron then sink, burn or take her as a prize. The Acheron is twice as big with twice the guns, but Lucky Jack, as the crew knew him, has never lost. While in fog off the coast of Brazil, the Acheron launches a surprise attack and without the cover of the mist the Surprise would have been lost. As the ship is repaired, Captain Aubrey sets a pursuit coarse that would take them to the Pacific and far side of the world.

Let fly, as cannons ring out their deadly fire under the command of a new hero of the silver screen, Captain Jack Aubrey.

Based upon the books by Patrick O'Brian, the epic sea battles of the Napoleonic war are brilliantly brought to life as captains strategise how to gain the upper hand, whatever the cost. This boys-own adventure mixes action and historical drama to produce a rip-roaring film.

In Captain Jack Aubrey we have everything we need for a screen hero. Driven, stern, a master tactician and an officer of the highest regard and respect with a crew that would follow him into any battle, whatever odds, Aubrey is everything you would want a commanding officer to be. He would have been nothing without the superb performance by Russell Crowe. He is an actor on top of his game and no other thespian could convey that presence of command and respect needed to bring this type of character to the screen. While some may argue that the role is very similar to the one he played in Gladiator, Crowe does succeed in making the character and the situation different enough to make the comparisons fall away after a time.

The supporting cast are also good. Rising star Paul Bettany gives another superb performance as ship's doctor Steven Maturin. He is Jack's best friend and conscience as the rigours of battle put a strain on the ship and the crew. Young Max Pirkis is also good as midshipman Lord Blakeney, who at barely fourteen years of age, is forced to become a man far quicker than anyone should be.

Director Peter Weir injects a real sense of drama into the battle and storm scenes. He brings the camera right into the action as splintering wood and crashing waves engulf the crew in a crescendo of heart stopping moments. As with many movies that show the sheer impact of any type of combat, Master & Commander doesn't hold back in showing what a fearful place war can be but also how both courage and bravery hold true for most people involved. The Cape Horn sequence and the climatic battle show this is spades, as you follow the Captain and crew through their epic encounter.

While the action sequences are first rate, the film does slow down in the middle for character building and excessive shots of the amazing Galapagos Islands (This is the first movie ever to get permission to film there). It does allow you to get the know the crew better and reinforce Jack's motivations for revenge but it does spend too much time doing this distracting you from the mission at hand.

Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World might not be the swashbuckling adventure you might have been expecting but it is far better for it. More historical drama than no-brainer action flick, the movie relies more on putting you into the time and showing what it was like to be onboard a ship in Napoleonic times. In fact the main villain of the piece is a ship, with a Captain and crew that you never see until the final battle but you can't help but have that sense of foreboding every time you see the silhouette on the horizon. So let fly and you will gain the prize of great entertainment by watching it.

Star Rating = * * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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Set on the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, Russell Crowe stars as Captain Jack Aubry, the steadfast captain of the H.M.S. Surprise. Aubry’s ship barely survives a sneak attack from a vicious French frigate, The Acheron. Aubry sets his eye on repairing his bewildered ship and taking down the Acheron, once and for all. His men are exhausted and his best friend Ship Surgeon Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) is frustrated at his captain’s persistence especially when it takes the ship away from the doctor’s naturalist endeavors. But their mission is clear, stop the Acheron at any cost.

Crowe is powerful and brisk as the head-strong captain. We can understand why the men follow this man into battle. The back-story involving Crowe’s character and the legendary Lord Nelson is a great credibility builder for the film. Crowe rumbles through each scene with poise and delivery. Crowe delivers a great hero character here.

The biggest problem seems to be the film supporting Crowe’s weight. The film needed an adversary for this great hero and all we get is a ship that slips in through the fog. It takes two to dogfight and we really only see it from one perspective. The film could have been more intense if the “Acheron” wasn’t such a mystery but we also saw it from the French perspective. Why not cast an equal actor to Crowe on the bow of the Acheron?

The film’s epic sea battles with cannonballs ripping apart masts and hulls is brilliant filmmaking but sadly there isn’t enough for us to really get emotionally involved whether who lives or who dies. We needed power, emotion, and heart-ripping intensity in this film.

The center of the film which lies between the two epic cannonball battles is extremely dull and you wonder why the filmmakers even wanted to tell this naval story. There is some attempt to evolve some of the personal relationships but instead the film sticks to the naval code. Speaking of code, there is so much of that in here that we can hardly relate. I admire the fact that the film tried for accuracy but during that pursuit they may have forgotten the biggest part of the whole story, human emotion.

It is a valiant attempt and maybe fans of naval skirmishes and Napoleonic history will find more depth here. For the most part the film’s cannonball bookends are a lot more interesting than the filler in the middle. They should have mixed up the luxury cruise some.

(3.5 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

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