'Napoleon' is another grand historical epic from the masterful Ridley Scott, and while it's hard to compare all his films, this would rank below 'Gladiator', 'Black Hawk Down' and 'The Martian', but better than 'The Last Duel', 'Robin Hood' and 'Kingdom of Heaven'. The film starts during the French Revolution in the 1790s, when Napoleon Bonaparte (Phoenix) is already in his 20s and an up-and-comer in the French army. There's not a whole lot of back-story, as there's a lot of his life to fit into the 2.5 hours. We then see a few pivotal battles and meet his soon-to-be wife, Josephine (Kirby) and politician/advocate Paul Barras (Rahim), as Napoleon becomes Counsul.
While Kirby is good, the film probably spends more time than is needed establishing the relationship between Napoleon and Josephine and their trying to conceive an heir. While more background to the French revolution, the mechanisms of how Napoleon become Emperor and why he was going to war with some of the other countries would've been nice, it's already hard to keep up with the amount of characters - other army generals, governors, politicians, foreign kings, etc.
What grounds the whole film is Phoenix - as usual, he's a great mix of serious, eccentric and captivating. I assume he'll be Oscar-nominated again. The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 is impressive and superbly staged and looks done mostly without CGI. The Duke of Wellington (Everett) only comes into the film in the final 40min or so, but is a good counter-point to Napoleon. While never getting bogged down and it's certainly a good film, it feels like there's something missing that would've made this great. Maybe the 4-hour cut will remedy it!
While Kirby is good, the film probably spends more time than is needed establishing the relationship between Napoleon and Josephine and their trying to conceive an heir. While more background to the French revolution, the mechanisms of how Napoleon become Emperor and why he was going to war with some of the other countries would've been nice, it's already hard to keep up with the amount of characters - other army generals, governors, politicians, foreign kings, etc.
What grounds the whole film is Phoenix - as usual, he's a great mix of serious, eccentric and captivating. I assume he'll be Oscar-nominated again. The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 is impressive and superbly staged and looks done mostly without CGI. The Duke of Wellington (Everett) only comes into the film in the final 40min or so, but is a good counter-point to Napoleon. While never getting bogged down and it's certainly a good film, it feels like there's something missing that would've made this great. Maybe the 4-hour cut will remedy it!