This movie was directed by Ridley Scott, who makes epic, violent, visually stunning films like Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Although battle scenes aren't my favorite, i really like his style, and this was no exception.
The story takes place 100 years after Christians crusaded in Jerusalem and slaughtered all the Muslims in the name of God. Now Jerusalem is in the hands of the Christian King Baldwin, who wears an eerie mask b/c he's a leper and who turns out to be my boyfriend. Baldwin allows all religions in Jerusalem, but Muslim King Saladin is waiting just outside for him to slip up and smack around the Muslims. Of course, some bad guys do, against the orders of Baldwin, who punishes them by making them kiss his lepery hand (very ew).
Orlando plays Balian, a humble blacksmith waiting around for Captain Jack Sparrow when Liam Neeson (Godfrey)
shows up and does the whole 'Hey, we haven't met, but... i'm your father!' thing and invites him to join them on their journey to Jerusalem. Godfrey is a knight and baron of Somewhere and is one of the few people on Baldwin's side. On their way, Godfrey dies and passes on everything to Balian, knighting him. Once in J-ru, everyone Balian meets is like 'Oh you must be Godfrey's kid! you look just like him.' Now, i don't have the best vision, but Orlando Bloom as a xerox of Liam Neeson? Not so much. Anyway, once Saladin justifiably invades and kills all the Christians and Jeremy Irons is like 'this sucks, i'm going to Galilee,' Balian is left to defend Jerusalem. Since he has lost his faith, he decides to defend The People, because The City means nothing to him.
It got confusing at times, i had to turn on the subtitles just to help me figure out what the heck was going on. All in all it's an interesting look at faith, tolerance, and using the Christian card to justify wars and the killing of innocent people. Hm.
It's well acted: Orlando is a silent type who gets thrust into a situation and handles it the only way he knows how. The film keeps the inspirational battlefield speeches to a minimum, which was nice cuz that gets old (ahem Peter Jackson). Liam is Liam, which is a good thing, and it was nice to see Jeremy Irons, complete with a cool scar. There is also a good supporting cast of unknowns. i recommend it and give it 4.3 out of 5 leper fingers.
No comments:
Post a Comment